Cow Play Cow Moo: the first-timer’s guide

Here’s a first-timer’s guide to Cow Play Cow Moo, the big neon arcade chain with the walls of claw machines: what to buy at the counter, which outlets are worth travelling for, and which are only worth it if you are passing.

Cow Play Cow Moo — CPCM to regulars — is really two kinds of arcade under one name. Most outlets are prize arcades for families, but the Suntec City flagship also has one of the best rhythm game rooms in the country. The outlets vary a lot too: one is the size of a cinema, one is inside an MRT station, one looks out over the sea, and one is very small.

What to buy at the counter

Buy a member card. It costs a dollar, you top it up at the counter, and it works on both the rhythm games and the claw machines. Tickets you win can be moved onto the same card, but it has to be done on the day.

Ask the staff what the card covers at that outlet and what the current top-up rates are. The rates change, and the counter is the only place they’re posted.

The two worth travelling for

🐄 Suntec City — two separate arcades

Marina Centre · Esplanade or Promenade MRT · $$

The chain’s flagship, and Suntec City has two of them in different parts of the building. They are separate arcades, not two entrances to the same one, and many first-timers visit one without knowing the other exists.

The basement hall, near the Fountain of Wealth, is the video and rhythm game floor. The level 3 floor is mostly claw machines, and it has the trading card machines, with Pokémon and other collectable cards.

For rhythm game players, the basement is the one to go to. It has thirteen different rhythm games in one room — maimai DX, CHUNITHM, beatmania IIDX, SOUND VOLTEX, GITADORA on both guitar and drums, DDR, Pump It Up, jubeat, pop’n music, REFLEC BEAT, Nostalgia and Taiko — which is more than anywhere else in Singapore. New machines arrive fairly often, so the layout changes.

It is open until 1am every night, later than almost any other arcade in town.

Full listing, hours & directions →

🐄 The Seletar Mall — the biggest floor

Sengkang · Fernvale LRT · $$

It fills the mall’s old cinema on level 4, and the mall calls it the largest arcade in Singapore. It is certainly the biggest in the north-east, and if you live near Sengkang it is worth planning an afternoon around.

Full listing, hours & directions →

The big ones outside town

Jurong Point covers three shop units, making it the largest outlet outside town and one of the biggest arcades in the west. Claw machines are at the front, with racing and redemption games behind.

Woodlands Square covers five units inside STELLAR@TE2, in the basement of Woodlands station on the Thomson-East Coast Line. It is the only outlet you can reach without leaving a station, which helps on a rainy day.

Downtown East is on level 4 of E!Hub, with a wider mix of games than most outlets, and stays open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.

In town

313@Somerset is smaller and mostly claw machines, directly above Somerset station on Orchard Road. It is handy for half an hour between lunch and a film.

The neighbourhood ones

The rest are smaller arcades on the way home: claw machines, a row of redemption games, and a station or bus interchange a couple of minutes away. For most people, the nearest Cow Play Cow Moo is one of these.

• Northshore Plaza II, Punggol — the only one with a sea view.
• Hillion Mall, Bukit Panjang — you walk straight in from the bus interchange.
• West Mall, Bukit Batok — on level 5.
• The Woodleigh Mall, Bidadari — connected to Woodleigh station.
• Century Square, Tampines — right by the station.
• Hougang 1 and Wisteria Mall, Yishun — small, well kept, and restocked through the week.
• Bishan — the smallest in the chain, upstairs in the NTUC Club clubhouse rather than in a mall.

Five things worth knowing

1. Set a budget before you start. Decide what you want to spend when you top up at the counter, not once you’re standing at a machine.
2. Check what prizes cost in tickets. The big prizes need a lot of tickets. If your child wants one particular prize, check its price first so they can aim for something they can actually get.
3. Use the help button on the machines. Press it and a staff member comes to you.
4. Weekday afternoons are much quieter, with no queues for the machines. Weekend evenings at Suntec are busy and you will have to queue.
5. It is very loud, which is worth knowing if you are bringing someone who is sensitive to noise, or a toddler who needs a nap.

Go for the games and treat any prize you win as a bonus. If you go set on winning one particular plush toy, you may come away disappointed — that is true of claw machines everywhere.

Closing times vary by outlet, so check before a late trip. If something on one of our listings is out of date, there’s a form at the bottom of every one.

Every Cow Play Cow Moo outlet we list → · Best-stocked claw machines → · What’s open right now →

— arcades.SG