LEVELUP Arena

We actually went just for the LAN connection, but I can guarantee we'd come back for gaming with friends. Loved the vibe they set up in here. It was a little difficult to figure out how to access the place due to closed lots and such, but the Arena staff off Lot B were super-nice.We desperately needed some help with a high speed connection for a work thing. My partner in crime called and talked to Guillermo (hope I spelled it right, brother!) and he was a pro - made sure knew what time they close as it was already in the 8pm hour and didn't want to leave us hanging. Guillermo was cleaning up from the day when we got there and dropped everything to make sure we were taken care of and undisturbed. He got me plugged in immediately and we fired off what we needed to quick.The charge per hour was super-reasonable and with a free drink? Internet cafes of the 90's might be dead, but arenas like this are a godsend when you need some speed for up/down connections.

As someone from out of state, I was surprised to not find LevelUp Arena at its original Overland Park, Kansas location - ends up it moved locations some time back to the HyVee Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. We got lost trying to find it, but unfortunately it seems that large signage is missing because it's in a historic location. We didn't end up visiting due to not knowing the above information, but hope others can enjoy their time there!

Now the Gametime District is an amazing new business area with an idea that has the potential to turn into something big. This little district includes LevelUp, Exp Bar, Vivo Music Venue, and Gametime bar & Grill. 5 out of 5 for the concept and the business model itself. Now to focus on LevelUp Arena - this setup reminds of an internet cafe with PCs and console systems on one side and you are paying $10 for an hour. While there are other arcades or video game venues that you just pay a flat rate and it's play all day, so hopefully they get away from charging per hour in the future. With it being a new business, they definitely have kinks they need to work out. The games that were on the PC were a hassle to play, as majority of the games got held up with security checks, login problems, or having to get the 'code' from the business e-mail due to authentication issues. So, one has to resort to the less than a handful of games that used a 'house account.' Hopefully they can work out these kinks within the next few months. Interesting thing since it is next to Gametime Bar & Grill - you can order food and have it while you game or just run up to the bar in Levelup and grab a drink. Hopefully this doesn't become an issue with people eating their greasy burgers and getting food in the keyboards.Definitely a fan of this 'district' as a whole, they just have a few 'new business quirks' they need to work out.

We had an extremely poor experience with LEVELUP Arena. Our 8 year old son has a passion for gaming and wants to get into eSports. He's been drooling over pro gaming rigs for the past few months, so we decided to sign him up for the eSports camp at LEVELUP. We wanted him to get some experience on a gaming computer, get some mentorship from experienced eSport athletes, and compete in an actual tournament with peers. This place has many positive reviews, we'd seen the positive press from the KC Sport Commission and their involvement with the KC eSports Coalition, and their website promoted a structured 5-day curriculum in a positive environment aimed at developing a healthy approach to gaming. This all sounded perfect. We signed up and paid the dues over a week in advance via the website, but decided to make this a surprise and didn't tell him about the camp until about 2 hours before heading there. He was so excited that his eyes teared up and he gave his mom and I the biggest hugs we've ever had from him.Fast forward a couple hours to walking into LEVELUP Arena for the camp that was supposed to start at 1:00 pm. The place is a ghost town except for the college aged person working the front desk. He was surprised to hear we were there for a camp and had no knowledge that LEVELUP even did camps. In his defense, he claimed to have only worked there for a couple weeks so he was still learning. He was empathetic and helpful, but didn't know what to do and needed to contact management.As we waited (for the children's camp) the large video board had a live stream playing with profanity laden audio blasting through the entire place. To be specific, one of the things our child heard while we stood there was "we wine 'em and dine 'em, s*ck 'em and f*ck 'em". The employee turned it off upon request.Management texted back that the camp was cancelled and an email will be going out. Mind you, we're standing in the place, and it's now 10 minutes after the camp was supposed to start. Our son was devastated, and we were devastated for him. No communication, no explanation. We were just told that a refund would come through in the next few days. I did receive the refund that evening and was expecting an accompanying email or phone call to further explain the situation, but that has not happened. LEVELUP's website is still taking registrations for this and other camps as of the time of writing this review.I am disappointed that our son didn't get the eSport experience that we were looking for, and I am angered by the way LEVELUP Arena has handled the customer service side of this.

I took my 9yr old son to play games. He's been bugging me and I am an old school gamer myself. But I didn't know what to expect and how this place would work. The lady who helped me was extremely nice and helpful. They have a great set up and many many options for game systems and games. I will be back for sure!

If you like having someone reboot your machine multiple times trying to fix connectivity issues You are at the right place.

If you like playin video games with friends, but don't want to spend thousands of dollars on high end PC's and next-gen consoles, this place is for you.

Incredible place. My friends and I take our kids here and let them game while we enjoy drinks and hang out. The staff is always kind and welcoming.