Has the recession got you down?

Are you in need of a little nostalgia – something that doesn’t cost too much?

Just Push Play Arcade in Creemore might be the antidote for your economic induced case of the blues.

Located at 5 Frances St., in the village, just east of Foodland, the arcade has 26 games, many of them classics.

“My favourite is Ms. PacMan,” Just Push Play Arcade owner Michelle Zorychta said. “It was always the game I played as a kid.”

Other games at the arcade are PacMan, Space Invaders, Galaga and Mortal Kombat.

And of the pinball variety, there’s an Evel Knievel game from 1977 and a Kiss game, named after the American rock band, from 1978.

“Our oldest is a Chicago Coins Homerun [a baseball game] from 1972,” Zorychta said.

In many respects, Just Push Play is like entering a time warp. There’s a jukebox in one corner, full of classic rock albums on vinyl and along a wall is a Coca-Cola machine from 1964 that still dispenses bottles of the ice-cold sugary beverage.

“People say that when they come in here it feels like they’re back in high school,” she noted.

Zorychta said she and her husband, Michael, have always loved arcade games.

As a child, she said she was always saving quarters so she could go play at the local arcade.

“I think it was the social thing to do at the time. Everyone just met up at the arcade,” Zorychta 34, recalled. “I can remember looking for quarters in the couch so I could go play a game.”

She and her husband bought their first arcade game – a pinball machine – on eBay eight years ago. A short time later, also on eBay, they bought Ms. PacMan.

“They vary in price,” Zorychta said. “Ones that are original are more expensive.”

On average, however, an arcade game sells for $1,500, she said.

After buying the two games on eBay, they learned of an auction that happens in Toronto every six weeks and started attending, buying and selling games.

Soon enough their basement was filling up with games.

In 2008, they opened the arcade.

“I had a hunch we could make it work,” she said, noting she’d seen how much fun friends had when they came over and played the games.

The timing was right as well.

A year earlier, Zorychta said, she lost her job at an auto parts maker in Shelburne, where she worked as a production supervisor.

She learned of a federal government program in Barrie – the Self-Employment Assistance Program – and enrolled. Over the course of a year, people in the program learn how to start a business.

“Our friends really supported this idea,” Zorychta said. “Everyone thought it would work. Our idea is so unique and different than what’s out there.”

The advent of home video game systems has made arcades rare these days, making the ones that do exist somewhat of a novelty, she said.

Visitors to Just Push Play Arcade don’t have to worry about quarters.

The arcade sells time, allowing people to play as many games as they want during a period.

For $10 people can play all day ($8 for youth age eight and under). Thirty minutes in the arcade can be had for just $5. And a Toonie will get you 10 to 15 minutes.

Summer passes are available as well for $60, good until Sept. 6.

The arcade also has a birthday party room that for $75 can be rented for two hours.

The birthday guest gets free admission to the arcade games and other guests can play for $5.

“That’s really popular with people,” Zorychta said.

Just Push Play can also be rented for corporate functions, she added.

The arcade is closed Mondays but open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., open Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.

For more information, call 466-6668 or visit www.justpushplayarcade.com.