A new arcade in Spotsylvania Towne Centre is flipping the script on traditional gaming — replacing joysticks and tokens with skill-based claw machines designed to let players walk away winners.
Planet Novak, a claw-style arcade featuring nearly 50 prize machines, opened Nov. 1 across from Build-A-Bear and near the children’s play area.
The arcade is owned by Clint Novak, a longtime Fredericksburg resident and amusement industry professional who previously spent eight years as general manager of Fun Land of Fredericksburg, where he became “mildly obsessed with arcades”.
Novak moved to the area from Minnesota in 2003 to work in radio at WBQB-FM (B101.5), then shifted into nightlife and karaoke hosting, and eventually into family entertainment. At Fun Land in Fredericksburg, he oversaw a major transformation of the facility, helping modernize what he described as a dated arcade into a competitive family entertainment center.
After Fun Land, Novak worked on the vendor side of the amusement industry, traveling extensively and seeing emerging arcade concepts firsthand.
That travel is what sparked the idea for Planet Novak. Claw-focused arcades — popular in Japan, China, and other Asian markets — have begun appearing in U.S. cities like Portland, Orlando, and Los Angeles. Novak saw an opportunity to bring the concept to the Fredericksburg area and partnered with Nate Novak to launch the business locally.
Unlike traditional arcades, Planet Novak centers almost entirely on skill-based claw machines stocked with current, high-demand prizes. Players load credits onto a reusable card and tap in at machines offering plush toys, blind boxes, Pokémon-themed merchandise, candy, and larger redemption items such as gaming consoles.
The machines are intentionally set to be more generous than typical claw games, a design choice Novak says is meant to ensure customers leave with prizes in hand. Novak credited his employee team with helping keep prizes current – Pokémon, Labrabarbarians, axalotls, and blind boxes.
The arcade also coordinates whole-store competitions, such as The Tapping Game: the person who taps the button the most times in 15 seconds receives two free plays.
The arcade also allows players to trade in smaller wins for points toward larger items, and merchandise is rotated weekly to keep the experience fresh. While the space is family-friendly, Novak said the customer base has skewed older than expected, with teens and adults making up a large share of players.
Planet Novak also hosts birthday parties and interactive mini-games, including timed tapping challenges that allow groups to compete for free plays. The arcade operates during standard mall hours and is open to the public during events.
Looking ahead, Novak said he hopes to expand the concept beyond the mall by placing high-quality claw machines in local restaurants and businesses through profit-sharing partnerships — offering an alternative to tablet-based distractions and lower-quality arcade machines often found in public spaces.
