Horny at the Arcade review

The setup

Pixie works the floor at an arcade, and her sales pitch has very little to do with the games. She dares a customer to test his stamina, offers him a discount reserved for him alone, hears him stammer that he cannot afford it, and seems to lose interest, right up until she decides he might be fun after all. He mentions a girlfriend waiting somewhere, then follows her into the back room anyway. It is all invitation and almost no conversation, and it cuts off when a voice offscreen demands an answer from her.

Episode 2

Episode 2 adds a family friend who keeps watch over her for her father and asks her to go easy on the customers. She responds by admitting, more or less to the camera, that the customers are the real game. Her next target is shy, beats her once, loses the rematch, and earns the same back-room invitation. The cliffhanger is a two-minute warning, which is about all the plot the arcade can hold.

Who's who

• Pixie: the arcade attendant, a woman who picks her customers like prizes and sets every rule
• The customers: a rotating set of men who mostly nod, stammer and trail her into the back room
• The family friend: a man who has known her father for years and worries out loud

Verdict: 5.3 out of 10

The arcade setting promises a playful game of skill and delivers a revolving door. Pixie is a decent idea, a hustler who sees the customers as her own entertainment, but the first episode is muddled about who wants what, and the second repeats the trick with a rematch. The competitive banter in episode 2 is the best stretch. As a reason to keep paying, it is thin: you already know where the back room leads.

Episode guide