Dave and Busters tap to play

Q: How does tap work at Dave and Busters?

The Dave & Busters app uses the near-field communications (NFC) chip found in most newer models of smartphones to handle contactless transactions. That means customers can play video games and other attractions in its arcades with a smartphone tap instead of swiping a plastic card.

Q: Can you go to Dave and Busters just to play in the arcade?

You can go to Dave & Busters just to play games but there is a full restaurant and bar as well. If you do want to have lunch or dinner you have the option of eating in the somewhat quieter restaurant or eating at one of the many tables, booths, or bar in the game room.

I'm actually really interested in more info on this if you could.

Table of Contents Show

Power up your Dave and Buster's
Power Card®
For an action-packed, extreme-fun arcade experience!
Charge Play Win!
iPhone Screenshots
What’s New
Ratings and Reviews
Really great for a chain
Terrible time
Just one issue otherwise awesome
App Privacy
Data Linked to You
Data Not Linked to You
Information
You Might Also Like
How does tap work at Dave and Busters?
Can I use my phone to play Dave and Busters?
Can you go to Dave and Busters just to play in the arcade?
How much is an unlimited play pass at Dave & Buster's?

Our D&B just re-opened and we just went for the first time. Bought one of those bracelets and tied it to the app. I have tried to pay with the app multiple times and it just sorta sits there when I touch my phone to the machine.

Power up your Dave and Buster's

Power Card®

For an action-packed, extreme-fun arcade experience!

Charge Play Win!

How to charge

Charge your Power Card:

Download Dave & Buster's app* and get a Digital Power Card®
Get a physical Power Card®
- At the charging Station kiosk
- At the front desk
- With your server

*Dave and Buster's app is not available in Canada

How to play

Use your Power Card to activate any game in the midway arcade!

Digitial Power Cards can activate arcade games with your phone.

Different arcade games require different number of chips.

Claim your prize in the WIN!

Many games offer opportunities to win tickets.

Tickets can be redeemed in the WIN! for prizes or stored on your Power Card.

DING DING

Become a Legend Download the New D&B Rewards App Earn rewards by playing games. Download the app today from the Google Play and Apple App Stores.

Power Card® & Power Tap®
Terms & Conditions

Brief:

Dave & Buster's introduced a mobile app to handle in-store transactions and to let customers manage their loyalty rewards. The chain of bar and restaurant arcades worked with developer Stuzo to create the app, per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
The Dave & Buster's app uses the near-field communications (NFC) chip found in most newer models of smartphones to handle contactless transactions. That means customers can play video games and other attractions in its arcades with a smartphone tap instead of swiping a plastic card.
The app also lets customers earn and manage rewards points they accumulate from purchases. The Dave & Buster's app is free to download from Apple's App Store or Google Play, and is available for the Apple Watch, per its announcement.

Insight:

With digital wallets becoming more popular among smartphone users, Dave & Buster's aims to keep apace with tech-savvy consumers who are growing increasingly comfortable using their mobile devices for contactless payments and other transactions. The chain's app frees customers from the burden of holding another plastic card, while letting them accumulate rewards points that could encourage return visits to its more than 130 locations nationwide.

Annual spending per digital wallet in the U.S. will almost double to about $6,400 by 2024 from $3,350 currently, according to Juniper Research, which means restaurants like Dave & Buster's need to adapt to this changing consumer behavior.

Dave & Buster's is joining the major restaurant brands that have a mobile app for contactless transactions and loyalty programs. Starbucks popularized contactless payment methods for its U.S. customers, offering millions of people their first experience with in-store payments through a smartphone or wearable device. Despite growing competition from payment platforms like Apple Pay, Starbucks Pay is still growing strongly, researcher eMarketer found. The coffee chain's success demonstrates that store chains can successfully set up a proprietary payment system that gives them more control over purchase data to glean customer insights.

Smartphones are making loyalty programs more convenient for customers, giving them a chance to see their progress in accumulating points or cash-back rewards. The percentage of U.S. consumers who said a mobile-enabled loyalty program makes them visit a store or buy more frequently rose to 61% this year from 52% in 2016, a 3Cinteractive survey found. Among the more recent successes, Chipotle Mexican Grill boosted downloads of its mobile app nearly fivefold with the nationwide rollout of a loyalty program that used Venmo to give cash back to customers.

iPhone Screenshots

Download FUN & Rewards straight to your phone with the new Dave & Buster’s app! D&B Rewards is bigger & better with a whole new look and new ways to earn rewards. LEVEL UP and create your D&B Rewards account in the app and start earning benefits:

- LEVEL UP by playing games to earn rewards & status
- View your tier level & progress to the next tier
- Complete challenges and keep track of your progress
- Skip the Kiosk: purchase and re-charge your cards on the go
- View chip balances & tickets levels from your phone
- Tap to activate games with a digital Power Card®
- Recharge your card anywhere, anytime
- Receive exclusive app only offers

Visit daveandbusters.com/rewards for full program terms and details.

There’s always something new at Dave & Buster’s – the ONLY place to Eat, Drink, Play & Watch Sports and get Rewarded all under one roof!

What’s New

Sep 13, 2022

Version 2.4.1

We're working hard to improve the Dave & Buster's mobile app for you with every release. This update includes a NEW feature, Easy Recharge. As well as more screens updated to the new designs and, as always, bug fixes and performance improvements to keep things running as smooth as possible.

Ratings and Reviews

4.8 out of 5

49.4K Ratings

Really great for a chain

I was hesitant to try Dave and Busters Because it’s a chain and I have 5 children. We go to a local place that is very similar to Dave and Busters on Wednesday nights for half
Off night. We found out Dave and Busters had half off night on Wednesdays as well on arcade games. I love the app on the phone. I can honestly say the service has been top notch from every employee we have encountered. The minute we walked in we loved the people at the front desk. They were patient and explained everything to us even though it was late. The bartenders don’t ignore u even if u are asking for a water or refill. They are fast and kind. The maintenance guy that fixes the machines is so freaking fast. He really does a great job. The VR people were their in a minute as soon as my daughter bought a VR on the app. The girl that closes in the ticket shop is like the kindest most patient girl. U can imagine with 5 kids trying to pick things out around closing it’s probably exhausting and annoying but she is sooooo sweet to us. We also get 150 more credits per $100 we spend then the local place. We will be back next week! Ty guys at Tempe Marketplace for being a class act !

So awesome you had a winning experience!

Terrible time

We took our daughter here for the first time, my husband and I have been 100 times before and usually, we love it. We were so excited to bring her here and we were going to have lunch and then play games. When we first walked in, we waited forever at the counter for someone to walk over to seat us, we had to flag someone down to do so. We shrugged it off. Even though it wasn’t that busy. We sat down and our waitress seemed to have an attitude. We placed our drink order and my daughter got the snow globe drink, she was excited because it had the light up cube in it. When the waitress brought it back. It didn’t have the cube and it wasn’t the same drink she ordered. She said well we are out of those.. it would have been nice to know that before hand? She was extremely rude about it. She didn’t get us napkins or anything even though we ordered ribs. She never refilled our drinks. She never checked on us. Honestly it was terrible. Worst food experience I have had so far. The meal was over cooked and honestly I have eaten the same thing here a million times and it just wasn’t up to par. Then the games- almost every game we tried to play went down. It was already down. We didn’t even get to play all of them and had to spend most of the time waiting for someone to come and fix it because it took our chips. This was my daughters birthday present and I have to say, Dave and busters has started going down hill. I’m really disappointed.

We’re sorry that your daughter's birthday celebration was anything other than awesome. Please share the details of your experience by filling out this form http://bit.ly/DBcontact or leave a message with your contact info at (800)842-5369 and a Guest Relations representative will reach back out to you.

Just one issue otherwise awesome

The Clacksmas D&B in Oregon. Great place nice people decent prize selection clean facility. Would have been 5 stars but the server at lunch was required to make us give her a credit card to “hold” when we sat in the booth to order food. We are two early 40’s adults with a 10 year old son. We ordered 3 meals and 2 apps and 3 beverages. Nothing unusual. I am a manager with one of the two largest banks in the US. This practice is a huge risk for fraud, card loss, etc. A card should not be out of the owners possession in that manner. I gave her a card we don’t use and let her know that was not the method we’d be paying with. She was polite and explained the policy is to prevent dine and dash. I’d rather have simply been given the opportunity to pay right away prior to the food prep. She said the procedure is mandatory. I also could have paid cash up front. This is not a good process and made an otherwise terrific visit uncomfortable. And what if I had no cards? Not a good look. We are from out of state so we are not here often but this bears mentioning. We won’t eat here again.

Thank you for the feedback on the credit card and sharing the potential for what could happen. We have shared this with our operations team.

App Privacy

The developer, Dave & Buster's inc., indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

Purchases
Financial Info
Location
Contact Info
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Other Data

Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

Usage Data

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

Seller

Dave & Buster's inc.

Size

87.2 MB

Supports

Wallet
Get all of your passes, tickets, cards, and more in one place.

How does tap work at Dave and Busters?

The Dave & Buster's app uses the near-field communications (NFC) chip found in most newer models of smartphones to handle contactless transactions. That means customers can play video games and other attractions in its arcades with a smartphone tap instead of swiping a plastic card.

Can I use my phone to play Dave and Busters?

Buy a #DIGITAL POWER CARD® and #tap to activate. games with your #phone! Download our new app at. https://www.daveandbusters.com/downloadfun.

Can you go to Dave and Busters just to play in the arcade?

You can go to Dave & Buster's just to play games but there is a full restaurant and bar as well. If you do want to have lunch or dinner you have the option of eating in the somewhat quieter restaurant or eating at one of the many tables, booths, or bar in the game room.

How much is an unlimited play pass at Dave & Buster's?

While many dine-in deals may have ended for now, including Dave and Buster's $19.99 unlimited wings and games, fans of Dave & Buster's can consider purchasing gifts cards to use for to-go orders, curbside services or online orders, which can be used for future dining or gaming.