HUB Games Area

The entire HUB building is an amazing spot for the students of University of Washington and visitors alike.
It’s a very easy walk from the light rail station (about 10 minutes).
In addition to the game area (complete with a bowling alley, ping pong, video games and pool tables) there are ample areas to sit and relax or socialize, including a huge living room area featuring fireplaces and a food court.
The book store is also in the HUB and campus tour originates from this building as well.

Overall, pretty nice– especially if you are a UW Student or with a UW student. If you are into bowling, it is a cheaper Mon-​Thu, being $ 14/​hour compared to $ 17/​hr Fri-​Sat, compared to $ 20 M-​Th and $ 27 Fri-​Sat for the general public. In the bowling alley, everything is about standard– there are a variety of different weights of bowling balls and the alley features is about average. One cool feature is you can take pictures of each of the players on the control board and it will show up on the sides of the players’ names on the bigger screen. They usually play pop music in the alley too which is nice. Behind the benches of the alleys there are also a lot of cup holders which is nice to hold your drinks in. The bowling alley can get a bit crowded on the weekends though, so if you go on the weekend it might be good to make a reservation. Otherwise if you are going during the week, it is not that crowded.
There is also usually a 50% off coupon for the HUB Games area in the coupon books handed out the first week of every quarter at the University Bookstore. The video game area also has the Wii, Xbox, and WiiU with various games– such as Mario Party, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Brothers. For UW students it is $ 3/​hr during week and $ 3.50/hr during Friday-​Saturday.
They sell some snacks and few refrigerated drinks by the Game area which are quite affordable. The same snacks are sold upstairs in the HUB cafeteria/​mart areas for more expensive, so snacks such as jalapeño chips, chex mix, cheese its, etc. are cheaper to get in the games area. The jalapeño chips and cheese its are usually $ 1, compared to $ 1.50+ for most of the snacks upstairs or on other parts of campus. There is also air hockey, foosball, a few arcade machines (such as pacman), ping pong, and pool.
If you are coming from farther away, know that you may need to pay for parking to park closeby. If you are coming on a Saturday, after ~12 pm, parking on campus is free and if you come before 12 pm, it is $ 5. During the week can be a lot more expensive– up to $ 15 on campus, so you may want to park further away for cheaper parking if you need to park near the HUB.

The newly-​renovated HUB is incredibly nice, and that includes the games area. I came with some friends to go bowling, and we were all pleasantly surprised with how new, clean, and shiny everything was. The bowling balls weren’t new — they were mostly scratched, dented, etc., but that’s easily overlooked, because honestly, what place has brand new shiny bowling balls? If you know a UW student, you can bowl for pretty cheap. Not too far away is a video game room and a billiards room too — all nice and new.
A major downside is that you get the good prices only if you are a UW student or are with a UW student. This is understandable, since the HUB is for students. I’m just not one, so it stinks for me. Also, you have to pay for parking if you want to park nearby.
What a great place for students, though. Take advantage of it if you can!