Fessler taps into a love of arcade games

4/2/2025

Dan Fessler’s love for arcade games started in his hometown of Clear Lake. He enjoyed games like The Simpsons Arcade Game, Cruis’n USA, and various shooting games for a specific reason.

“I would get like 75 cents, so I would play three games. My brother said, play Centipede. It’s a super popular game. I put a quarter in it, and 30 seconds later, my quarter was gone. I would always go to Cruis’n USA that would guarantee two or three minutes of a race or shooting games because that would give you at least two or three minutes as well. The old games I just thought were way too punishing,” Fessler said.

Arcade games had been popular for decades at this point, with gaming machines seeing their peak in the 1980s. Classic arcades — or barcades — like Up-Down or The Operating Room still exist. You can even buy an arcade game for your home. Or, if you are like Fessler, you can start building them. 

Fessler moved to a home in Des Moines in 2015 that had a detached garage in the back alley already equipped with a wood shop. As a self-described jack of all trades but master of none, he decided he would start woodworking.

“My buddies from high school visited, and we went to Up-Down. We were playing (Teenage Mutant Ninja) Turtles. One of my friends said, ‘We have to beat this.’ We’re just feeding quarters into it for about 40 minutes playing the whole thing. And he said, ‘You were talking about building something; you should build one of these.’ I was like, that’s a good idea, sure. Why not?” Fessler said.

He said the end result came out looking rough but that it was a good jumping-off point. Eventually, he started building “main cabs” or “multi-cabs” for friends and family. These cabinets came with the option to play multiple games on them instead of just one.

Fessler focused his attention on taking an existing digital game and seeing if he could turn it into an arcade game. Switch ‘N’ Shoot became the focus. The game is available at Up-Down in the East Village at the moment. 

After a few of the Switch ‘N’ Shoot machines sold, which helped fund his operations, Fessler pivoted to Nidhog 2, a popular indie game. After a long-shot question from the game’s developer was answered, and a less than friendly article on the Polygon gaming website was published, Nidhog 2 was a success. 

“Their headline for it was, ‘There’s finally a way to pay $6,000 to play Nidhog 2.’ I got 1,000 people to my website just from that article. It was a fairly written article, and the response was really good,” Fessler said.

Nidhog 2 proved to be a successful endeavor for Fessler and DSM Arcade. In the background, Fessler had an idea for a game of his own, Perfect Pour. The idea came from a local watering hole.

“I was sitting at the bar at Confluence. They have a huge wall of taps, and the bartender would start pouring one on this end and run to the other end and pour a little, run back to the other one and stop it. He was just dashing back and forth, pouring all these beers. I was just sitting there, sipping my beer, watching him. It was a genuine light bulb moment. I thought that would be a really fun game,” Fessler said.

Confluence Brewing Company let Fessler and DSM Arcade shoot the trailer for the game in their facility. The artwork for the game was created by local artist Maddy Fusco. The game has been on tour at expos as Fessler tries to get the game into bars and arcades across the country. Part of the game’s appeal is that it is easy to get a handle on right away.

“When we showed Perfect Pour at the Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee, we would see people just come up to it and look at it and play it correctly. I saw a 7-year-old kid look at it and do that. And then a 75-year-old man,” Fessler said.

Being able to make his own video games is a dream come true for Fessler. That is something a lot of people say when their dreams are realized, but Fessler says he has proof.

“I found a cassette recording. It is little high-pitch me talking on this recorder when I’m 5, saying, ‘I wonder what the future is going to be like. What’s my job? Do I make games or something like that? Do I make games?’ I definitely thought it was possible. So, at least on some level, I’ve done that,” Fessler said. ♦