# 2019 SUMMER ARCADE TOUR STOP 6: Free Gold Watch - San Francisco, California (July 2019)

**Source:** Knapp Arcade  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2019-07-01  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/2019-summer-arcade-tour-stop-6-free-gold-watch-san-francisco-california-july-2019

---

## Analysis

A travel article documenting the author's visit to Free Gold Watch arcade in San Francisco during a summer 2019 arcade tour. The venue is praised for its extensive and well-maintained pinball collection spanning multiple eras and manufacturers, including modern Stern titles, classic Williams/Bally/Gottlieb machines, and rare cocktail cabinets. The author highlights Black Knight: Sword of Rage as an unexpectedly enjoyable modern game and notes the venue's mix of pinball and classic video arcade games.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Free Gold Watch has an amazing collection with variety spanning older EMs, newest games from Stern/Chicago Gaming/Jersey Jack, and classics from Bally/Williams/Gottlieb — _Direct observation by tour author visiting the venue; supported by detailed machine inventory_
- [HIGH] The vast majority of games at Free Gold Watch are in great working order — _Author's direct assessment during visit_
- [HIGH] Black Knight: Sword of Rage is super fast and brutal, yet really fun — _Author's personal experience playing the game; family also enjoyed it_
- [HIGH] Black Knight: Sword of Rage still isn't intuitive for people unfamiliar with it — _Author's observation; required explanation of shots for family members to enjoy_

### Notable Quotes

> "Part Printshop / Part Pinball Paradise, Free Gold Watch has an amazing collection that has tons of variety"
> — **Knapp Arcade (author)**, Opening section
> _Sets up the dual nature of the venue and establishes positive framing of the collection_

> "My one criticism is that the game still isn't intuitive for people who aren't familiar with it, but once I explained the shots to my wife and sons they really liked it."
> — **Knapp Arcade (author)**, Black Knight discussion
> _Identifies a potential accessibility concern with BKSOR while noting its appeal once understood_

> "I know that they're not great games, but I have a thing for cocktail pinball machines. They're so quirky and uncommon."
> — **Knapp Arcade (author)**, Cocktail pins section
> _Reveals author's personal collecting/playing preferences and why certain machines matter despite lower objective quality ratings_

> "FGW is so incredible that I had to make it happen"
> — **Knapp Arcade (author)**, Closing section
> _Strong endorsement of the venue despite inconvenient location relative to hotel_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Free Gold Watch | organization | Pinball arcade and bar venue in San Francisco, California; also operates as a t-shirt printing company; known for hosting extensive collection of rare and classic pinball machines |
| Stern Pinball | company | Modern pinball manufacturer; multiple games in Free Gold Watch collection including AC/DC Premium, Batman 66 Premium, Beatles, Black Knight: Sword of Rage Pro, Deadpool Pro, Ghostbusters Pro, Guardians of the Galaxy Pro, Iron Maiden Premium, Iron Man Vault Edition, Lord of the Rings, The Simpsons Pinball Party, Spider-Man, Star Wars Premium, Wheel of Fortune, Metallica LE |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; represented in Free Gold Watch collection by Dialed In! LE, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Wizard of Oz Emerald City LE |
| Chicago Gaming | company | Pinball manufacturer; Attack From Mars Remake Special Edition and Monster Bash Remake Special in collection |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; Total Nuclear Annihilation in collection |
| Williams Electronics | company | Classic pinball manufacturer; multiple games in collection including Black Knight 2000, Cyclone, Funhouse, Indiana Jones, The Machine: Bride of Pin-Bot, Medieval Madness, Star Trek TNG, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Terminator 2, White Water, Zodiac |
| Bally Manufacturing | company | Classic pinball manufacturer; extensive representation in collection including The Addams Family, Baby Pac-Man, Cactus Canyon, Centaur II, The Champion Pub, Cirqus Voltaire, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Eight Ball Deluxe, Fathom, Fish Tales, Hot Shot, Lady Luck, Metallica Master of Puppets LE, Paragon, Scared Stiff, Twilight Zone, World Cup Soccer |
| Gottlieb | company | Classic pinball manufacturer; multiple games in collection including Alien Star, El Dorado, Hoops, Jet Spin, Night Moves, Rack 'Em Up!, Royal Flush, Snow Derby |
| Data East | company | Pinball manufacturer; Jurassic Park in collection |
| Black Knight: Sword of Rage | game | Stern Pinball, 2019; Pro version; author's surprise favorite from the visit; praised as super fast and brutal yet fun, though noted as not intuitive for unfamiliar players |
| Caribbean Cruise | game | International Concepts, 1989; cocktail pinball machine; featured at Free Gold Watch |
| Night Moves | game | Gottlieb, 1989; cocktail pinball machine; featured at Free Gold Watch |
| Foxy Lady | game | Game Plan, 1978; cocktail pinball machine; featured at Free Gold Watch |
| Knapp Arcade | person | Author/content creator conducting summer 2019 arcade tour across the United States; documents arcade venues and their collections |
| Pinball Map | organization | Online resource for pinball machine locations and inventories; author credited using their data for Free Gold Watch inventory |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Arcade venue tour and documentation, Pinball machine collection curation and maintenance, Black Knight: Sword of Rage game experience and accessibility
- **Secondary:** Cocktail pinball machines and collecting preferences, Vintage vs. modern pinball game availability, Arcade venue business model (pinball + video games + printshop)
- **Mentioned:** Multi-manufacturer ecosystem in shared arcade space

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.92) — Highly positive tone throughout with enthusiastic praise for Free Gold Watch's collection, condition, and variety. Author expresses genuine enjoyment of games and appreciation for quirky machines. Only minor critique is BKSOR's lack of intuitiveness for new players, which is framed as constructive observation rather than negative criticism.

### Signals

- **[event_signal]** Summer 2019 arcade tour by Knapp Arcade documenting multiple arcade venues across the United States (confidence: high) — Article explicitly labels itself as 'SUMMER ARCADE TOUR STOP 6' and references 'Hopefully later this week I'll have a report from another amazing arcade'
- **[community_signal]** Free Gold Watch positioned as a significant destination arcade venue in the San Francisco Bay Area with exceptional pinball collection (confidence: high) — Author traveled to inconvenient location specifically to visit, describes it as 'so incredible', and notes it's referred to as 'Legendary' in heading
- **[product_concern]** Black Knight: Sword of Rage identified as unintuitive for players unfamiliar with the game despite being fun once explained (confidence: high) — Author states: 'My one criticism is that the game still isn't intuitive for people who aren't familiar with it, but once I explained the shots to my wife and sons they really liked it.'

---

## Transcript

After a brief hiatus, the arcade road trip has resumed...all the way across the country. Today I present to you San Francisco’s Legendary Free Gold Watch arcade. 

Part Printshop / Part Pinball Paradise, Free Gold Watch has an amazing collection that has tons of variety- older EMs, the newest games from Stern, Chicago Gaming, Jersey Jack, classics from Bally / Williams and Gottlieb...a little bit of everything. Even better, the vast majority of the games are in great working order. 

Check out this lineup (copied from the awesome Pinball Map, because I’m not typing all of this in on a phone lol)

AC/DC (Premium) (Stern, 2012)

The Addams Family (Bally, 1992)

Alien Star (Gottlieb, 1984)

Attack From Mars (Remake) (Special Edition) (Chicago Gaming, 2017)

Baby Pac-Man (Bally, 1982)

Batman 66 (Premium) (Stern, 2016)

Beatles (Stern, 2018)

Black Knight 2000 (Williams, 1989)

Black Knight: Sword of Rage (Pro) (Stern, 2019)

Cactus Canyon (Bally, 1998)

Caribbean Antonio Cruz (International Concepts, 1989)

Centaur II (Bally, 1983)

The Champion Pub (Bally, 1998)

Cirqus Voltaire (Bally, 1997)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (Bally, 1992)

Cyclone (Williams, 1988)

Deadpool (Pro) (Stern, 2018)

Dialed In! (LE) (Jersey Jack, 2017)

Eight Ball Deluxe (Bally, 1981)

El Dorado (Gottlieb, 1975)

Fathom (Bally, 1981)

Fish Tales (Williams, 1992)

Foxy Lady (Game Plan, 1978)

Funhouse (Williams, 1990)

Ghostbusters (Pro) (Stern, 2016)

Guardians of the Galaxy (Pro) (Stern, 2017)

Hoops (Gottlieb, 1991)

Hot Shot (Bally, 1994)

Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (Williams, 1993)

Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast (Premium) (Stern, 2018)

Iron Man (Vault Edition) (Stern, 2014)

Jet Spin (Gottlieb, 1977)

Jurassic Park (Data East, 1993)

Lady Luck (Bally, 1986)

Lord of the Rings (Stern, 2003)

The Machine: Bride of Pin-Bot (Williams, 1991)

Medieval Madness (Williams, 1997)

Metallica (Master of Puppets - LE) (Stern, 2013)

Monster Bash (Remake Special) (Chicago Gaming, 2018)

Night Moves (Gottlieb, 1989)

Paragon (Bally, 1978)

Pirates of the Caribbean (Jersey Jack, 2018)

Prospector (Sonic, 1977)

Rack 'Em Up! (Gottlieb, 1983)

Royal Flush (Gottlieb, 1976)

Scared Stiff (Bally, 1996)

The Simpsons Pinball Party (Stern, 2003)

Snow Derby (Gottlieb, 1970)

Spider-Man (Stern, 2007)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (Williams, 1993)

Star Wars (Premium) (Stern, 2017)

Tales of the Arabian Nights (Williams, 1996)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Williams, 1991)

Total Nuclear Annihilation (Spooky, 2017)

Twilight Zone (Bally, 1993)

Wheel of Fortune (Stern, 2007)

White Water (Williams, 1993)

The Wizard of Oz (Emerald City LE) (Jersey Jack, 2013)

Wizard! (Bally, 1975)

World Cup Soccer (Bally, 1994)

Zodiac (Williams, 1971)

Whenever I hit up an arcade, there’s always a game that I end up liking much more than I thought I would. This time that game was the new Stern Black Knight Sword of Rage. I realize that I’m a little late to the Sword of Rage party, it’s been out for a couple of months, but my family and I couldn’t stop playing it. It’s super fast and brutal, yet really fun. My one criticism is that the game still isn’t intuitive for people who aren’t familiar with it, but once I explained the shots to my wife and sons they really liked it. 

Another group of games that we had fun with was Free Gold Watch’s not one, not two, but three cocktail pins...Caribbean Antonio Cruz, Night Moves and Foxy Lady. I know that they’re not great games, but I have a thing for cocktail pinball machines. They’re so quirky and uncommon. 

In addition to its vast pinball collection, the venue also has a number of video games, including the always cool Dual Monitor Nintendo Play Choice 10, a bunch of neat mini cabinets (Not Arcade1Ups), a Big Buck Hunter, two very appropriate San Francisco Rush drivers, the always fun Ice Cold Beer, Super Chexx and a couple more. 

I flew into San Fran this morning and much to my chagrin Free Gold Watch is nowhere near my hotel down by the water. Even so, FGW is so incredible that I had to make it happen. Hopefully later this week I’ll have a report from another amazing arcade. 

Thanks for reading 🙂

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 89319062-5d39-4e44-a465-3386464e5113*