Gators Games Brings Mobile Arcade Fun to an Event Near You

Dad’s expert at “anything with a plug,” mom loves the “simplicity” and their eight-year-old daughter, Jaden, as vice president of the family company, is quick and succinct with the business’s operating premise: “It comes to you, and you don’t have to come to us.”

Meet the Sanz family of Brandon, on hand Sept. 17 at the First Annual Lobstah’ Festival at the Winthrop Pole Barn, presented by the Rotary Club of Brandon South, where they took a time out to discuss its Gators Games mobile arcade business.

“Our biggest draw today is that it’s air-conditioned,” said Jorge Sanz, about his family’s classic arcade game room in an air-conditioned truck. “You can go to Best Buy and buy a Sony PlayStation, a Nintendo Wii, an Xbox and a 42-inch, high-definition T.V., but this is a completely different experience. Basically, it’s a game room on wheels.”

And, added Sanz, “There’s a ‘wow’ factor to it.”

Inside the truck are time-tested arcade classics, including Donkey Kong, Galaga, Frogger, Pac-Man and more.

“We’re a full-sized arcade game room, we go to parties and events, fundraisers, schools, daycare centers and summer camps, anywhere we can deliver fun and park,” Jorge Sanz said.

The idea for the mobile game room stems from Sanz’ work both as an information technology director — a field he has worked in for almost 25 years, and now working with the federal court system in Central Florida — and as a partner in the The Clubhouse Sports Cafe in Brandon, at Kingsway and Windhorst roads.

“I realized how much fun kids had with the arcade games at the Clubhouse, I decided to make it mobile,” Sanz said.  “You have a bounce house, which is great, but this is unique.”

Launched in June, Remie Sanz is not surprised by her husband’s interest in arcade games.

“Dad, he’s in charge of anything with a plug,” she said about her family’s respective responsibilities in the business.

The business's draw?

“It’s simplicity, a fun truck, where a kid can let go and have a great time,” Remie Sanz said.

But it’s not just for kids.

“I had a woman who was having a surprise 40^th [five-hour block] birthday party for her husband,” Jorge Sanz said. “She asked, ‘Do you have Galaga? I said, ‘Yes.’ And she said, ‘I have to have it.’ ”

Sanz spent 11 years as a Brandon Lions football coach. His oldest son, Josh, is 24; his youngest son, Jake, is 15, and a sophomore at Brandon High, where he’s on the football team.

The Brandon High School Alumni Association meets the third Monday of the month at the Brandon Clubhouse.

With Gators Games, “the family stays together,” Remie Sanz said.

Added her husband, “It’s not that hard to put some of these video games in a big truck and just deliver fun wherever we can drive and wherever he can park.”

More than work, it’s a hobby, he added.

“At the end of the day, if you follow something you love and you enjoy it, it isn’t work,” Jorge Sanz said.

As for the company's name, it looks like a no-brainer for Jorge Sanz , a graduate of the University of Florida. But while he's "enamored with the whole Gator thing," Sanz wants you to know: "I'm pretty agnostic about the whole thing, we love Seminoles and Bulls and Hurricanes and everyone else."

For information, or to book an arcade visit, call Gators Games at 813-689-PLAY.