Beverly Lee admits she’s built a business that she’s designed for self-preservation.

Lee recently debuted Chaos Arcade, a video and virtual gaming arcade in a spacious 13,000-square-foot suite located at 1020 W. Francis, at the northwest corner of Francis Avenue and Monroe Street, in north Spokane.

From the low-tech carnival classic skee ball to the rudimentary Pac-Man video game to the eight stations that feature virtual reality gaming, the 31-year-old Lee and her team of three managers have assembled an arcade intended to be fitting for all ages.

“I wanted to create a gaming space where a couple of 30-year-old men could come in and not be looked at like they’re predators,” says Lee.

That’s something she claims her husband, Eric, and a friend of his once experienced at an arcade in Spokane she declines to identify.

After moving to Spokane from Denver three years ago due to her husband’s job transfer, they quickly discovered that without friends and family here, and not yet having children of their own, their social options were limited, she says.

“We’re not bar people and we’re not outdoorsy. And who wants to be outside when it rains and it’s windy anyway? This was a selfish project,” she says of Chaos Arcade. “I’m a gamer 100%.”

Hours of operation are 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Lee says she’s has grown the staff to 18 employees to help keep up with increased business.

Despite the arrival of COVID-19 last year, Lee signed the lease to develop Chaos on April 1, 2020. Before opening this past March, she had plenty of time to be thoughtful about the arcade design, Lee asserts.

At full capacity Chaos has the ability to host 345 people, Lee says.

All eight virtual stations are lined against Chaos’ west wall. Lee, and managers Weston Atkins, Eden Craig, and Will Prater, developed themes in arranging where they placed games.

The “Boomer Zone” includes games such as Pac-Man that were developed in the age of Generation Xers and up, and “Carnival Row” features games commonly found at a county fair. In total, Chaos features 90 games that span the last four decades of video games, she says.

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