B. Lucky & Sons opens in Brisbane!

Arcade Bars are becoming a big deal. While a lot have that retro feeling we all crave, or rely on their cocktails being named after Sonic the Hedgehog characters, B. Lucky and Sons hits a lot of those marks the others don’t.

Hidden in the newly revamped TC Beirne Department Store off the Brunswick St Mall in Fortitude Valley, you could easily miss it. From the outside, it looks like a pawn shop. But it’s by design. Created in the spirit of an illegal gambling den, you pass the pawn-shop-but-really-a-prize-hall, to the sparkling games within. The neon lights and whirling and howling noises of the games will easily show you where you are.

B. Lucky and Sons is the second of its kind, after a successful launch in Melbourne about a month ago, and from the minds of those who brought us Holey Moley and Strike Bowling. It’s certainly scratching an itch you didn’t know you had. With new games based on the Tomb Raider and Rampage movies, and old arcade favourites like Dance Dance Revolution and Space Invaders.

And the owners know their audience. Want to hang out with your friends? Want a place to take a date? Want some good food? Want to spend some fun times winning some great retro prizes?

There’s certainly an audience for it. Want somewhere to bring a date? Why not try win them a kitchy prize of let them beat you at skee-ball. Want somewhere fun to hang out with your friends? Why not beat them at Mario Kart. Want some great food and cool cocktails while sitting in a replicated tie fighter cockpit? Well, B. Lucky and Sons definitely has you covered there.

Want to check out the newest drawcard for Fortitude Valley? B. Lucky and Sons opens on Thursday September 27. Get in quick and win the retro Return of the Jedi puzzle!

Written by Brice Fallon.

As if Diwali weren’t colorful and fun enough, The Festival of Lights: A Lift-the-flap Diwali Celebration by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Darshika Varm, makes it even more fun to read about with flaps and things to lift and pull to see more information or details in the illustrations.

The book is a story about a family getting ready for Diwali and what happens on the different days of the five-day celebration. There’s cleaning, shopping, crafting, food preparation and getting the home altar ready for the big day.

It covers decorating the outside of the house with rangoli, diyas and lanterns, buying sweets to share with family and friends, the sights and scents of the mandir (home temple), getting dressed up in new fancy clothes, the story of Diwali and celebrations with relatives.

Flaps (there are more than 140 in all) give you vocabulary words for different foods and definitions, as well as fun things like what’s inside the shopping basket or where the cat is hanging out. They also help illuminate the story of Diwali, which is the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram defeated the demon Ravana to save his wife, Sita.

This pretty and colorful book helps kids understand what Diwali is and how it is celebrated, regardless of whether they practice it at home. This would be a nice book to keep in a classroom (it’s rated for kids ages 3-7) or to have at home to teach kids about Diwali even if it’s not something you celebrate. Where I live there are a lot of people from India so we are probably exposed to Diwali more than some other regions of America, but it’s a nice holiday to know about wherever you live.

Combine with the book Diwali and check out some fun lantern crafts and printables for kids to round out your experience.

About the book: 24 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail prices $22.99.

Have you read?