Chuck E. Cheese’s Embraces a New Form of Cheddar

Chuck E. Cheese’s—the pizzeria-slash-video-game-arcade that bills itself as the place “where a kid can be a kid”—has been making some changes of late aimed at appealing to millennial moms and dads. Thin-crust and gluten-free pizza have been added to the menu, along with wraps and an expanded beer and wine selection. Some locations have free Wi-Fi. Chuck himself, the chain’s guitar-playing mascot, has even grown up a little, exchanging his skater look for a pair of well-fitted jeans.

Its most sweeping change is yet on the horizon: After 39 years, it’s phasing out tokens in favor of rewards cards. Christelle Dupont, a spokeswoman for the restaurant’s parent company, CEC Entertainment, says the cards “will be easier for everyone.” Easier, of course, for Chuck E. Cheese’s to collect data on customers’ gaming habits and easier for gamers to track their scores and recover points if they lose their cards. Don’t worry: Dupont says the raffle-style tickets the basketball arcade games spit out—the ones you need to claim stuffed animals and other prizes—aren’t going anywhere.