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Local arcade hosts lock-in to raise money for Riley Children's Hospital

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INDIANAPOLIS — 24 hours of gaming for a good cause sounds like a fair trade.

On Saturday, Extra Life took over Boss Battle Games in Castleton Square Mall to host a 24-hour lock in to raise money for Riley Children's Hospital.

Extra Life, founded in 2008, unites thousands of players across the world for a 24-hour gaming marathon to support Children s Miracle Network Hospitals. Their motto: "Play Games, Heal Kids."

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The 24-hour lock in is hosted on the same day at arcades globally. 9to6games influencers Brian Hoffman and Jake Richardson are running the show in Indy.

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"We absolutely love it, a big part of what we do is for the donations and for the kids," said Hoffman. "A lot of the games that we're given for review, if it doesn't make it into our private life we usually donate it to Extra Life to help donate money and to give back."

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Extra Life started to honor Tori Enmon, a young leukemia patient at Texas Childrens Hospital but grew to help children all around the world.

"Some local podcasters were raising money to get games and stuff like that for her and it kind of snowballed and exploded from there in a pretty awesome amazing way," said Richardson.

100 percent of profits from their 24 hour lock in events are donated to local hospitals. The program has raised over $100 million for hospitals since its inception.

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On the list of games planned for Saturday, they have War Hammer tabletop, Magic the gathering and play-to-win games, among the massive arcade games at Boss Battle.

ExtraLife normally plans to host their 24-hour lock ins on the night of Daylight Savings for an extra hour of gaming, but this year they are running on a make up schedule.

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"We would like to give a huge shout out to Boss Battle Games, here at Castleton Square Mall. They have been magnificent and their facility is amazing. If you have not come down here to check out this arcade, you really need to," Hoffman said. "It's phenomenal, it has some of the best games from my childhood. It's like walking into a nostalgia park."

Extra Life has an Indianapolis Guild that meets once a month to help grow the Extra Life movement, learn more, here.