The Palace Arcade, another hangout for the boys, takes its name directly from the arcade in the movie <WarGames>. The premise of children becoming protagonists in a doomsday scenario and scrambling to solve a massive problem on their own, combined with the Cold War standoff between the US and the USSR, flows throughout the entirety of <Stranger Things>. You can even find a VHS copy of <WarGames> at the Family Video store.