Playing on a soft-tip dart electronic dartboard always provides an extra dimension to the player experience.
These boards almost always feature enough extra bells and whistles to add tons of fun, excitement, and convenience to each play session. And it is these features that make electronic dart boards such attractive value propositions.
Today, I’m going to briefly review one of these boards, the Cricket Pro 800 by Arachnid Darts.
Table of Contents
Cricket Pro 800 Overview
The Cricket Pro 800 (from Amazon) is a tournament-quality electronic dartboard featuring dozens of preprogrammed games and hundreds of game modes and variations.
The board is solidly built, with plenty of quality-of-life features and full support for up to 8 players. Here is what it boasts:
- Features for single and double In/Out
- Bounce out amend feature
- Play on and ranking feature
- Solo play feature
- Volume control
- Heckler Feature
- Sleep mode and reset
- Extra Dart storage
- One-year warranty against defects
When looked at individually, each of these features and traits presents the player with significant convenience and entertainment value. But, when viewed as a whole, the board becomes one of the better dartboards in the electronic dartboard market.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these in detail
Cricket Pro 800’s Best Features
Regulation Target Area
The Cricket Pro 800 by Arachnid features a 15.5-inch target area, making it compatible with nearly all regulation and tournament-style play.
A larger play area helps players build momentum and confidence by improving performance and reducing the number of missed marks during any given play session.
Darts Averaging for x01 Games
One of the coolest features offered by the Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 is its averaging algorithm which helps players keep track of their performance by averaging their PPD, or points per dart, at the end of each round.
In my opinion, this is a “Top of the Line” quality-of-life feature that even more premium options on the market lack. The best part is that the board calculates each player’s PPD quickly and accurately, without delay and error.
Heckler Feature
This next feature is purely for entertainment, but it sets this board apart from the competition. While darts is a sport that can be played solo, it truly shines when played socially or competitively. Part of this social aspect is giving and taking some healthy doses of player heckling.
The Cricket Pro 800’s heckler feature transforms this board’s solo feature into an interactive “opponent” that harasses players loudly after a bad throw. This feature boasts 3 levels of intensity, which range from mild heckling to outright derision. Thankfully, the board’s “heckler” also congratulates players after a particularly good throw.
Built To Last
Considering that the Cricket Pro 800 is not necessarily a cheap product, I’m glad to say that it is built to last.
The board’s playable surface is built out of “Nylon Tough”, a material proven to offer impressive durability through years of repeated use. Even the hardest of throws will not be able to bend these segments out of shape.
The usual excellence of Arachnid design and engineering is evident in the way the board’s micro-thin segment dividers increase your scoring potential and reduce the number of unwanted bounce-outs during a play session.
- Tournament quality electronic dartboard regulation 15.5" target area
- 39 games with 179 variations (seven cricket games)
- NylonTough segments improve durability and playability
Let’s Talk About Value
The value proposition offered by the Cricket Pro 800 is fairly attractive considering the asking price.
In the box you get the following:
- 6 soft-tip darts
- Extra dart tip replacements
- The AC adapter
- Everything you need for installation, including mounting hardware
- Instructions
- Operating manual
But the true value comes from the sheer number of pre-programmed games and modes you have instant access to when you turn the Cricket Pro 800 on. Here are some of the included games:
- 301 up to 901, and 301 League
- 7 different Cricket games, including Low Ball, Double Only, and Wild Card
- Round the Clock
- Shoot Out
- Horse
- Bermuda Triangle
- Count Up
- And many more
Final Thoughts On The Cricket Pro 800
Saying that the Cricket Pro 800 is the perfect electronic soft-tip dartboard would be disingenuous. For example, the sound produced by darts hitting the surface of the board can be quite loud, which can get annoying for some people fast. The board is also more expensive than I would like to see since there are cheaper options available.
However, when you take a look at every feature offered here, it becomes clear that the overall value is quite reasonable. The Cricket Pro 800 is a feature-rich, well-built, durable electronic board with an arcade feel that I can recommend without hesitation.
