Arcade games room ideas for your family
Are you thinking about creating a space in your home to have family fun? Do you want to transform an unused room into something everyone can enjoy but not sure what to do? There are so many options to transform an unused room to a place the whole family can get together, as well as a place to host in! One of the best ways to create an exciting space that your family will enjoy is by creating an arcade games room.
Arcade games have been hugely popular for years amongst children and adults and they can bring hours of entertainment to everyone. Having your own games room full of arcade games can bring your family together. You can go head to head to see who is the best at which game and even invite other family and friends over to double the fun!
To help you create the most epic arcade games room for your family, we have created some fantastic arcade games room ideas for you to try out.
Think of a theme for your family games room
Before you choose any arcade games and get to creating your games room, it is best to think about a theme for the room that best suits your whole family. This will help you decide what type of games you want as well as decorate and accessorise accordingly.
You could think about what you like, what your children like and what your partner likes and mesh it together. Themes can include retro, such as a room that’s a throwback to the 80s or early 2000’s. You could even go with a more modern approach or a futuristic theme! If you want to mesh themes together to suit your family, you could have a mix, creating various areas that takes you on a journey through time!
To excite your children, you could base the theme you choose around their favourite characters too. You could add in elements of characters like superheroes, Disney characters or popular TV show characters.
Choose your family favourite arcade games
The main games room ideas to sort out begins once you have a theme in place. When this is done, you can start to decide which arcade games you want in your games room. Get your family involved with this process so they can all choose their favourite games. Doing this ensures that your family enjoys the new space and gets excited about it. You could choose one favourite from everyone to fill the room, or create a vote for which arcade games they would like, with the most voted for taking pride and place in your family games room.
To help you with your family favourite arcade games decision, we have a wonderful range of different arcade games to suit various themes. Explore some of them below and choose your favourites with your family.
Retro arcade games
We have some amazing retro arcade games, with a modern twist, that your kids will love as well as the whole family!
Arcade Pac-Mania Legacy
See how your high scores compare with the rest of your family and retrogamers with the Arcade Pac-Mania freestanding machine. For the first time ever in Bandi Namco Entertainment Inc, you get WiFi leaderboards to keep track of different players scores!
This machine brings you authentic, and super-nostalgic, arcade experiences in an easy to assemble design. It is a must-have for your family games room as it’s the perfect retro game the whole family will love, as well as your friends. This game can transform your games room into an incredibly fun space that is perfect to host in! The machine plays great, looks great and creates an instant conversation piece amongst retro-game lovers.
Spiderman Pinball Machine
Bring an absolute classic game into the modern world with this Spiderman pinball machine. Capture your child’s favourite superhero in this retro game with a modern twist. The tabletop machine is an electronic version of the traditional, popular arcade game, with a tilting LCD screen that displays the score! The screen also keeps the highest score in memory so your family can try to beat it and have some friendly competition amongst each other.
It includes fun sounds and light shows that are reminiscent of the traditional pinball machine. It also has two feet to tilt the machine so that different players can adjust for the perfect playing angle.
Arcade Atari Legacy
For the ultimate retrogaming theme, this arcade Atari Legacy freestanding machine is perfect. Any retrogamer or pop-culture enthusiast will adore this game! For the first time, the machine comes in a form factor shaped just like the original classic arcade cabinet! It truly will make a statement in your family games room and is a fantastic conversation piece when you are hosting too.
It gives you a highly nostalgic arcade experience, in a easily assembled design, and is a must-have game for your family games room. The machine being an Atari makes this game even more legendary as Atari is the pioneer when it comes to arcade games. This machine is truly a powerhouse in entertainment that helped create the arcade boom, so is the perfect statement and super-fun game to have.
LED tabletop pool game
Turn your family games room into the ultimate arcade experience with this LED tabletop pool game. It is the perfect addition to your arcade games room where everyone can practice their pool table skills. This game is perfect for friendly competitive family fun to go head to head with. You can see who the ultimate pool expert is, with a pool competition between your family and see who makes it to the final!
This pool game includes light up action when playing for the ultimate arcade feel. It looks, feels and sounds just like the full-size pool game you see in any arcade! You can have showdowns with your friends and family when hosting a games night too.
You can rack ‘em up and knock ‘em in with the 2 cues, a full set of mini billiard balls and a triangle to play pool properly on a tabletop board. This awesome game set can also be taken anywhere too, so you can bring some of the arcade fun on a family trip!
Modern & Futuristic arcade games
For a modern & futuristic theme, or mixed theme, we have a wonderful range of more modern arcade games that everyone will love. You can set these modern games up with a futuristic design to transport your family and friends into a possible future!
Mortal Kombat Legacy
In celebration of three brutal decades of Mortal Kombat, Arcade1Up introduces, for the first time ever, live online play with this freestanding arcade game! This element truly brings a classic game into the modern world and future!
This machine leaps into live action digitising technology through the popular Mortal Kombat game. This game is recognised as one of the most important titles in video game history. With its over the top darkly humorous gameplay and finishing moves, Mortal Kombat became an instant franchise that everyone loves. Your family and friends will adore the iconic characters and enduring catchphrases, as well as the iconic music. You and your family can have plenty of hours of fun with this classic game, bringing it into the modern world, and can compete against each other to “finish him!”
LED tabletop air hockey
Bring the fun of arcade air hockey into your family games room in a compact and easy to assemble tabletop design, with this LED tabletop air hockey game. Practice your air hockey skills and compete against your family to win the game.
This amazing arcade game features light up action for an authentic arcade feel! It looks, feels and sounds just like the full-sized game. The set comes with 2 paddles and 2 pucks, perfect for family showdowns or head to head games with friends. It will truly keep kids and adults entertained for hours on end!
Tabletop football game
Whether you prefer playing a quick game of passing football or would rather create your own World Cup, this amazing tabletop football game can step up your games room. No arcade is ever complete without a fun game of tabletop football.
With a sturdy and well thought out design, you can have hours of fun with your family without any wear and tear. This table looks as good as it plays with a stylish wood grain effect finish, ensuring it stands out from your standard tabletop game. It can be a wonderful game to play when hosting a games night and will certainly be the centre of attention.
It even has leg stands for extra stability whilst playing and provides you with the ultimate game of football. Included are 18 players and a ball so you can have a competitive game of 9 a side, whether you choose to go one-on-one or pair up! Keep track of the scores in your own World Cup by using the score sliders. This game gives you all of the fun and feel of a real football table without any hassle!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles countercade
This Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles miniature arcade machine, countercade, is perfect if you are looking for something to fill your games room, without taking up too much space. You can set this machine up anywhere in your games room, wherever you can imagine this machine can go! You could place it on the bar top, tables, unused chairs, shelves or even on top of a mini-fridge! This countercade truly allows you to jam-pack lots of games into your family games room.
While it may be mini in size, it’s enormous in fun. It includes two fun games based on the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series, which your kids will love and even some adults! Players can play as any of their favourite turtles and get stuck into the action of the 2 games, which have the classic “beat them up” style that many arcade games have.
Find the best space in your home to fit everything in
Once you have decided which arcade games you and your family love, and how many you want, you need to find the best space in your home to transform into a games room. A family games room is centred around fun and games so, it needs to be a space that is unused, or very-little used, so you can dedicate it to gaming. This could be a spare bedroom that only gets used for clutter, an empty garage that is storing junk or even an attic or basement.
If you are low on space but still want an element of family gaming fun in your house, you could always dedicate a corner to gaming. Look at the unused space within a room, such as the living room, and see how you can transform it into a games corner. You could choose a few different games that are compact and decorate the corner to stand out within your home.
Think about furniture to fit the theme
Now that you have a dedicated space, you need to think about practical, comfortable furniture that fits the theme you have chosen. You also need to think about where each game can go. If you choose a few arcade cabinets, measure the available space where you plan to put them to see if they fit. Arcade cabinets can take up quite a lot of room due to their large size, so it’s best to check you can put them in the space you want without taking up much of the room. If too much space is taken, or they won’t all fit, re-assess the games and make a sacrifice if needed.
Provide a few tables and surfaces for tabletop games and designate a space for these. You want your family games room to still feel spacious where people can move around freely, so don’t pack the games in, have lots of space between them. If this is difficult, you could have a storage box or drawers to put the tabletop games in and people can bring them out when they would like to play with them. This way, you can have one designated table for games to gain space!
It is also important to have a table with chairs for people who are watching, relaxing or socialising. They can chill out together on this table and have a few drinks and snacks. For a retro feel this table could be an old classic wooden table with matching chairs, but make sure to put some comfy cushions to make the chairs more comfortable.
Have comfy stools for players to sit on when playing certain games, these can be stylish modern black ones or funky futuristic cone-shaped ones. You could also have fun bean bags for extra comfort and a sofa to entice socialising and table-top games!
Decorate to suit the theme
With the theme clear in your head and types of furniture you would like, you need to think about how best to decorate your space. Think about the vibe you would like in the games room and what colour scheme will suit your theme best.
You could go for a mysterious dark setting, to bring the arcade feel to life as the machines and funky lighting will light up the room by themselves. For this realistic arcade setting, consider dark paint for your walls such as black or dark red. You could also try to block any natural light by having black-out curtains over the windows, sealing any cracks that bring in light and using a draft excluder to prevent light seeping from the door.
If you would like a brighter atmosphere with natural light, you could go for a more neutral paint for the walls, such as white, light grey or beige. Or, you could be more daring with a bright coloured paint, like yellow, pink or turquoise. Clear the window area to let natural light flood in and have bright lighting for night-time.
Add in funky lighting
When you have decided how best to decorate your room, the games room ideas you need to focus on next is lighting. The lighting you have will depend on the vibe you want to create which matches your décor. Think about the main areas that will need the most lighting and then think of funky lighting you can add in, to make the room stand out and have the wow factor.
You will probably need clear, bright lighting above the chill out table, bar area and tabletop games areas. For this, you could have light bars above the areas that only shine and focus on them. This keeps the areas people need to see best in a bright spotlight. For a brighter décor, you could consider having long light bars on the ceiling to flood the room with bright light.
If you choose a darker and mysterious vibe with your décor, to reflect a real arcade, keep the light bars small and concentrated on the main areas. Doing this ensures the room stays dark while having spotlights that showcase the areas. Add in funky light features that bring a fluorescent, arcade feel to the room. These should be scattered in various places to make sure that the room isn’t too dark so everyone can see okay.
These funky light features could be colour-changing LED light strips or arty, funky features. You could even bring in yours and your children’s favourite characters through luminous lighting! For little superhero fans, you could have Thor’s hammer as a 3D light. This cool light gives the illusion that Thor has smashed your wall with his hammer. It brings a soft, fluorescent, blue glow that ramps up the arcade feel, while keeping the room dark! Or, for Stitch lovers, you could have a cool Stitch icon light near the tabletop games or arcade cabinets. The icon light gives a soft, warm glow with a glow-in-the-dark feel to bring subtle, funky lighting to the dark room.
For a brighter décor, you could include brighter light features, plenty of lamps and maybe even a colour-changing bulb to add a bright disco element for night-time. You could include yours and your children’s favourite characters with funky character light features too, that give a brighter light to fill every dark corner! Our Sonic the Hedgehog mood light is perfect to brighten any dark corner to give a bright, airy and calming vibe. The soft glow isn’t too harsh but instantly brightens dark corners and is perfect for creating a relaxing environment, especially at night-time. Plus, this light fits in perfectly with a retro game theme and showcases what your family arcade games room is all about!
Think about a bar area and snacks
No family games room is complete without a bar area and space for snacks to enjoy. Whether you are having a fun-filled family night or inviting friends over, you always need to re-fuel with tasty treats and refreshing drinks.
No matter the space you are working with, you can easily create a bar and snack area. If you have plenty of space, you could put in a proper bar top with stools to create a cool re-fuel area. This could be a classic retro wooden bar with funky stools, or a more modern sleek design. You could have shelves to display alcohol for adults, a cup area under the bar and a place for a small fridge to keep soft drinks and beers cool. You could have a cupboard with snacks or a bowl for people to choose from.
If you have a medium sized space, you could create a corner bar that makes a re-fuel corner, with a mini-fridge and small shelves for alcohol and soft drinks. On the bar surface, you can lay out snacks to pick or pop them in little serving dishes! This corner bar can be a place people get their refreshments to take into a communal space, such as a table or sofa.
If you are very limited on space, don’t worry as you can make a little refreshment pit-stop area. This could sit on top of a table in the corner that displays yummy snacks and refreshments. You could have a little, portable mini-fridge to keep cans of beer and soft drinks cool too. These mini-fridges are perfect to sit on the table as they only need to be USB charged to work, so make sure there is an available outlet nearby. They make sure a small space is practical and ensures that your guests and family won’t have warm drinks!
Finish off with cool accessories
This is the most important step to complete within all of the games room ideas. You may think your family arcade games room is complete, but it needs the finishing touches to make the room stand out. And how do you do this? Well, through cool accessories to bring the theme and ambience together.
Depending on your theme and vibe, you can accessorise with various features to make the room pop. If you are leaning towards the more retro vibe, consider artwork and posters of retro games to scatter across the room. You could have popular game character figurines showcased around various areas and even character wall decorations. With the modern theme, you could add sleek pop-art of game characters and a cool gaming backdrop for a feature wall. You could have character cushions on the furniture and incorporate your kids favourite characters with this too.
To bring a realistic arcade vibe, in a darker room, to life you could have neon signs with quotes or gaming words, to add more fluorescent lighting. You could even signpost areas with neon signs, such as the bar area, to showcase the most important places in the room. Having these will even add a futuristic vibe to your room and light up the place in a wow-factor way!
So, what are you waiting for? Make dreams come true and spend quality family bonding time in your very own family arcade games room. Follow our amazing games room ideas to create the ultimate, jaw-dropping and epic games room your family and friends have ever seen! Make sure to get your family’s input on how they would like the room to look and feel, so that everyone can be excited about the new space and want to spend lots of time getting lost in various, fun arcade games.
