15 Vintage Boardwalk Arcade Games That Are History
These 15 vintage boardwalk arcade games were once common at seaside arcades but have now disappeared from most locations.
- Sophia Zapanta
- 4 min read
Arcades along boardwalks once featured unique mechanical and early electronic games. Many of these were popular for decades before fading due to changes in technology and entertainment. Today, only a few survive in private collections or old amusement halls.
1. Penny Drop Machines
Tiia Monto on Wikimedia Commons
Penny drop games involved dropping a coin onto a platform to push other coins forward. Players aimed to get coins to fall into a tray for a payout. These games were simple but kept people playing for hours. They slowly vanished as electronic ticket machines took over.
2. Love Tester
Polylerus on Wikimedia Commons
This game asked players to grip metal handles to test how “romantic” or “hot” they were. The results were random and meant for fun. These machines were common near photo booths or fortune tellers. Over time, they were removed for taking up space without offering real gameplay.
3. Strength Tester (High Striker)
Brian Katt on Wikimedia Commons
Players used a mallet to hit a base, sending a marker up a pole toward a bell. The goal was to hit hard enough to ring the bell at the top. It tested physical strength but also appealed to crowds watching. Safety concerns and space limits led to its decline on many boardwalks.
4. Zoltar Fortune Teller
Stacycd001 on Wikimedia Commons
This machine featured a mechanical figure that “spoke” and gave printed fortunes. It had flashing lights and a moving figure inside a glass box. These were once common but became rare due to maintenance issues. Some modern versions still exist, but the original ones are hard to find.
5. Electro-Mechanical Rifle Games
numb3r on Wikimedia Commons
These games used light sensors and mechanical parts to simulate shooting targets like ducks or bottles. They were made before video games and used real sound effects and moving parts. The experience felt physical and exciting. They disappeared due to their bulky size and high repair needs.
6. Pinball Machines (Pre-Digital)
Rhododendrites on Wikimedia Commons
Older pinball machines were purely mechanical or electro-mechanical without screens or digital scoring. These machines had physical bumpers, flippers, and bells. They were skill-based and popular through the 1960s and ’70s. Newer electronic models replaced them, and older ones became collector items.
7. Baseball Toss
茶でもすするか on Wikimedia Commons
Players threw real baseballs at metal targets or moving objects to score points. The game rewarded accuracy and speed. It was simple and often placed near basketball hoop games. It faded as more compact digital games were introduced.
8. Skee-Ball with Paper Tickets
headexplodie on Wikimedia Commons
Skee-Ball involved rolling wooden balls up a lane into scoring rings. The original versions used paper tickets that came out of a small machine when you scored. Newer versions are digital or use cards instead of tickets. The classic models have become rare.
9. Mechanical Horse Racing
Element5 Digital on Pexels
Players placed coins to start miniature horse races on a track. The horses moved based on motors, not electronics. These games encouraged group betting and competition. Most were removed as more modern betting-style games were introduced.
10. Hand-Crank Movies
Clemens Schmillen on Wikimedia Commons
These machines played short silent films or animations when you turned a handle. Sometimes called mutoscopes, they were among the earliest arcade devices. They were often used for cartoon clips or novelty scenes. These faded away as screens and digital video took over.
11. Gun Gallery Shooters
gwaar on Wikimedia Commons
These were non-video games where targets physically moved or reacted when hit by a beam of light from a rifle. Some had ducks that dropped or cans that spun. They used simple wiring and mechanical reactions. Few remain because parts are hard to replace.
12. Peep Show Machines
Michael G. Khmelnitsky on Wikimedia Commons
These coin-operated boxes played short visual reels or scenes through a viewer. The content was sometimes comedic or slightly risqué. They were part of early 20th-century arcades but remained into the mid-century. Changing social standards and new media led to their removal.
13. Wooden Claw Machines
Rwendland on Wikimedia Commons
Early claw machines had wooden frames and required precise manual control to grab small prizes. They were slow and required skill compared to today’s motorized versions. The prizes were often candy or trinkets. They were replaced by faster, flashier models.
14. Air Hockey with Metal Goals
Cristina Ruiz on Wikimedia Commons
Older air hockey tables had metal goals and thicker, slower pucks. These created louder sounds and a heavier playing feel. The tables wore down faster and required regular upkeep. Newer tables use plastic parts and digital scoring, phasing out older models.
15. Coin-Operated Music Players (Jukebox Stations)
Rebecca Marsh on Wikimedia Commons
Arcades often had small jukebox-style players where you could pay to play music while gaming. They gave players a chance to choose songs for the arcade space. These became less common with the rise of overhead sound systems and digital playlists. Most were removed by the early 2000s.