Mini arcade games provide the nostalgia that you want from retro arcade cabinets of the 1980s without taking up space in your home like the full-scale arcade machines.
They are easy to collect and keep on a shelf or desk in your office or game room. It’s the perfect gift for an arcade enthusiast; that shows off your love for the classic coin op days.
Through hundreds of hours of arcade research and compiling of reviews, I have found the best mini arcade machines for you and your budget.
Summary of the Top Mini Arcade Machines
Top Overall Mini Arcade Cabinet for the Best Value
Best All-in-One Mini Arcade Cabinet
Cheapest and Smallest Arcade Machine
Expensive and Biggest Option for Mini Arcade Machines
Read further for more details on each mini arcade cabinet and why it is the right one for you.
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Top Review: My Arcade Micro and Mini Arcade Players
Price: ~ $20 – $40 on Amazon depending on the arcade game
My Arcade micro player mini arcade machines have 16 licensed games to choose from. The awesome collection of retro games are listed below:
- Space Invaders
- Contra
- Pac-Man
- Bubble Bobble
- Elevator Action
- Rolling Thunder
- Ms. Pac-Man
- Galaga
- Caveman Ninja
- Heavy Barrel
- Burgertime
- Karate Champ
- Bad Dudes
- Dig Dug
- Mappy
- Galaxian
It is so fun and exciting to grow your collection of retro arcade games and have them in a smaller space to both play them and show them off.
Authentic and original arcade cabinet art.
Each game has the perfectly replicated side art and marquee from the popular arcade cabinet from the 1980s. It even has the coin slots on the front; even if they are not functional and just for show.
The nostalgic look of these My Arcade machines is one of my favorite parts of them. I always look for arcade cabinets which help preserve the original art. When you play them it also helps in making you feel like you are transported back in time to the golden age of arcade gaming. I absolutely love that!
The joystick and buttons are more authentic than the Tiny Arcades machines. They are still smaller than the full-scale cabinets but it is big enough to feel good to hold and play with.
Sound is adjustable and has great speakers.
The My Arcade cabinets have a great sounding speaker. It emulates the sounds from the original games without distortion or too much bass or cracking. A lot of older reviews have stated that there was “scratchy” audio, although this seems to be fixed with future My Arcade cabinets. The sound is plenty loud for all your needs but can also be adjusted.
The games have a volume control. This seems like it should be standard but a lot of other similar mini arcade machines do not have this option available. This feature is nice if you want to play muted in an office setting or to not annoy others around you.
Another pretty unique feature for mini arcade cabinets is that this comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack. You can enjoy the great sound using your favorite headphones.
Perfectly emulated games and bright, big screens to play them on.
The games are the same from the original arcade classic that it is based on. There are no differences in gameplay or art.
The screen is a decent size at 2.75 inch. Plenty big enough to see when you are playing up close. The color and resolution are great at recreating the visuals from the original arcade cabinet. Everything is shown clearly and fluidly.
Cool addition features; removable joystick for directional pad use.
If you prefer using the d-pad then you can easily screw off the joystick on all these My Arcade cabinets. This does hurt the authentic look of the machines but I think it makes up for it in versatility.
The All-in-one Mini Machine from My Arcade
The My Arcade company also has two options of mini arcade players with lots of games built into the cabinet.
Price: ~ $85 on Amazon
The cabinet with 20 games listed below:
Battle City, Dig Dug, Dig Dug II, Dragon Spirit, Galaga, Galaxian, Mappy, Pac-Panic, Pac-Man, Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, Pac-Mania, Phelios, Rolling Thunder, Rolling Thunder 2, Rolling Thunder 3, Sky Kid, Splatterhouse, Splatterhouse 2, Tower of Druaga, Xevious
A Data East arcade version with 35 games listed below:
Bloody Wolf, BreakThru, Dark Seal, Heavy Barrel, Darwin 4078, Karate Champ, Side Pocket, Caveman Ninja, Street Hoop, Shoot Out, Super BurgerTime, Midnight Resistance, Lock ‘N’ Chase, BurgerTime, Pro Bowling, Pro Soccer, Pro Tennis, Rootin’ Tootin’, Scrum Try, Nitro Ball, Super Doubles Tennis, Super Real Darwin, Tomahawk 777, Treasure Island, Tumble Pop, Two Crude Dudes, Western Express, Wizard Fire, Zaviga, Peters Peppers Ice Cream Factory, B-Wings, Joe & Mac Returns, Magical Drop
The obvious advantage of these is that you only need one cabinet and you have all these classic arcade games in one spot. It takes up less space and makes it more convenient to play all the games you want to play.
Another bonus for these two cabinets is that they come with a power adapter so you do not need to use batteries. The individual cabinets require 4 AA batteries to power.
These two mini arcade cabinets are a couple inches larger than the individual arcade game cabinets from My Arcade. These all-in-one cabinets are 10 inches tall with a 4.25 inch screen. The other ones were about 8 inches tall with a 2.75 inch screen.
The disadvantages are that they do not have the original artwork because there are so many games on them. It also is not as much fun to collect or show off your favorite arcade game when it is all in one machine.
For example, if you are a huge Galaga fan, it would be a better idea to get Galaga’s own mini arcade cabinet so you can admire the artwork and show it off to family and friends (if your wife lets you put it out in the open, instead of in a closet.)
Review for Cheapest and Smallest Mini Arcade Machine: Tiny Arcade
Price: ~ $20 on Amazon
I own 3 of the 15 Tiny Arcade machines. I want to collect them all! There are a few reasons why these Tiny Arcade games are my top cheapest option on this list.
Really inexpensive.
Each machine costs around $20. The price can even go as low as $13 on Amazon. Check Camelcamelcamel to see when prices are at their lowest.
They look authentic and colorful.
Each Tiny Arcade game cabinet has the original side panel art and backlit marquee on top. The attention to these small details really makes these stand out from the rest of the mini arcade products. It will give you the nostalgic feeling of playing the bigger version of the classic game at the arcade.
They have bright screens and the games are playable.
The screen and buttons are quite petite, but all the games show up well and play exactly like the regular sized arcade cabinets that they are based on.
The joystick does not bend in the same way as the regular size joystick. Though, scaling it down makes it impossible to wrap your hand around it the same way. So using one finger works out pretty well to control your character.
The screen is 1.5 inches and full color. I had no trouble seeing the arcade characters.
They have a variety of games available; making them great for collectors.
The current list of games in the Tiny Arcade line are:
- Dig Dug
- Frogger
- Galaga
- Galaxian
- Ms. Pac Man
- Pac-Man
- Space Invaders
- Hello Kitty Pac-Man
- Burger Time
- Mappy
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- New Rally X
- Pole Position
- Q*Bert
- Tetris
This is a fantastic list of the absolute best games from the golden age of arcade gaming.
Tiny Arcades have added more games in the past. I’m hoping they add a few more to their lineup of mini arcades. Some 1980s arcade games that come to mind are Donkey Kong, Centipede, or Defender.
One important thing to know about these is that the size is smaller than you might think. Picture them being a tad bit bigger than a keychain size. It is small, but the dimensions are listed on the product page. It is only about 3.5 inches tall. This makes them a little small if you wanted to display them on a shelf.
The speaker is not very loud. What can you expect from a 3 inch arcade cab, though?
These Tiny Arcades take 3 AAA batteries. I don’t see myself changing the batteries in mine anytime soon.
Another small gripe with the Tiny Arcade games is that they do not save high scores after you turn it off.
Bonus from the same company as Tiny Arcade: Micro Arcades
Price: ~ $17 on Amazon
These are not as authentic looking as the Tiny Arcades.
Some pros of the Micro Arcades are the more compact size to fit in your pocket; along with a charging cable so you do not have to use batteries.
The Biggest and Best Mini Arcade Machine: Quarter Arcades
Price: ~ $350 on Amazon
The biggest mini arcade machine; a good size if it’s right for you.
Quarter Arcades makes the largest mini arcade cabinet on this list. It is still not close to the full-scale arcade cabinets from back in the day. I think that most people will like this smaller size, especially if you are looking for mini arcades. It will be able to fit nicely in whatever place in your house you would want to play it or show it off at.
I find that the Quarter Arcade games are best played on a tabletop. It is difficult to sit on the ground and play because you have to bend over to see the screen.
Height: 16.9 inches
Width: 6.3 inches
Depth: 8.3 inches
The most authentic miniature arcade cabinet.
The Quarter Arcade cabs come with the original artwork and marquee for each game just like every product on this list. Quarter Arcades stand out among the competition with a few features and additional quality materials.
These cabinets are made with quality wood and metal, instead of plastic like other mini arcade machines.
The quarter slot on the front adds authenticity and accuracy to the original.
The joystick and buttons are closest in feel to the full scale cabs. Just because these Quarter Arcades are larger than most mini arcade cabinets it makes the joystick larger as well which really helps to grab onto it while you control these games. The buttons also click nicely, similarly to large arcade games.
Quarter Arcades have features like air vents and screws in the right places that add to the authenticity.
Micro-USB charging/power cable.
Quarter Arcades come with a cable so no batteries are needed. You can either leave the mini arcade plugged in for continuous display mode or charge it to take on the go.
This cable also will allow for future firmware updates to be downloaded to your cabinet. This can be really helpful if they find glitches to the sound or graphics and need to deliver a quick patch to fix it.
Extra fun things for collectors.
Each Quarter Arcade mini machine comes with the classic game’s official artwork. Everything comes packed into a collector’s box which you can also display in your gameroom.
The artwork helps add to the value of these more expensive arcade cabinets.
Most expensive option.
At this price you could find a full scale cabinet by 1up arcade. Again, you might not want that big of arcade cabinet. In that case, this would be nice to put on a shelf or a smaller space in your house.
You are paying for quality materials and a bigger size mini arcade machine.
Not as many games to collect…yet.
The Quarter Arcade mini arcade cabinet lineup has the least amount of games on this list. The variety is not the best, though they come with the popular classic arcade games that most people know and love.
Here is the full list of 6 Quarter Arcade mini arcade cabinets:
- Pac-Man
- Ms. Pac-Man
- Pac-Man (40th Anniversary Cabinet)
- Galaxian
- Galaga
- Dig Dug
Not a large collection or variety of games. Especially when you have three versions of Pac-Man and Galaxian, along with its sequel, Galaga. There are really only a few different games with unique gameplay.
The Quarter Arcade website says that Bubble Bobble and Space Invaders are coming soon. Once those are available it will really help with game variety. I hope Quarter Arcades keep producing more arcade games to grow their collection. It will help the fanatic arcade collectors who want more options for cabinets of the same size and type in their gameroom.
I hope you found these mini arcade machine reviews helpful. You cannot go wrong with any of these three companies. They are the top rated mini arcade cabinets currently on the market.