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Black retro cocktail arcade cabinet with red trim and classic game artwork under the glass top, in our showroom

Retro Arcade Game

Hire From £325.

What the Retro Arcade Game Is

This is the cocktail-table version of our retro arcade hire - a low, sit-down cabinet with the screen set face-up under a glass top, so two players sit on opposite sides and the picture flips to face whoever's turn it is. It's also called a cocktail arcade machine, a coffee-table arcade or a tabletop multicade, and if you're after the standing cabinet instead that's the upright retro arcade game.

It's a multi-game board rather than a single title, so one cabinet holds a stack of seventies and eighties classics that you pick from an on-screen menu - there are several pages of them. The photos here show it running Ms Pac-Man, Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Scramble, and the artwork under the glass takes in Donkey Kong, Galaga, Galaxian, Frogger and 1942 as well. That covers Namco's Pac-Man, Taito's Space Invaders and Nintendo's Donkey Kong in the one machine. It's set to free play, so nobody's hunting for a coin to have a go.

We've been hiring out exhibition and arcade games from Sheffield since 1999, and we own and maintain 95% of what we send out from our 25,000 sq ft warehouse in Rotherham, five minutes from the M1. Every hire includes £5 million public liability insurance, with risk assessments and method statements emailed to you or your venue before the event.

Get a Quote
Top-down view of the cocktail cabinet running a Ms Pac-Man screen, with classic game artwork under the glass
Classic titles in one
Multi-game
No coins needed
Free play
Years hiring since 1999
25+
Insurance cover
£5M

Where It Works Well

  • Exhibition Stands and Trade Shows

  • Office and Christmas Parties

  • Corporate Events and Fun Days

  • University and Freshers Events

  • Private Parties and Games Rooms

  • Hospitality and Games Corners

Why It Holds Up on a Stand

Because it's a sit-down table, people stop and stay rather than have one quick go standing up. The names do a lot of the work too - someone who grew up with Pac-Man or Space Invaders will sit down without being asked, and a multi-game board gives them a reason to stay for a second and third round while your team gets a conversation going. We've had it out on exhibition stands, including one in front of a National Grid display, as well as at office parties, in people's homes and outdoors under a marquee at a fun day.

It goes out alongside our other arcade kit, so we can build a full games corner rather than drop in a single item - it sits well next to the virtual pinball machine, the NSM digital jukebox and the Atari Pong table. We carry over 600 products across 68 categories, so it's one booking, one invoice and one point of contact whether you want the cabinet on its own or a stand's worth of kit around it.

Retro cocktail arcade cabinet set up on an exhibition stand in front of a National Grid display board

Branding

The cabinet carries its classic game artwork as standard, and the side panels can be wrapped with your own design instead - printed and applied by our in-house team, and taken off after the event. It uses printed vinyl suitable for a single hire period. There's more on how it works on our branding page.

We own two of these cabinets, so if you want a matched pair on a stand or one at each end of a games corner, that's straightforward to arrange. Discounts apply when more than one item goes on the same delivery - contact us and we'll work it into the quote.

  • Format

    Two-player cocktail table

  • Games

    Multi-game board

  • Play

    Set to free play

  • Players

    2 seated, opposite sides

  • Power

    Single 13A socket

  • Insurance

    £5M PLI

Size and Space

It's a low cabinet at coffee-table height with a glass playing top, so it takes up about as much room as a small café table. Players sit on the two long sides, so allow space for a seat at each end - we can bring stools if you need them. It fits through a standard single doorway, which makes it easy to place indoors on a stand, in an office or in a games room.

What's Included

  • Delivery, setup and collection by our own team
  • The machine set up and tested on site, set to free play
  • A quick run-through and instructions for your staff
  • 24hr telephone support throughout your event
  • £5 million public liability insurance as standard
  • Risk assessments and method statements emailed to you or your venue before the event
  • Optional in-house branding on the side panels

We own and maintain the cabinet in-house rather than subbing it out, so if something needs sorting on the day there's no third party to chase. Delivery charges and minimum order values may apply depending on hire duration and location - contact us for a quote.

Suitability

  • Indoors on Artificial Grass
  • Indoors on Hard Surface
  • Outdoors on Grass (under cover)
  • Outdoors on Hard Surface (under cover)

Suitable for adults and children. The low table height makes it easy for younger players to reach, and the photos here include a child playing one outdoors at a fun day.

Why Not Add?

It sits well in a games corner with our other arcade kit:

Common Questions

How many people play at once, and how does the screen work sitting down?

Two play at a time, one on each long side of the table. The screen sits face-up under the glass top and flips to face whoever's playing, which is the whole point of the cocktail format - you sit across from each other and look down at the game rather than standing at an upright cabinet.

What games are on it?

It's a multi-game board, so there's a menu on screen with several pages of classics to choose from. The ones you can see in our photos are Ms Pac-Man, Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Scramble, and the cabinet artwork takes in Donkey Kong, Galaga, Galaxian, Frogger and 1942 as well. Players pick a title from the menu and start playing.

Do players need coins or tokens?

No. We set the machine to free play, so there's nothing to feed in and nobody's after change. People just pick a game from the menu and go.

What's the difference between this and the upright arcade machine?

This is the sit-down cocktail version - a low table you sit at and look down into through a glass top. The upright retro arcade game is a standing cabinet you play at face-on. Both run classics like Pac-Man and Space Invaders; it comes down to whether you want people sitting or standing on your stand.

Gallery

  • Black cocktail cabinet with red trim and classic game artwork in our showroom, a second machine alongside

  • Two cocktail arcade tables set up together, Space Invaders artwork on the right-hand unit

  • Top-down view running a Ms Pac-Man screen, joystick and buttons set into the rail

  • Overhead view of a Pac-Man maze on the glass-topped playing surface

  • Two players at the table during a home hire, Space Invaders on screen

  • Head-to-head play at a home delivery, a shooter running on the screen

  • On-screen game-selection menu showing multiple pages of titles, set to free play

  • Cabinet on an exhibition stand in front of a National Grid display board

  • Close-up of the Scramble screen with its fuel gauge, Donkey Kong and Pac-Man artwork around it

  • A child playing the cabinet outdoors under a marquee at a fun day

Related Products

The cocktail cabinet is the sit-down classic - Pac-Man, Space Invaders and the rest in one table. Pair it with the upright version, the virtual pinball and our other games-room kit below for a full games corner. Want a hand putting it together? Get in touch and we'll suggest a setup.

Venues We Deliver To

From our warehouse in Rotherham we're five minutes from the A1, M1 and M18, which puts the major exhibition venues within reach without much lead time. We deliver regularly to NEC Birmingham, ExCeL London, Manchester Central, Harrogate Convention Centre and ACC Liverpool, as well as across South and West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The same cabinet works just as well at an office Christmas do, a freshers fair or a private games room. For a full arcade games or exhibition games package, we can put delivery, branding and any other kit into one quote.

Hire the Retro Arcade Game

Send your dates, venue and audience size and we'll come back with a quote. Want a matched pair, the cabinet branded for a stand, or a full retro games-corner set-up? Mention it in your message and we'll work out the details.

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