Arcade Games

Experience the thrill of coin-operated arcade titles as you dive into the competitive world of video-games. Battle horrible beasts with your sword and magic, protect the earth from an invasion of alien warships, travel across vast distances on an endless road, collect a plethora of gems and diamonds, or go toe to toe against your opponents with your awesome martial arts moves. If you are looking for free Arcade Games to play, then we have it all for you. 

Best Arcade Games

What are Arcade Games?

The first Coin-operated Arcade Games were introduced around the 1920s to 1930s. Arcade machines reached the peak of its popularity sometime around the 1980s. Arcade Games are often highly competitive and include multiplayer features like high score sharing and a leaderboard. Modern-day arcades are usually very addicting with simple and repetitive gaming formula. Many in this category have fast-paced gameplay that keeps count on the player's score. More often than not, arcade titles are paired with retro-styled pixelated graphics or pixel-based art as a tribute to coin-operated cabinet classics.

advertisement

Types of Arcade Games

Arcade Games fall into two types of genres: One is to have the arcade elements and mechanics used within the core gameplay, and the other is if the title is available on coin-operated cabinets and other arcade machines and consoles.  As the generation of video-games progresses, modern arcade games (like Bonk.IO) are more focused on being competitive and easy to play. Coin-op titles can be played for free via emulators to preserve the cool gaming titles of the past. While the two items in the criteria are very different, almost all entries under this genre are undeniably fun, addicting, and highly competitive. 

Elements of an Arcade Game

Both the retro/classic and modern Arcade Games have these common elements among them.

  • Fast-Paced Style - Matches are separated and usually don't take too long.
  • Grab and Drop Mechanics - Saving is not necessary or done automatically after each playthrough.
  • Competitive - Usually have features like leader-board or High Score.
  • Focuses on hand and eye coordination skill - With simple controls (some even have one-button)
  • Not focused on strategy or story - Most titles don't even have a story of sorts.

Popular Arcade Games

Slither.IO is perhaps one of the most loved modern arcade games. This title combines the classic "Snake" that was a popular 1998 app in mobile phones, with the competitive and online multiplayer nature of Agar.io. Candy Crush Saga is an unforgettable game that gave rise to the popularity of Mobile Arcade Games back in 2012. Candy Crush has over 6.7 million players on a daily basis and is considered as the most downloaded gaming app during its time. If you are looking for console classics like the ones you used to play in your Famicom, then check out AZ Tank Trouble 4 which plays quite similarly to the classic Tank Battalion (1980) and its more popular successor Battle City (1985). The game Mari0  (also known as Mario Portal) takes the beloved Mario platformer and combined it together with puzzle elements from the 2007 puzzle platformer game Portal - creating an entirely new puzzle platformer challenge that everyone is sure to enjoy.