The Soviet Arcade Museum in St. Petersburg
Useful information to plan your visit:
- Opening hours: 11:00 – 21:00, Daily
- Address: Konyushennaya Sq., 2 Bldg. V, St. Petersburg 191186, Russia (Google Maps Link)
- Phone number: +7(812)740-02-40
- Reviews: TripAdvisor link
- Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines Website (English): Link
’15 kopeks’: The Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines (The Soviet Arcade Museum)
If you are feeling nostalgic and would like to spend time with the kids in an amazing museum, this is the best choice for you. Though they call themselves a “museum” it’s more like a functioning arcade with vintage machines. When you visit the Soviet Arcade museum, you can be sure that you’re playing the original vintage Soviet-era arcade games — no modern copies are allowed in the museum!The Arcade Museum’s History
The Soviet Arcade Museum is one of the most unique museums of St. Petersburg and has only been open since 2007. This interactive museum was founded by enthusiasts who wanted to revive these legendary arcade games for future generations. The museum’s “exhibits” were collected throughout the country, carefully restored, and put on display. The first Soviet Arcade museum (officially, The Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines) was founded in Moscow. Due to it’s huge popularity, they decided to open two more locations. One of these locations is just steps away from the Church of the Savior on Blood in central St. Petersburg.Video Games in the Soviet Union
In the USSR arcade machines first started appearing in the 1970’s, in place of American and Japanese arcade machines. Throughout the country, 22 military factories created about 100 different kinds of arcade games up to 1991.After the fall of Soviet Union, the production of arcade games stopped. All the games were dismantled, sold for parts or simply thrown out. Minting of 15 kopek coins ceased, so the currency used to pay the old machines became less commonplace. Eventually technology became dated, as did the arcade game fad.
Nowadays, the desire to play Soviet Arcade machines is returning. In 2010, the first national Soviet Arcade game championship was help and it still continues today.
Soviet Arcade Museum in St. Petersburg
When you arrive, you will be given a pouch of vintage coins when you arrive, which you’ll use to play the vintage arcade games. You (and the kids) will be transported to another decade while you enjoy the museum’s collection of more than 50 arcade machines from 1970’s and 1980’s.Try The Soviet Arcade Museum for Yourself
As we mentioned, this museum allows you to play with these pieces of history not only in person, in St. Petersburg. But, they have also created a digital version of one of their arcade cabinets, “Sea Battle”, which you can play right now, on their website: http://morskoy-boy.15kop.ru/en/. They also have photos of the mechanical innards of the arcade cabinet, to give a peek at just how far technology has come.We offer the Soviet Arcade museum as an option in our “Kid-Friendly tour” and our “Night Out on the Town” evening option. If you would like to arrange a tour to this wonderful museum or just have questions, please contact us using the information on our ‘Contact Us’ page, and we’ll happily assist you.
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