LEGO Ideas Feature Retro Arcade by If You Build It. 

The title, ‘Retro Arcade‘, should instantly bring back countless memories for most older LEGO fans. It’s a place where many of us visited and even grew up in. It was a way of getting out and socialising with friends, playing the latest games, or simply seeing who could beat the highest score – It was great fun, and still is. Who doesn’t pop into an Arcade nowadays when they have the chance, be it whilst on Holiday or near where you live, it brings your inner child out!

Bring out your inner child with the amazing interactive ‘Retro Arcade’.

Seeing this product idea (yes that’s officially what they’re called now) whilst browsing the LEGO Ideas website I knew I had to hit the support and share it with you.

Being relatively new to the modular scene I am somewhat smitten and love everything about them. I recently acquired the new LEGO Police Station (10278) set and hoping to build it soon on live stream. I have a few others in the collection and hope to one day put together a LEGO Cityscape of my own, and I’d definitely want to add this Retro Arcade to it!

So much exterior detail it’s crazy!

Not only does it look extremely well designed but the architecture and amount of detail is incredible. From the bench, sign and gumball machine to the sit-on car ride that actually rocks back and first. I particularly like the vending machine just around the corner, it adds so much to the exterior.

Two of my happiest childhood memories are LEGO and going to the Arcade.

Wander around the opposite corner and you’ll find the bike rack and the wonderfully built and fully functional Claw game. The tiny claw, from what I’ve seen on the creator’s Instagram account, moves in a very similar way to its real life counterpart. Simply twist and pull the knob on top and it’ll raise the arm and fingers crossed you’ll have a Teddy attached!

The creator has decided to place everything on one floor, which is in no way a bad thing, it would actually make for a more interesting and varied City skyline. I myself can imagine it surrounded by parking spaces for its customers, just like how several TV shows and Movies depict Arcades.

As you enter the Arcade you instantly recognise a change machine, a vital part of the Arcade and most often than not is the first device you use, more pennies the better after all! It looks great and the Yellow colour is spot on, it would be great if there was a slot to insert a coin and a small tray where change drops out, it’s hard to tell from the photos.

Swing open the doors and you see a plethora of retro Arcade games and a photo booth, there’s even a lonely employee sweeping up all the forgotten prize tickets.

I’ve always liked brick-built Arcade machines and the ones here look superb, with their coloured sloped tops, angled sides, and giant colourful buttons – perfect for mashing!

Nobody puts racing simulator in the corner, expect for If You Build It

One of my favourite games, when visiting an Arcade, has always been racing simulators, even the sit on motorbike games are cool. In the corner at the back you’ll find a very cool setup complete with a comfy looking blue gaming chair. The chair looks sturdy and well constructed and the curves and colours of the game station looks almost life-like.

There’s even a Photo booth!

It wouldn’t be complete without a random photo booth, I never really knew what the attraction was with them but remember seeing one in almost every Arcade I went too. I particularly like the cloth curtain, implementing something soft and flexible breaks up the solid lines and corners of all that LEGO. Some sort of playability feature, maybe in the form of a slot, could be added with a slide of Minifigure photos as they’ve just used it with friends.

If this product idea comes to fruition then I’d like to see all the elements with graphics on printed, and not a small booklet of stickers, as there is so much to look at and take in – stickers tend to put a dampener on most sets, in most honest opinion.

The need for speed

The sit on motorbike has to be one the sets highlights as it can be moved to imitate its real life counterpart. Plop a Minifigure on and watch him go, dodging and weaving and making his way up the leader board! I love it when someone designs and builds something complex but yet makes it look easy, simply implementing a LEGO motorbike body in this way is great. You almost want to shout ‘why didn’t I think of that?!’.

Let there be light

Head outside, via the back door, and we see a few extra details and controls. The knob to maneuver the racing simulator is cleverly hidden amongst the vines whilst the one which makes the motorbike lean is opposite it. About them are two light bricks that obviously light up the Arcade itself – it’s so good to see creators implement light bricks into their builds as it adds a lot of realism and atmosphere.

To infinity…

On the roof is a giant spinning planet which is being orbited by a Space Ship If I were to Hazard a guess I’d say its based on the the LEGO Classic Space logo.

Again, situated at the back of the building, there is a lever, give that a twindle and it’ll make the Planet and Space Ship spin, how cool is that!

As LEGO modulars and buildings go this would make an amazing addition to anyone’s collection or Cityscape. With the inclusion of interactive elements and light bricks it’s surprising LEGO haven’t done it before.

I’ve had so much fun writing this feature, it has brought back all those wonderful memories from my Childhood. We would like to wish If You Build It the best of luck and all the best for the future, and we hope to see this set gain the needed 10k support, thank you!

To support the above LEGO Ideas submission please click the following link:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/09c20a79-394b-48e1-b08a-4f65ce212f1e

Please check out and follow the creators Instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/legoretroarcade/