While we’ll have to wait until after summer to enjoy the world’s largest maze just outside Chicago, right now you can find an enormous labyrinth made up of numerous arcade games comprising what claims to be the largest video arcade in the world.
Located just 30 minutes out of the center of Chicago, the Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield opened back in 2010 with around 130 arcade games and the goal of growing into an establishment that could provide arcade gaming at a level not seen in Chicago before.
Owner Doc Mack’s mission began when he came across a barn filled with arcade games destined for destruction back in 2010. Only 8 functioned at the time but after buying them all for $5,000 he fixed as many as he could and opened up Galloping Ghost Arcade.
By 2014, that number had grown to over 885 arcade games. A number, that Galloping Ghost Arcade says, represents the largest permanent collection of arcade video games on the planet.
That title has yet to be authenticated by Guinness World Records but with the current holder Funspot in New Hampshire offering 581 games, Galloping Ghost is at the very least, unofficially the largest arcade in the United States, by number of games, and likely the largest arcade in the world.
The arcade has not stopped growing thanks to a determination to provide the ultimate gaming environment in which “to celebrate what arcades have led us to in present-day gaming” and a desire to do something about the lack of functioning arcades in the Chicago area.
Today over 980 games can be found within Galloping Ghost Arcade including many of which owners promise guests will likely not have set eyes on in decades, including an ultra-rare Sega R360, the only publicly-playable one in the USA.
Unlike most arcades, Brookfield’s “Galloping Ghost Arcade” does not use quarters or tokens but instead sets all of its games to free play and charges a $25 entry fee so guests can play as many games as they want, for as long as they want and “explore the vast number of games they may have never played before.”
Open from 11 a.m. every day of the week, until midnight most days and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, you can enjoy late-night trips down memory lane courtesy of its expansive collection of modern and retro arcade games.
According to the Galloping Ghost Arcade website, the selection of arcade games ranges “from the more common classics like Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man, to incredibly rare titles that many have never even seen in the arcades before, such as Primal Rage II, Hammer Away, and Godzilla.”
The arcade is known for efficiently tracking high scores and world records and claims to have over 600 World Records set within its walls.
“We look to continually evolve and make the arcade gaming experience here just that: an experience,” reads the website.
“This is not just a place with a bunch of games, but a place that is looked at as something special to everyone. Our goal is to continue to grow not only as an arcade but help the resurgence of arcades all over the world.”
Galloping Ghost Arcade is located at 9415 Ogden Ave. Brookfield, Illinois, 60513 and open 365 days a year.
More information can be found at www.gallopingghostarcade.com.