Moscow museum of arcade machines brings visitors back to USSR

Moscow, Dec 5 (EFE).- A museum in Moscow of arcade machines gives nostalgic people a chance to travel back to the times of the Soviet Union, which dissolved 30 years ago.

“Our public is one of the most diverse. Children come, parents with children, grandparents with grandchildren,” Yekaterina, keeper of the museum, which houses 50 arcade machines from Soviet times, tells Efe.

The owners of the museum, located in central Moscow, are bringing back to life devices that millions of children once dreamed of playing with across the USSR.

Nearly all the machines were donated to the museum and some were recovered from abandoned pioneer camps.

On weekends, the museum is packed as if it were a day off in the USSR, although the coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll on the facilities.

“Some 200 people used to come. Now with the pandemic, we have fewer visitors, but there are always many people,” Yekaterina added.

Visitors spend over one hour on average, although the charm of arcade machines can attract some players for up to three hours, she adds.

Morskoi Boi has the lions’ share of the attention of the visitors who rush towards it as soon as they enter.

The laughter of dozens of children running around the museum indicates that those born after the fall of the USSR are attracted to the games as much as their parents.

“The little ones like machines very much, they always pay a lot of interest to everything, we have not seen any child who has been bored here yet,” Yekaterina said.