Museum of Soviet Arcade Games’ Opening

The Museum of Soviet Slot Machines is now open for business thanks to the dedication of a group of students who wanted to see the project through to the end. They have opened the first Museum of Soviet Slot Machines in the basement of an old hostel.

They have spent two years working, researching and cataloging the slot machines, as they found it to be much more difficult than originally anticipated. The slot machines were tough to track down because of old laws banning them.

Most of the games were actually manufactured in secret locations, which made it hard for the students to find them. The original locations were trying to keep a low profile so as to not alert suspicion by the CIA.

The group came up with 50 slot machines for the museum, with 20 of them actually working. They run off of Soviet 15 kopek coins, just like they used to. They have horse racing, ice hockey, pinball games, shooting, and submarine slot machines in their collection.

One of the students said that it was a reflection of their youth. They say that when they were young it was just about the arcades and not dealing with politics. They said that those that grew up in a different time had to deal with that sort of thing, but by the time they came along it was really just “a good time.”


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