Museum of Soviet Arcade Games

A lot of arcades have their own special tokens for their games. But few have Soviet-era kopek coins complete with a hammer and sickle.

Preserved by a few Russian students in the basement of a technical school, the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games features about 60 machines from the Soviet era including video games, pinball machines, and collaborative hockey foosball. Although only 50 to 55 of the games are playable, each of the machines paints a picture of life and entertainment behind the Iron Curtain.

The museum has plans to expand as more machines are discovered and restored in the basement. Many of the machines have been sitting idle since the 1980s, when they were built in secret.

Even though all of the machines are in Russian, the gist of the games is pretty apparent; in Tankodrome, for example, players shoot enemies with a tank. For an entry fee of about $8 US, visitors can walk through the museum and get a few 15-kopek coins to test out the machines.