October 2026: The Arcade Archivist
Player 13 has entered the game. AtariNights.com now covers Vermont: 6 arcades, barcades, pinball lounges, and playable museums across 2 regions and 5 towns, from a pinball museum with games older than the interstate to a downtown Burlington barcade where Tapper greets you at the door.
Vermont is a small state, and its arcade scene is small too. But almost every room on this list plays by the same house rule: pay once, then play as long as you like. No quarter anxiety. No watching a game drain your pocket. Just you, the machine, and all the time in the world.
Vermont by the Numbers
- 6 venues across 2 regions and 5 towns
- 66 pinball machines at Pastime Pinball, with games dating back to 1947
- 36 machines at The Pinball Co-op, the home of competitive pinball in Vermont
- Three of the four featured rooms run on one-price unlimited play
Southern Vermont: the playable museum (1 featured venue)
Start in Manchester Center at Pastime Pinball, one of the best pinball destinations in the country. Sixty-six machines line the floor in chronological order, from late-1940s woodrails through the solid-state era to the newest releases, and every one is set to free play. Pay admission at the door and stay until your wrists give out. Upstairs, the mezzanine snack bar adds vintage coin-op video games, wood-fired pizza, and Vermont craft beer. Bring the kids. Bring the dog. Seriously, well-behaved dogs are welcome on the pinball floor.
The Champlain Valley: Burlington and beyond (3 featured venues)
Up north, the Burlington area holds the rest of the scene. In South Burlington, The Pinball Co-op runs about 36 machines out of a member-built space that has grown twice since it opened in 2015. Public nights are one price, unlimited play, bring your own beverage, and this is where Vermont’s league nights and biggest tournaments happen. Downtown, The Archives has been Burlington’s arcade bar since 2016: classic cabinets like Tapper and Ms. Pac-Man, a rotating row of pinball, and wooden drink rails between the cabinets so both hands stay on the controls.
An hour south, The Retro Realm opened in Middlebury in 2025, in the storefront that used to be the town’s video rental shop. It is small, bright, and built for families: pay by the hour instead of by the quarter, then play everything from Ms. Pac-Man to 1990s light-gun and driving classics as many times as you want. The lineup rotates every few weeks, and there is pizza right next door.
The Archivist’s Note: pay once, play forever
Ask anyone who grew up near Burlington in the 1980s and they will name the rooms that are gone: Upton’s at Church and Main, the Aladdin’s Castle out in South Burlington. Those were quarter rooms, and when they closed, the city went decades without a real arcade. What came back looks different. Vermont’s new generation of rooms mostly threw out the coin slot as the gatekeeper. Pastime charges admission and sets all 66 games to free play. The Co-op charges one entry fee for the night. The Retro Realm sells time, not credits.
That changes how people play. When a game costs nothing extra, a kid will try the 1950s woodrail nobody else touches. A grandparent will show a grandkid how a flipper actually works, then play the same table ten times in a row. A league player will practice one shot for an hour. The golden age ran on quarters, but the thing it was really selling was time in front of the machine. Vermont figured out how to sell that directly.
Know Before You Go
- Check the days. Pastime Pinball is open Thursday through Sunday, and The Pinball Co-op opens to the public on set evenings only.
- Mind the age rules. The Archives is a bar; younger players are welcome only during earlier, non-alcohol hours.
- Bring your own. The Pinball Co-op is BYOB on public nights.
How We Built the Vermont Directory
Every venue was researched and cross-checked against multiple sources, including venue websites and community pinball databases, before it went live. We also caught a few rooms that look open online but have closed, and left them out. No venue pays to be included. If we got something wrong, or missed your favorite spot, submit a venue and we’ll review it.
What’s Next
Thirteen states down. Browse every Vermont venue, pay the cover, and play until closing. Next stop: Massachusetts.
The Arcade Archivist
AtariNights.com