Family rents retro arcade for mum in chemo to play games all together

Thanks to the opening of retro arcade lounge in St Paul, Minnesota, a family has been able to bond together over gaming while their mother undergoes chemotherapy.

The Two Bit Game Room is Peter Riemenschneider's labour of love, springing forth over decades of dedicated maintenance of his original collection of games from the '80s and picking up titles to round out the offering for customers. "Board games, and Nintendo Magazine, Atari games, the Nintendo Entertainment System including the zapper and Rob the Robot, if you remember that. Nothing too modern. I was a Nintendo guy, so that’s primarily what I collected," explained Riemenschneider, who is also works in healthcare, in an interview with Pioneer Press.

Check out this much more eclectic collection of retro games - you're definitely going to recognise a few of these:

Right now, the titles available include Super Pac-Man, the Star Wars: Battle Pod, Space Invaders, Pong, Mortal Kombat, Punch-Out!!, Batman and more.

Intrigued? There are two ways you can give those games a whirl. You're able to rent the units themselves and play the games from the comfort of your own home - a week long rental would approximately cost $150 but a month long rental is slashed to $75. Or, visit The Two Bit Game Room and pay $10 for unlimited play for three hours. Riemenschneider has welcomed a range of patrons since opening in February and some have found a safe haven here.

"We’ve had a baby shower - a very fun and geek-oriented baby shower, some guys-night-out, some high-school-age birthday parties. We’ve had two retirement parties so far. People who are in their late 50s, these are their games too," he recalled. "We also had one mom who had chemo, and she had her husband and her son come in and they rented out the whole space so there wasn’t a risk of her getting sick. They’ve been by a few times." How wholesome.

Topics: Retro Gaming, Real Life