SANTA CRUZ — In the days before people plugged in video game consoles or whipped out their smartphones to play Roblox, families would get their gaming fixes by going to centralized entertainment centers known as arcades.
Like many things, the look and offerings of the arcade has changed considerably over time. In the late 19th century, penny arcades delivered coin-operated amusements such as strength-test machines, shooting galleries and fortune dispensers. This gave way to pinball machines by the mid 20th century and video games like Space Invaders by the end of the ’70s.
Coinciding with this history has been the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Even since before the amusement park as we know it opened in 1907, the grounds were home to an arcade and while many rides have come and gone during that time, the Casino Arcade has always been a fixture. Whether pinball machines, Skee-Ball machines, claw machines or arcade cabinets, the Boardwalk has long been a reflection of the offerings of arcades in any era. Even today, visitors of the arcade can play classics like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong alongside modern games like Fast & Furious and Street Fighter IV.
One other place people can relive those memories of pumping quarters into arcade cabinets, tossing beanbags into a plywood clown’s mouth and seeing their own distorted images in a funhouse mirror is at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History and its new exhibit “High Score: Vintage Arcade and Midway Games.” Opening Friday and running through Jan. 24, 2027, the exhibit features vintage arcade artifacts from throughout the Boardwalk’s history that are sure to conjure up memories of concentrating to reach a high score and win prizes.
Shanti Nagwani, the museum’s exhibitions manager, said the idea for the exhibit came about through the museum’s archivist, Jessie Durant, who is also the archivist at the Boardwalk.
“We had a unique opportunity to partner with her and showcasing some of the arcade and midway games from the Boardwalk’s collection in storage,” said Nagwani.
Nagwani and Durant worked together to go through the Boardwalk’s storage and determine which vintage games would be the best fit for the museum.
“I was able to give Shanti a list of items that we had that we would be able to loan,” said Durant. “She selected the ones she wanted, and that’s what we have here.”
Durant said it is exciting because many of the vintage games have been unseen by the public for many decades, largely tucked away in the storage area of Santa Cruz Seaside Co., which operates the Boardwalk.
“We have a selection of games that are on display throughout the offices,” she said. “These are ones that have been in storage for a while, so it’s nice to get them out and people to see them.”
Nagwani said the exhibit will feature various types of games throughout the Boardwalk’s history, from a strength-test machine dating back to 1903 to arcade cabinets from the ’80s. Museum visitors will be able to play some of the games, while others are strictly for display purposes. Those that people can play will feature an “OK to Play” sign with a green circle and thumbs up next to it, a replica of the tokens used at the Boardwalk in the 20th century.
“We do have a few things in the exhibit that can be handled, a few games that people can play and many artifacts that people can not touch,” she said. “We found a balance between the two.”
Two of the interactive games are outside the gallery. The first is a beanbag toss where visitors can throw beanbags at a plywood board with a clown’s face in an effort to land a beanbag in the clown’s mouth. The second is the game Fascination, similar to Skee-Ball except the holes are arranged on a 5-by-5 grid, and players have to toss their balls into five holes in a row, either horizontally or vertically, much like bingo. Next to it is a “No Bouncing” sign, which Nagwani said was used on the Boardwalk’s famous Sky Glider.
Another playable game at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History’s “High Score” exhibit is Fascination. A combination of Skee-Ball and bingo, Fascination features a matrix of 25 holes, and the player has to light up five in a row either horizontally or vertically to win. (Nick Sestanovich — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
The third interactive element, located inside the gallery, is two Neo Geo arcade cabinets containing two games each, free of charge. The featured games are Bubble Bobble, Crossed Swords, King of the Monsters and Lost Worlds.
“People visiting can try to get their high score,” said Durant.
The rest of the gallery features vintage games for display purposes only. These include a tug-of-war machine, a Sex-O-Meter that measured players’ grips to purportedly determine their romantic appeal, a Spear the Dragon electrical energizer to determine how long players could withstand a static shock; electromechanical football, basketball and Skee-Ball games and a vintage funhouse mirror, which Nagwani sound she found “by chance” when transporting the other artifacts.
“I was so glad to find this because I thought it would be a great addition to the gallery, even though it’s not a game per se,” she said.
Dotted throughout the gallery’s walls are painted replicas of Boardwalk tickets from the ’70s to the early 2000s and signs for classic midway games like Cat Whack and Greyhound Race, where players could dispense 25 cents to try to maneuver mechanical greyhound figures down a replica racetrack.
Among the vintage Boardwalk games on display in the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History are a pair of electromechanical Skee-Ball and basketball games. Designed by Chicago Coins, these types of games were very popular in a races before the advent of electronic video games. (Nick Sestanovich — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
“Overall, the general design of the gallery is to bring people to the headspace of being at the Boardwalk at an earlier time,” said Nagwani.
The exhibit also features a vibrant color scheme with a lime green backdrop, red and white stripes and a multi-color sunburst to create a carnival-like feel. Additionally, the gallery has a speaker playing organ music that Boardwalk guests would hear when riding the carousel.
“When you’re in the gallery, it’s an immersive experience,” said Nagwani. “You can imagine yourself being at the Boardwalk.”
Nagwani said “High Score” has been a fun exhibit to design, and she hopes that is reflected in how visitors will feel.
“It has been such a blast to put these colors together, to put these themes and motifs together into something that I hope other people will enjoy,” she said. “I hope they get the same thrill that I’ve gotten in the process of making this happen with my fabulous colleagues.”
“High Score” is on display in the Art Forum Gallery on the third floor of the MAH, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. Hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, noon to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. For information, go to SantaCruzMAH.org/exhibitions.