Pinball Museum of Corbin

A glow of neon spills across the floor as you step into the Pinball Museum of Corbin, where more than 120 pinball machines and 80 arcade games wait to be brought to life. Part arcade, part time capsule, this interactive downtown destination offers a riot of color, sound and nostalgia. 

The Kentucky attraction offers two different experiences — a play-all-day-for-$20 pinball and video game side and a free-admission, old-style amusement side with quarter-fed arcade and ticket-redemption games. Both offer a wonderful mix of color, sound and nostalgia. Some visit to relive childhood memories, while others are discovering the joy of classic arcade games for the first time. 

Owner Jim Bruso says some of his earliest childhood memories are from playing games at an arcade called Time-Out Family Amusement Center. That experience helped create a lifelong love of arcade games that eventually led to his museum in downtown Corbin.

Bruso says the most popular pinball games are themed around Pokémon, Beetlejuice and Godzilla. The Pinball Museum of Corbin also houses Hercules. Made by Atari, it’s currently the world’s largest pinball machine at 7 feet long and 91 inches tall. It also has the distinction of being the treasure that traveled the farthest. Bruso hauled it back from Colorado. 

Bruso’s personal arcade favorites are “Galaga” and “Tron,” two classic video games from the 1980s that still spark the same thrill today that they did in the golden age of arcades.

The play-all-day option is the best deal and offers the ability to leave and come back. Those who can only make a quick visit can get an hour of unlimited arcade play for $10. 112 S. Main St., Corbin, Kentucky 40701, 606/280-7253, pinballcorbin.com