I did this about a year ago in my garage and honestly it ended up being one of the best things I added to the space. I started with a single arcade cabinet and later added an air hockey table and it completely changed how people hang out when they come over. Instead of everyone just scrolling on their phones or sitting around, people naturally start competing and taking turns. Even friends who don’t normally play games get into it.

When I was researching where to buy machines I found https://arcadedad.com/ and it helped me see what kind of arcade cabinets and other stuff are available now. There are actually a lot of options that work well for home setups, not just big commercial arcades. If you’re on the fence, I’d say start with one machine. Once people start using it, you’ll probably end up adding more later like I did.