★ 21 games · four eras · 197X–200X ★
A retro arcade built by Joel and his dad, now across four eras — the black-and-white vector 70's, the dark, glowing neon 80's, the bright, radical 90's and the chrome Y2K 2000's. Twenty‑one original browser games: space shooters, platformers, neon racers, block puzzles, a 3D snake, a WebGL cave, Tron-style pong, a 3D drift racer, a one-on-one fighter and a bubble shooter. They run straight in your browser, with daily, weekly and all-time leaderboards. Play in your browser, or install the app on iPhone, iPad and Mac. No ads.
▶ Enter the arcade🔒 The arcade is invite-only. Ask Matthew for your username and password, then log in.
Twenty‑one games and counting — we add new ones and updates almost every week. Here is how each one plays.
A Galaga-style space shooter. Blast the waves of glowing invaders before they reach the bottom, and grab power-ups as they fall — pink P widens your weapon, green W adds wing guns and red ♥ gives an extra life. Survive the waves, climb the score and reach your goal to face the boss.
Controls: ← → or A D move · Space fire · Esc pause. On a phone, drag to move and tap to fire.
A canyon-run side-scroller. Fly your ship through a scrolling neon cave — your guns fire automatically, so just steer through the gap, dodge the walls and shoot the enemies streaming in from the right. Beat the Canyon Guardian boss for a big bonus. It is endless, and speeds up the longer you last.
Controls: ↑ ↓ ← → or WASD steer (auto-fire) · Esc pause. On a phone, drag your ship around.
An 8-bit platformer. Run and jump across the neon platforms, collect the fruit and stomp the purple monsters from above — just don't touch them from the side. Clear screens, rack up points and reach your goal.
Controls: ← → or A D run · ↑ / W / Space jump · Esc pause. On a phone, use the on-screen buttons.
A top-down neon-highway racer with guns. Your car auto-fires — blast the black-and-red enemy cars ahead, scoop up cones and grab the green gun power-ups to go from one barrel to three. Dodge crashes and oil slicks, then catch the boss car and ram it to win.
Controls: ← → or A D change lane · ↑ ↓ speed up / slow down · the gun fires by itself · Esc pause. On a phone, drag to steer.
A Tetris-style block puzzle. Stack the falling neon pieces to complete full rows, which clear for points. A faint ghost piece shows where the block will land, and the NEXT box previews what is coming. Reach your goal to win.
Controls: ← → move · ↑ rotate · ↓ soft drop · Space hard drop · Esc pause.
The same line-clearing puzzle as Neon Drop, but rendered as glowing, extruded 3D cubes tumbling into the well. Same simple rules, a whole new look — our first taste of 3D in the arcade.
Controls: ← → move · ↑ rotate · ↓ soft drop · Space hard drop · Esc pause.
A 3D take on the classic snake. Guide the glowing snake around the grid, eating the pink food to grow longer. The walls wrap around, so you can slide off one edge and reappear on the other — just don't bite your own tail.
Controls: ↑ ↓ ← → or WASD turn · Esc pause. On a phone, swipe to turn.
Our first true 3D (WebGL) adventure. Spelunk through a procedurally-generated neon cave, collect the glowing gems and find the green exit to drop into the next, deeper cave before the timer runs out. Gems and exits add more time.
Controls: move the mouse to look around (click the cave to lock the mouse) · W A S D move and strafe · ← → or Q E turn · Esc pause. On a phone, use the on-screen pad.
A Tron-style 3D table-tennis arena. Slide your light-paddle to return the ball past the computer — win rallies and score goals, but you lose a ball if it slips past you. Beat the AI and reach your goal.
Controls: move the mouse left and right, or ← →, to slide your paddle · Esc pause. On a phone, drag along the bottom.
A true 3D neon racer. Race three laps around a hilly neon circuit — drift the corners to charge a boost, fly off the ramps, blast through the glowing boost lanes, grab orbs and overtake the rival cars. Sail over the big neon bridge, or steer left to duck underneath for a shortcut — and reach your goal to beat the game. NEW: race your friends live — tap "Race Friends" to join a shared countdown and see each other's cars on the track.
Controls: ← → or A D steer · ↓ brake · Space / Shift drift & boost (you auto-accelerate) · Esc pause. On a phone, use the on-screen buttons.
A radical 90's one-on-one cartoon brawler. Punch, kick and block your way through a best-of-three match, and fill the SUPER bar to unleash a big special move. Beat the computer solo, or grab a sibling for 2-player hot-seat on one keyboard.
Controls: A D move · W jump · F punch · G kick · B block · Space special · Esc pause. Player 2: arrows + 1234. On a phone, on-screen buttons.
A candy-bright bubble shooter in the Bust-a-Move tradition. Aim and fire to match three or more of a colour and pop them, then knock whole clusters loose to drop for big bonuses. Keep the bubbles off the danger line and chase your goal!
Controls: aim with the mouse or finger, click/tap to fire · ← → aim and Space fire too · Esc pause.
A Y2K Flash-era tower defence. Build chrome turrets along the path — pulse, cannon and beam — then upgrade them to stop waves of cyber-creeps before they reach your base. Spend your cash wisely and call each wave early for a bonus.
Controls: 123 pick a tower, click a tile to build, click a tower to upgrade · Space call wave · Esc pause.
A 2000's physics launcher in the Angry Birds tradition. Drag back the slingshot and let go — the ball arcs under gravity, bounces off chrome girders and shatters glass to reach the cyber-bots. Clear each level with shots to spare for a bonus.
Controls: drag back the ball with the mouse or finger and release to fling · Esc pause.
A glossy Y2K match-3 in the Bejeweled tradition. Swap two touching gems to line up three or more of a colour, then watch the board collapse and chain cascades for huge multipliers. Only matching swaps cost a move — score your goal before they run out.
Controls: tap or drag a gem onto its neighbour · arrow keys move the cursor and Space swaps · Esc pause.
A 90's real-time strategy game in the Command & Conquer tradition. Send a harvester to mine crystals for credits, build a base — power, barracks and a war factory — then train soldiers and tanks and push across the map to destroy the enemy Construction Yard before the enemy waves take out yours.
Controls: left-drag a box or click to select your units · right-click to move or attack · build from the sidebar, then click the map to place · arrow keys or the radar to scroll · Esc pause. Best on a computer.
A faithful take on the 1979 vector‑graphics arcade classic — the dawn of video games. Rotate your ship, thrust and fire to blast the drifting rocks; big ones split into smaller, faster ones, and a flying saucer drops in to hunt you. The screen wraps around all four edges.
Controls: ← → rotate · ↑ thrust · Space fire · Shift hyperspace · Esc pause. On a phone, use the on‑screen buttons.
The 2000's 3D remake of the classic. Fly a chrome ship freely through a 3D asteroid field (a real WebGL game), steering with the mouse while you always glide forward. Line up the reticle and fire — big rocks split into smaller, faster ones, and a UFO drops in to hunt you.
Controls: mouse (or ← → ↑ ↓ / WASD) steer · Shift boost · click / Space fire · Esc pause. Best on a computer.
A 90's‑style isometric WebGL shooter set in the rings of Saturn. Pilot a gunship across an endless‑scrolling plane of golden ring debris — ice and rock of every size — viewed from high above. Your guns auto‑fire the way you're heading; big chunks break into smaller, faster ones.
Controls: ← → ↑ ↓ / WASD steer · Shift boost · Esc pause. On a phone, drag to fly.
A 90's RC‑car race through the house — hit the springboards to leap up onto the cabinets, race across the countertop and through the tunnels, down a long ramp, then dodge the kitchen clutter and falling tomatoes in the garden and shoot into the mouse hole to win. You stay on the track the whole way — just beat the clock.
Controls: ← → / AD steer · ↑ throttle · ↓ brake · Esc pause. Best on a computer.
A 2000's WebGL remake of our real-time strategy game, now in true 3D. Send harvesters to mine glowing crystals, spend the credits to build a base and pump out tanks, soldiers and rockets, then crush the enemy HQ — all on a tilted, scrolling battlefield with low-poly 3D units.
Controls: left-drag/click to select · right-click to move & attack · screen edge, arrows or minimap to scroll · wheel to zoom. Best on a computer.
A few things every game shares.
Every game saves your best score to daily, weekly and all-time leaderboards, so you can race your cousins and friends and see who is on top this week.
Each player has their own "beat the game" score. Younger players get a lower goal, so everyone has a fair shot at finishing — just ask Matthew to set yours.
Press Esc in any game to pause, then carry on when you are ready. Handy when tea is on the table.
Choose your own neon robot avatar — six shapes and eight colours — from the home screen once you have logged in.
Joel's Arcade is invite-only for now — there is no public sign-up. Joel and Matthew hand out a funny username and password to family and friends.
If you have your details, log in and start playing. If you would like an account, ask Matthew and he will set you up.
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