Facepunch announces Arcade, a very different kind of arcade game

My experience with arcade games comprises a few goes on Time Crisis, Bust-a-Move or House of the Dead while holidaying at the seaside, but I'm assured by the plot of Tron that arcade gaming was once a pretty big thing.

My experience with arcade games comprises a few goes on Time Crisis, Bust-a-Move or House of the Dead while holidaying at the seaside, but I'm assured by the plot of Tron that arcade gaming was once a pretty big thing. Short of a time machine or a sudden windfall of cash, it might be hard to recreate that bygone era, but thanks to Facepunch there's a chance of it living on in virtual form. The Garry's Mod/Rust developers have just announced their next prototype, named Arcade. Arcade is a game about being in an arcade, with a novel multiplayer mode and potential VR support.

Ryleigh Kotash of Facepunch details the idea behind Arcade. "You explore an arcade in first person. The games cost tokens to play, and reward you with even more tokens if you do well. Use the tokens you've earned to play more expensive games. It'll be exciting playing the games because you've got tokens on the line. Eventually you become the King of the Arcade and save it from being turned into a condo or something."

The most interesting part, however, is talk of a multiplayer mode that will may allow players to "design their own arcades, then host them online so that other players can visit". The ability for players to create their own games is mentioned as a possibility, and along with potential VR support, there are some neat ideas behind Facepunch's latest prototype.

It is just that, however—a prototype—so there's always the chance that some or none of these ideas will make it in, or that Arcade will never be turned into a full game. It's one to keep an eye on though over the next few months, along with Facepunch's other recently revealed prototype, Deuce.