Verdict: One of the weirdest and wackiest places you’ll visit in London, Novelty Automation is truly unique and is a must visit hidden gem. It’s a fun way to spend 30 minutes to 1 hour in the centre of London.
From the mind of Tim Hunkin comes Novelty Automation, a showcase of homemade arcade machines like you’ve never played before. Forget the arcades you played at the seaside, Novelty Automation will make you laugh, guaranteed.
There are 34 arcade machines, ranging from satire to social commentary and absurdist humour. Here is a short description of some the arcade machines:
- Grand Musk Auto – drive your kids safely to school in a monster SUV
- Money Laundering – using a crane with a magnet, pick up coins and avoid getting caught by the regulators in the skyscrapers
- Alien Probe – investigate various parts of an alien, but watch out…
- Auto Frisk – rubber gloves give you a frisk like you’ve never experienced before
- My-Nuke – carefully control a robotic arm to open the fuel box and load the fuel into the reactor. This felt like being in the industrial zone on Crystal Maze
- i-Zombie – dodge phone obsessed zombies – this felt like playing a game on Miniclip
- Cycle Pong – play pong on bikes (can get competitive)
- The Fulfilment Centre – experience the life of an Amazon warehouse worker and collect the packages before time runs out (actually hard work to play)
- Microbreak – sit on an armchair, moved by a magic carpet, and go on holiday via a tv set
- Novelty – race and see who gets more
- Celeb – fly a drone around a mansion and find the correct celebrity
You can enter for free and look at the machines, but you’ll need to buy tokens to work or play. 5 tokens cost £5. There are discounts the more tokens you buy, 10 tokens cost £9 and 34 tokens cost £27. You’ll need 34 tokens to try every machine which is what we did (some games you can take turns, others you can’t).
If you don’t have time to play all machines, here is a list of my favourites:
- Money Laundering (can take turns)
- My-Nuke (can take turns)
- Autofrisk
- Cycle Pong by Iain Sharp (double player)
- The Fulfilment Center (can take turns)
Every first Thursday of the month there is a bar evening, 5-9pm. Novelty Automation is also available for corporate events and private parties (including kids parties) which start from £100.
https://www.novelty-automation.com/index.htm
How to get to Novelty Automation
Address: 1A Princeton St, London, WC1R 4AY
Opening Hours (at the time of writing):
Thursday 12–8 pm
Friday 11 am–6 pm
Saturday 11 am–6 pm
Sunday 12–6 pm
Monday Closed
Tuesday 11 am–6 pm
Wednesday 11 am–6 pm
You’ll spend at most an hour at Novelty Automation to play all games.
Nearest tube stations:
Holborn – 6 minute walk
Chancery Lane – 7 minute walk
Russell Square – 13 minute walk
Farringdon – 16 minute walk
Pair your visit to Novelty Automation with:
- Sir John Soane’s Museum (7 minute walk)
- Charles Dickens Museum (8 minute walk)
- Hunterian Museum (8 minute walk)
- The British Museum (12 minute walk)
Find more ideas for non touristy things to do in London.
