Top 10 Notorious Quarter Devouring Arcade Games
We’ll be looking at the lengthy history of arcade games, in search of those games specifically designed to get as many of a player’s quarters as possible. We’re not focusing on the quality of these games as a whole, as several are otherwise good games. Rather, we’re focusing on cheap difficulty, ease of messing up, the possibility of needing multiple playthroughs, and other money-motivated design choices.
Special Thanks to our user “MikeyP” for suggesting this topic on our Interactive Suggestion Tool at .
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The WWF arcade game got alot of my allowance. That nfl football game wasn't kind either
My top 10 list, going back almost 40 years,thru experience.
#10…Spy Hunter
#9….. Q*Bert
#8…..Moon Patrol
#7…..Wizard of Wor
#6…..Donkey Kong
#5…..Mario Bros.
#4…..Pac-Man
#3….Asteroids
#2….Ms. Pac-Man
#1….Galaga
Dragon’s Lair was a quarter NIGHTMARE
Time Crisis omg
Houseof the Dead from the shhitty light gun.
And of course
CRUSIN' USA
Pit Fighter was a goddamn quarter stealer.
FOH metamorphic force, I’d take X-men over that shit any day.
No terminator, no cruisin USA, no street fighter2. What mojo never does proper research for any if their lists.
Anything by American Laser Games, lol
Tron was pretty cool though.
Defender, Joust and Tempest were mine!
You guys did it right with this one. Double dragon 3 will drain your cash if you aren't the experience dd player. I still never beat double dragon 3 to this day.
Space Ace the follow up to Dragons Lair
Another great quarter chomper
That old X-Men game definitely got a lot of quarters out of me.
Thank goodness for the Home computer Arcade Games.. You can play forever and not spend a dime : )
Final Fight anybody? Afterburner was also a quarter destroyer.
#4 I played a lot. #3 not so much, too costly. saved money not spent on #3 by playing #2…..
Do not know how Xenophobe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles didn't make this list.
Defender was really hard too. It took a TON of my quarters
Zaxxon(2 lives), Tempest, Gorf(2 lives), Total Carnage, Robotron, Battlezone, Tailgunner, Red Baron, Stargate It seems you really concentrated on one on one fight games.
Heavy Barrel, 1942, Defender, and Arch Rivals.
Gate of Doom is probably the worst at this tbh
But it’s really fun in the switch lol
Missile Command
Eagle
Galaxy
Asteroids
The list goes on, I love all those arcade games from 80s
Damn, that first one was ahead of its time, micro-transactions before micro -transactions, it’s ok, it’s just a “surprise mechanic” in the game.
Microtransaction before microtransaction
Barely ever got past first level of ghost and goblins, lol.
Ghost and Goblins, and Dragons Lair. Damm straight they were money hungry.
Carnevil. lol, the final boss's name was Tokentaker, or something like that.
Thanks mojo. You made feel old..lol .I had play all of them… Ohh the good times
If I could get all those quarters back I could retire lol
Joust and defender took my allowance every week
Good thing for home video games
What about Operation Wolf?
metamorphic forthhhsss lol 0:53
Golden Axe
Ironically we were better at them and memorized every level
Super contra
dungeons and dragons. one weapon requires you to die multiple times to get. another is to get all your spells back. some enemies hit boxes are wonky. Great game though 🙂
Heavy Barrel. I adored that game so much. When the second level boss, the one with the mechanical arms on a rail one, gave me so much grief, I must have spent a small fortune on it. Of course since you can die in one hit anyways, it was already a black hole for quarters.
Ich Furz wie eine große Trompete. Vollen Klang, wie ein Kaiser Furz.
you showed T2 Judgement day in the intro but it didn't make the list?, that game was crazy hard and the stupid helicopter swat van chase ate SO much money it was crazy
While not technically a game, how about those shitty grab prize machines. They put something like a gameboy or cd player in the box and you end up spending a ton of quarters for nothing
what? no Ninja Turtles??
You forgot joust
The first TMNT for me Krang took lots of quarters So glad three kids joined in and finally beat it!
Time crisis?
Off Road
Ah yes. I clearly recall when Gauntlet came out and the quarter munching began on an epic scale. That was a bit of a turning point for the way arcade games consumed quarters and handled multiple players.
Got Dragon's Lair for p.c. & thought Victory without the 200 lbs of quarters then the CD disintegrated in the drive 🙁
I remember when Dragon's Lair came out. I never even tried it. I watched everyone else (most of whom were far better gamers than I was) get destroyed in short order. It was the first 50 cent machine.
I beat one Sinistar ONCE. Then I quit. That one victory probably cost me $50 in quarters! Great memories.
There is a switch in the compartment that can make the game easy, medium or hard. If I had to put more quarters in, it’s not playable.