Awesome 9-year-old’s cardboard arcade gets flashmobbed
A proud Caine Monroy and his cardboard arcade.
(Credit:
Video screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)
Remember on the first day of grade school when your teachers would ask you to come up to the front of the room and tell your classmates what you did during your summer vacation? Inevitably, there would be tales of frolicking at the beach, camping at national parks, and other cool activities, but we think 9-year-old Caine Monroy just might have the greatest story of all.
A big fan of arcades, Monroy spent his summer creating his own arcade (called Caine’s Arcade, naturally) at his dad’s auto parts store in east Los Angeles. Using cardboard boxes and the power of imagination, he built true classics like pop-a-shot, mini soccer, and even a claw machine using an S hook and some yarn.
He took care to include such details as a ticket dispenser for each game (Monroy manually feeds the tickets through a slot from inside the box), a prize wall, and gift bags. Monroy even devised a brilliant security system to verify the validity of the monthly Fun Pass, which gets you 500 turns for just $2 (alternatively, you can pay $1 for two turns), so don’t even think about trying to cheat at Caine’s Arcade.