Novelty Automation is an arcade in London offering something a little different from the classics like Pac-Man and Space Invaders. With everything coin-operated and unusual creations like “Pet or Meat” and “Autofrisk”, this might just be the world’s wackiest arcade.
It is the brainchild of Tim Hunkin, whose love for all things arcades and gaming dates back to long before Novelty Automation was created. All of the machines were built by hand and are coin-operated, inspired by a fondness for silliness rather than anything more serious.
“As a child, I found that making things that made people laugh was satisfying, and there seemed more point in doing that than making useful machines,” Hunkin told Great Big Story. In a way, Novelty Automation is the culmination of that lifelong principle – the place that stores the creations of “a hobby that got out of control”.
Hunkin first began making arcade machines in the 1980s, while working for Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in Covent Garden. The inaugural wacky creation was called ‘Chiropodist’, and involved a dark hole in which to insert your foot for treatment. Hunkin was skeptical that people would take the plunge and stick their shoeless feet into the dark abyss, but he needed not to worry. Some 20,000 people a year used Chiropodist and Hunkin has been “addicted ever since”.
The irreverence is still at the heart of what motivates Hunkin, dozens of machines and decades of building later. He describes Novelty Automation as “a mix of humor and engineering…a new home for my arcade machines, with some guest machines made by kindred spirits. I’d run out of space in my Under The Pier Show seaside arcade and felt it was time for a new adventure.”
Located in Holborn, central London, Novelty Automation complements Hunkin’s coastal arcade perfectly. There is an underdog spirit to the arcade, and something particularly British about its humor. “Britain’s got a great history of satire,” Hunkin explains, “and I suppose I’m not particularly political myself, but I think it’s healthy for little people to poke fun at the rich and powerful.” This is clear on machines poking lighthearted fun at the likes of Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Theresa May.
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As funny as the machines are, they are proper pieces of kit and stem from Hunkin’s skill as a traditional engineer. He has spent most of his life on more conventional projects, and his wacky arcade creations have been a self-sustaining hobby on the side, with money generated going towards keeping Novelty Automation going.
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