Raspberry Pi Bartop Arcade Features Laser Cut Wood Finish

Raspberry Pi
(Image credit: Tony Vanpoucke)

Raspberry Pi arcade projects are a beloved go-to for many creators but, once in a while, we come across a design too remarkable to ignore. Today we’re sharing a beautiful, handcrafted Pi-powered bartop arcade created by Tony Vanpoucke.

This arcade cabinet was designed from scratch by Vanpoucke and features an exquisite, laser-cut housing made of wood. The cabinet was made with two players in mind and uses a total of 16 buttons along with two joysticks.

The joystick and button input is managed with the help of a Xin Mo 2-player controller. This board has pins for two separate controllers and a micro USB port for output. It’s connected to a Raspberry Pi 3B+ which can run any OS you’d like. Vanpoucke recommends using something like RetroPie or Lakka. The arcade design is flexible in that regard, so you can switch it up and experiment with different operating systems.

To get video output, Vanpouke recycled an old monitor, but you can opt for any screen of a similar size. For audio output, the cabinet supports two internally mounted speakers. Once everything is installed, the sides snap together and a few screws keep everything in place.

The best Raspberry Pi projects are the ones you can recreate and Vanpoucke has made everything used in this project available at Instructables. Check out the full tutorial to get a closer look at how it fits together.

Ash Hill
Contributing Writer

Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.