Last week, Finnish public broadcaster Yle published a story about Retro Game House in Kuhmo and the man behind it, Mika Hoffrén. For many people, it was the first time hearing about a collection that has quietly grown into something exceptionally large over the years.

Retro Game House includes around 13,000 games along with a large collection of game consoles, home computers and other gaming-related hardware from different decades. The shelves feature familiar names like Commodore 64, Amiga, Nintendo and Sega, but also rarer systems such as the ColecoVision.

The collection was never built just to fill shelves with old hardware. Behind it is a long-standing interest in computers, games and technology in general.

An interest in technology started early

The collection has been gathered by Mika Hoffrén, whose interest in computers began already in the 1980s, back when software was loaded from cassette tapes and most things were learned through trial and error.

The home computers of that era were much more than gaming devices. For many people, they were the first introduction to programming, electronics and computers in general.

Over time, the interest grew beyond gaming alone. Old computers, consoles and gaming history gradually became a larger part of the hobby, eventually turning into the collection that now fills much of Retro Game House.

The shelves contain hardware and games from several different eras, and a large part of the equipment is still fully functional today.

Standing in front of these old machines quickly reminds you how different computers used to be. The devices were physical, repairable and often built to last for decades. Many of them still work perfectly.

Gaming history also online

Retro Game House also features a virtual exhibition that allows visitors to explore part of the collection and gaming history online.

The first exhibition focuses on the Vectrex console, best known for its built-in vector graphics display. It remains one of the most unique consoles in gaming history and one of the best-known systems in the collection.

A second virtual exhibition is planned for the near future.

The interest has never disappeared

Even though technology has changed enormously since the 1980s, old games and computers continue to fascinate people. Many still remember their first gaming experiences with cassette tapes, floppy disks and CRT screens.

Retro Game House offers a glimpse into a time when people learned about computers by playing, experimenting and sometimes figuring things out the hard way. At the same time, the collection helps preserve a part of gaming and computer history for future generations.

Read Yle’s article about Mika and Retro Game House here.