Brussels Pinball Museum

Update: Since my visit the museum has moved to a new location.

I first heard about this location through Facebook and finally had the chance to visit. The Brussels Pinball Museum is located on Rue de l'Enseignement, directly across from the entrance to the Royal Circus event hall. It's great to see a place like this in Brussels and to witness a small resurgence of pinball in Belgium. Any venue where you can enjoy pinball is a win in my book.

Unfortunately, my visit was a bit disappointing. The museum is much smaller compared to other venues like Freeplay Lanaken or the Dutch Pinball Museum. Of course, space in central Brussels is expensive, so expanding is understandably difficult. The number of available machines is limited. Many of my friends actually have more games in their homes. That said, a good pinball venue doesn't necessarily need a massive selection; it just needs enough quality and variety to keep visitors entertained.

Tickets are sold for one-, two-, or three-hour time slots. One hour is generally sufficient to try all the machines at least once, unless you're an exceptionally skilled player with long game times. For a short visit, the available lineup works well. In fact, larger locations can sometimes feel overwhelming. I've left other venues feeling a bit unsatisfied because, even after two or three hours, I hadn’t managed to play everything they offered. So, sometimes smaller really is better.

Calling it a museum is a bit of a stretch. It’s essentially a collection of pinball machines, without any educational material or historical context. There are no descriptions of the evolution of pinball or the stories behind the games, which you’d typically expect in a museum. You won’t learn much here, it's a pinball arcade where you can play!

The game selection itself is impressive. There are plenty of A-list titles from the '90s mixed in with other interesting machines. If you used to play pinball back in the day and want to relive that nostalgia, these titles will spark memories. For newcomers, it offers a solid introduction to the kinds of standout games created in the past.

What I found disappointing was the condition of the machines. Most of them needed maintenance. You could tell they had been updated at some point: LEDs installed, purple flipper bats, silicone rubber, but ongoing maintenance seems lacking. The playfields were getting dirty, flippers were weak, and gameplay was frequently affected by technical issues. That’s a shame, especially since other locations take noticeable pride in the quality of their machines.

It was nice to check out this spot once, but next time I’m looking for a pinball experience, I’ll choose a different location.

The entrance of the Brussels Pinball Museum is located across from the Cirque Royal.

The venue consists of two rooms. The first room, where you enter, includes newer pinball machines, like Alien, Beatles, Stranger Things, and a Pong Arcade. All cost 1 euro per play. It also features a small bar, several arcade machines, and retro consoles.

One side showcases the Pong table.

In the second room, you’ll find the pinball machines that are free to play as much as you want, these are included in the entrance fee. Cirqus Voltaire, Indiana Jones, Attack from Mars, Whitewater and Revenge from Mars.

Taxi, NBA:Fastbreak and Fish Tales.

Pin-Bot, Twilight Zone, Medieval Madness, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Cactus Canyon.

Bride of Pinbot, Rapid Fire, Strange Science, Tales of the Arabian Nights and Road Show.

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