Caine's Arcade

I somehow found an article about Caine's Arcade today and watched the inspirational short film about this 9 year old's cardbox arcade business. His story was so touching and I just had to write about it. I wish I were in LA right now so I could meet the boy of the hour!


Caine, a creative boy with an entrepreneurial spirit created a whole arcade in his dad's auto shop in East LA. This is not your typical arcade, this is a cardbox arcade filled with new games invented and built by the 9 year old himself. He has found innovative ways to cut costs by assembling his own contraptions. The first game was a basketball game with a little plastic hoop taped to a cardboard box. He also made a soccer game with two plastic green army figures acting as fixed goalies. And my favorite game, out of a piece of yarn and an s-hook, he created a claw machine contraption. Genius. 

The best thing about Caine's Arcade is how energetic Caine is as a business owner. He is serious and not afraid to work hard. When you win a game, Caine will personally climb into the backend and push the winning tickets out of a slot for you to stimulate a real arcade experience. 

I couldn't help but be inspired by his resilience, problem-solving skills and ingenuity. At the age of 9, I was simply reading Goosebumps and making clothes for my Barbie. I would earn 50 cents if I washed dishes after the family dinner...and that's about it. Caine's hard work created this big break. His very first customer was so impressed that he planned this flashmob customer base and produced this short film. And now Caine's Arcade is the hottest thing in town.


Good luck to you Caine and keep up that entrepreneurial spirit!