From your first mobile phone to an arcade high score: explore the Retro zone at Zagreb Games Week
Remember your first mobile phone, the sound of a game on an old computer, or trying to beat the high score on an arcade machine? At Zagreb Games Week, from 13 to 15 November 2026 at Zagrebački velesajam, you can relive some of those memories in person.
The Retro zone brings together three stories about technology that defined generations: Retro Info, Muzej mobitela and Arhiva.TV. Together they bring classic games, original hardware and a look at how the devices that changed the way we play, communicate and watch have evolved.
Some visitors will be greeted by familiar controllers and screens from their childhood. For others, it will be their first encounter with the computers, consoles and phones their parents used.
Retro Info: 20 years of preserving gaming memories
This year Retro Info marks 20 years since the exhibition first appeared in 2006, and it brings to ZGW a history of gaming you can get to know by playing.
In their part of the Retro zone you'll find 8-bit home computers, PCs and arcade machines, along with rare computers and laptops that show how much technology and gaming have changed. Modern home arcade consoles from ATARI and SONY with classic games will be on show too.
A special place goes to the traditional TETRIS tournament on an original SNES console from the nineties. The rules are familiar, but stacking blocks under pressure will show who still has a steady hand and a good feel for the next move.
The Retro Info crew is also preparing a few surprises for fans of the classics. Come and find a game you remember, or discover one you missed.
Muzej mobitela: do you remember your first?
Before big touchscreens, we recognised mobile phones by their keypads, antennas, flip cases and shapes that were often completely different from model to model.
Muzej mobitela takes you through the evolution of mobile telephony and gives you the chance to compare devices from different eras in person. Their exhibition recalls a time when messages were typed by pressing the same key several times, and a phone was chosen partly by how easily it fit in your pocket.
For younger visitors it's a chance to meet the predecessors of today's smartphones. For everyone else, perhaps a reunion with a model they once carried every day.
Arhiva.TV: switch on the past and play live
What did games look like on CRT televisions, and what does it feel like to play on original hardware? Find the answer at the Arhiva.TV project's interactive exhibition.
The project is dedicated to preserving, documenting and presenting older television, video, computer and other audiovisual technology. It puts special emphasis on original devices and content, and on presenting them in as authentic a form as possible.
At ZGW they will set up retro consoles, CRT televisions and the matching equipment, switched on and available for visitors to play. Besides trying the games, you can talk to the people who look after these devices, learn how they worked and discover the differences between gaming and video technology then and now.
Bring someone you want to show how games used to be played
The Retro zone is a great chance to swap stories across generations. Parents can show their kids the games they grew up with, friends can go head to head again in familiar classics, and younger players can discover how much challenge fits on one old screen.
Find your classic, try the original hardware and meet the people who keep technology's past from being forgotten.
Retro Info, Muzej mobitela and Arhiva.TV are waiting for you in the Zagreb Games Week Retro zone, from 13 to 15 November 2026 at Zagrebački velesajam.
Find the programme and tickets at zagrebgamesweek.com.