Arcade 1up has been capturing the nostalgia of gamers for years now with a variety of mini and full-sized arcade cabinets themed after the most popular titles. From Mortal Kombat to The Simpsons, Arcade 1up has tried to cover a diverse selection of tastes, while ensuring the preservation of each experience as much as possible. For its Infinity Game Table, however, Arcade 1up is doing something completely different but equally as exciting.

The Infinity Game Table is, by many measures, the future of board games. While plenty of board game fans prefer the tactile feel of carboard, the rapidly encroaching all-digital future can offer a lot of benefits that regular board games can’t. Not to mention, the variety of other experiences that can be replicated on the Infinity Game Table like coloring books, air hockey mini-games, and puzzles. Arcade 1up has put together a multi-faceted gaming device that can appeal to a wide range of people, from kids to families to adults.

The Infinity Game Table is available in two different versions but the concept is still the same. One boasts a 24-inch touch screen surface while the other pushes that up to 32 inches. Game Rant has been testing the 24-inch version at home and it has been more than competent when it comes to accommodating the gaming experience. Whether trying to entertain a group of friends in a party setting or just trying to kill an hour with a toddler, the Infinity Game Table has a lot to offer.

To say that the Infinity Game Table is a large tablet with legs is reductive but it also conjures up an accurate representation of the experience the device provides. Support for multi-touch, built-in speakers, and tactile feedback are also built into the table to make things a little more immersive than they would be otherwise. Arcade 1up was also smart to include a black frame around the screen so that users can keep drinks or snacks while not obstructing anything from view. The table also includes a set of small black dividers so that users can keep certain board game items out of view, like what letters they have in Scrabble.

At launch, the Infinity Game Table will support over two dozen different games and experiences, many of them tailor-made for the device. There are traditional board games like Candy Land, Sorry!, and Chutes and Ladders, as well as more dynamic experiences like Operation, Battleship, and Connect Four. Everything is well adapted to the touch screen interface and each game has support for a few different options. For example, two people can play Connect Four side by side where the screen is static, or they can opt for the head-to-head option, which flips the orientation after each turn.

Arcade 1up has put together a collection of games and experiences that covers a wide variety of tastes and they promise to add more over time. For its launch in July, the focus has been put on the classics, like Monopoly, Yahtzee, Battleship, and Operation. Each of these games is well represented in digital form, with touch-based movements, dice rolls, and cards to interact with. Background music, sound effects, and in some cases vibration help to deepen the immersion of each game, making them both novel and engaging. It’s as close to the “real thing” as players are going to get in a digital space, but the freedom afforded by the Infinity Game Table is what makes it so special.

Jumping between games or downloading new ones is as simple as a few button presses, and the table will even save progress between sessions. That’s a huge boon when it comes to more involved games like Monopoly, or just for keeping a group of kids engaged from one moment to the next. Non-game experiences like puzzles and coloring books show that the Infinity Game Table can be just as much a form of entertainment as an interactive gaming peripheral, but those options are few and far between. Many will gravitate to the table for game nights or parties, but loading up Whack a Mole or Simon Says proves a worthy distraction as well.

Connecting the Infinity Game Table to a Wi-fi connection is important for downloading new games and game updates, but it also allows users to take any of the games online. At a time when get-togethers are not as prevalent, the Infinity Game Table can still recreate the atmosphere of sitting around a table and playing a board game, only in a virtual space. In our experience, there were some connectivity issues with the table, but it’s very easy to hop back into a game and continue. And since very few of the games require fast reflexes or reactions, losing a connection is less annoying than it might be with some other online games.

Most importantly, the online connectivity of the Infinity Game Table opens up its scope so that users don’t need to wait for a party of four to load up a game of Monopoly. Granted, it’s unclear what the market will be for the Infinity Game Table, as its $499 price tag ($699 for the 32-inch model) can be prohibitive. Still, props to Arcade 1up for recognizing the benefits of online tabletop gaming at a time like this.

As with any collection of games, the selection has its clear-cut winners and some that are not as effective. Touch screen experiences can be finicky when it comes to precision and the larger screen can sometimes interfere with that. Instances where players need to drag an object across a large portion of the screen, for example, can sometimes lead to frustration for less experienced users. Where most of the board games are concerned, the touch screen interface is a non-issue, but there are some games/experiences that feel imprecise or finicky.

With the promise of more games added to the online store every month, the Infinity Game Table has set itself up as an exciting piece of tech out of the box and in the future. It captures the nostalgia of board game night but expands it through a clean user interface and online connectivity. It’s a conversation piece, a focal point for get-togethers, and a gaming device all in one.

Arcade 1Up's Infinity Game Table releases July 17, 2021 at Best Buy.