Arcade games are usually meant for the arcade, not the home. That changes with the basketball arcade game that Reigning Champ created industrial designer (and fellow Canadian) Calen Knauf.
Home Court, a modern and minimalist take on a historically loud and flashy arcade piece quarter-muncher, is as much a statement piece for your house as it is a playable game, due to the painstaking craft that informs its design.
Reigning Champ, known for its understated sports and athleisurewear, utilized that same ethos in its collaboration with Knauf, yielding a $50,000 arcade game equally suited for Drake's crib or his art-themed amusement park.
For one, Home Court is made of hand-sculpted hardwood, so when the ball bounces, it sounds like a basketball actually hitting a court's floor.
Glass panels with stainless steel accents not only ensure that the balls are easily returned to players but as Reigning Champs says, reduce the “visual footprint” of the large arcade piece.
The hand-knotted cotton and silk nets come from different Canadian artisan, making it possibly the bougiest arcade game known to this planet.
Even the visible cables, a tribute to the nostalgic arcade games of yore, are slight and sleek. There are no flashy lights or sounds, though a sensor does keep score if you’re the competitive type.
Remember Kim Kardashian’s kitchen? This would fit right in, white leather basketballs and all.
At $50k a pop, this made-to-order piece might only be accessible to someone like her and friends, to be fair. Still, it’s very easy on the eyes and looks just as fun to play on as the OG. Maybe even more so.
Much like Reigning Champ’s furniture collab with Modernica last year, this take on a classic arcade game is something we didn’t even know we needed.
And now it’s going to be hard to not assume that any gameroom worth its renovation budget shouldn’t have one.
