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What will strike you most when approaching Marty’s Playland are the old familiar sounds from back in the day—the rumble-rumble-ka-thunk of skee-ball, the thwick-ding-ding of classic pinball, the spooky monotone of The Fortune Teller, and the pop-clack-THWACK-clack of an air hockey game.

We are talking here about a veritable symphony of old-school childhood fun.

There are quite a few fun arcades in Ocean City, but Marty’s takes pride in being the most nostalgic of the bunch. In fact, the arcade geeks at Topless Robot recently ranked Marty’s #4 on a list of the top ten vintage arcades in the whole country.

Step inside and it’s easy to see why. The Crane Digger machines here date to the 1940s. Those well-worn skee-ball ramps are vintage 1970s (and the photo here shows me, preparing to defeat my wife in a grudge match). On top of the classic old pinball machines, you’ll find Love Testers, Pokereno, and, of course, Pac-Man. (Not to worry, 21st century arcade fans, there are more modern machines as well.)

Marty’s got its start somewhere around 1940. Founders Marty and Anna Mitnick passed it on to a son-in-law, Sam Gaffin. Today it’s owned by Trimper Rides of Ocean City. a company that dates its history to the 1890s.

You’ll find Marty’s on the boardwalk at Worcester Street. Here is the arcade’s website.

–Written by Jim Duffy

NOTE: The photo here of me getting ready to slaughter my wife in a game of skee-ball was taken by Jill Jasuta Photography.

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