Emily Parker

There is something a gaming console will never replicate: the click of a real arcade joystick, the glow of a light-up marquee, and the crowd that forms when someone is actually good at NBA JAM. That is why our team spent the last several months testing, assembling, and living with the best home arcade machines … Read more

I still remember feeding quarters into a Pac-Man cabinet at my local pizzeria in the early nineties. The chunky joystick, the chunky buttons, the chunky sound effects — that tactile rush is exactly what the best tabletop arcade machines try to bring back into your living room. After spending three months testing 10 home arcade … Read more

I have spent the last three months comparing 10 home pinball machines side by side in my garage, draining thousands of balls and tracking reliability, rule depth, and pure fun factor. The best pinball machines for home in come in every shape and size, from full-size Stern arcade cabinets to compact tabletop toys your kids … Read more

Finding the best chess sets in is harder than it should be, because the market is flooded with flimsy boards, hollow plastic pieces, and themed sets that look great until you actually try to play a game on them. I have spent the past several months playing on, traveling with, and squinting at ten of … Read more

I have spent the last three months setting up, moving, and knocking over dozens of chess sets in my living room. Some of them felt like museum pieces. Some felt like plastic toys wearing a tuxedo. The difference between the best luxury chess sets and the rest comes down to weight, wood, and the way … Read more

I’ve been playing chess for over 15 years, and I still remember the disappointment of my first plastic set tipping over mid-game. Once I switched to a proper wooden chess set, the whole experience changed. The weight of the pieces, the smooth click of wood on wood, the way a good board becomes a piece … Read more

I’ve been collecting chess sets for years, and the best chess sets for collectors share one thing: they pull you in the moment you unbox them. A truly great collector’s chess set isn’t just something you play with; it’s a piece you show off, hand down, and sometimes even watch appreciate in value. Over the … Read more

Walking into your first rated event with a hollow plastic set from a big-box store is a rite of passage every chess player regrets. The pieces tip over when a spectator bumps the table, the board refuses to lie flat, and the tournament director politely suggests you borrow a proper set for the next round. … Read more

I was halfway through a transatlantic flight when my travel chess pieces scattered across the aisle for the third time. That moment convinced me that magnetic travel chess sets aren’t just convenient—they’re essential for any serious player on the move. After testing 10 of the most popular options over several months, I’ve found the ones … Read more

When I first unboxed a real marble chess set, I understood why people treat these things like furniture instead of games. The board alone weighed over ten pounds, every piece had natural veining that no factory could copy, and it turned a forgotten side table into the thing guests comment on first. That was three … Read more