MIDDLEBURY — The former Video King storefront at 10 Washington St. in Middlebury, quiet as a tomb for the past decade, is suddenly showing signs of life.

Some might say extraterrestrial life, by the sounds of it.

But there’s a rational, nostalgic reason for the cacophony of bleeps, blorts, gunshots, thumps, chimes, bells and random yells emanating from the space neighboring Green Peppers Restaurant. It’s the signature ambiance of The Retro Realm, an old-school video arcade that Christian Bloom opened in April. It hosts around 40 video and hands-on games, many of which will look like old friends to folks north of 40 who’d spend some of their idle time at their local arcade pumping quarters into Asteroids, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and assorted pinball machines.

Yes, there was actually a time when one met up with other like-minded friends to enjoy video games, as opposed to these days, when enthusiasts plop down on their coach with a game controller and battle virtually with another random dude or dudette, the anonymity sometimes leading to salty trash talk.

Bloom believes his business will again make video gaming interactive, with a capital “I,” for multiple generations of Addison County residents.

“I’ve had a lot of families coming in here who tell me, ‘This is great, because our teenagers sit in the basement, they’re online, and they play games — but there’s no social aspect to it; they never meet the people they talk to,’” Bloom said on Thursday as his army of machines maintained a steady background chatter. “This is forcing them to congregate together. Here, you’re screening next to each other. There’s a social aspect to arcades, just like there’s a social aspect to bowling, that has gotten lost.”

And this isn’t just a lark for Bloom, 47, who originally hails from New York and settled in Bridport with his family three years ago. He knows his way around games — especially the big, free-standing ones. He spent 25 years working for such entertainment-centric businesses as Chucky Cheese, Jillian’s and Spare Time. He’s united clients with diversions ranging from pinball machines to Space Invaders to air hockey tables.

Bloom explained his former jobs involved a lot of traveling, meaning long days in a vehicle and less time spent with his wife, Kayleigh, their daughter, Candace, and son, C.J. So earlier this year, he began looking for a way to become his own boss, closer to home.

He already had multiple contacts from which to source machines. He just needed a spot with decent foot traffic in a downtown area. Bloom saw Middlebury’s former Video King spot and thought it’d fit the bill nicely.

“The school is near here, the (Addison Central Teens) center is nearby,” he said. “And people can walk here from their homes. Being next to a pizza place doesn’t hurt, and they’re very happy to have us here.”

Bloom was able to negotiate an affordable rent for The Retro Realm, which he noted won’t compete with any businesses in the area. He’s stocked it with a good mix of games and will rotate in a handful of new ones every two or three weeks. He recently bought around 60 machines from a warehouse in Pennsylvania. He explained that many of them had been in movie theaters and eateries that closed during the COVID pandemic and never reopened.

On this day, The Retro Realm’s offerings included multiple claw machines through which one can capture prizes, Miss Pac-Man, Big Buck Hunter, Over-Drive, Area 51, Midway (golf), Police Trainer, Star Wars Trilogy, ski ball, Mario Brothers, Fast & Furious Drift, Offroad Thunder and Tekkeh. There were also hands-on games, like a boxing challenge, foosball table and air hockey.

No pinball for now, but there will be soon.

“I was looking for variety,” Bloom explained of his game selections. “I wanted racecars, I wanted (target shooting) games, a fighting game. I had a list of categories I wanted and picked games to fit those categories.”

He said he feels lucky to have been able to buy his game inventory at a reasonable price. He anticipates the Trump-initiated tariffs — which have been a moving target — could add substantially to the cost of new games.

Unlike the old days, customers won’t be feeding quarters into these arcade machines. The Retro Realm charges by the hour. You get one hour of play for $10, or two hours for $15. A family of four can play for an hour for $30, or $50 for two hours.

There’s individual pricing for the claw games.

The Retro Realm’s hours are 1-9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; noon to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. It’s closed on Tuesdays.

Bloom will be working a lot of the hours, with help from his teenage children.

This reporter playfully asked him if his ears bleed at the end of the day following prolonged exposure to the digital din.

“It barely even bothers me,” he said with a grin. “To me, the silence is what drives me crazy sometimes.”

After all, an arcade without auditory pyrotechnics is like a cone without ice cream.

“People walk in here and say, ‘Wow, it does sound like an arcade.’ That’s the best compliment you can give,” a beaming Bloom said.

And people are the reason Bloom got into the business.

“What gives me the most pleasure is seeing multiple generations playing together, watching dad playing the Star Wars machine he played as a kid, next to his daughter. Or mom playing air hockey with her son,” he said. “That’s the greatest thing I can possibly see, and the smiles on their faces when they leave.”

John Flowers is at [email protected].