Founded in and based out of Chicago, Rock-Ola has been one of the biggest names in US manufacturing: they’ve made rifles, furniture, and their trademark product: jukeboxes!

Also, video games. Noticing the Space Invaders and Pac-Man craze, Rock-Ola tried their hand at publishing arcade games. They were not a direct developer as far as I know, but thanks to them some of SNK’s early games like Fantasy came out in the US; they also published games like Nibbler (their biggest hit!) and Eyes by Miami-based game maker Digitrex Techstar.

First off, just look at the cabinet. I love the design. It’s whimsical and eerie… and strangely delicious. It looks like an appetizing soft beverage. The European version is even scarier!

So what’s it like? Think of a Pac-Man-type maze game where you collect dots, except that you can shoot at the enemies! You’re an eye and you shoot other eyes! As revolutionary as Pac-Man is, I might dare say that I find Eyes a bit more satisfying!

I learned about this game last year and remain mesmerized by it. It’s almost like the eyes of the marquee are putting me in a trance.

This is one to look out for at retro arcades!