Frequently asked questions
Is RetroZ Arcade free?
Yes. Every game is free to play in a browser, with no download and no purchase. The arcade is paid for by advertising.
Do I need an account?
No, to look around: the arcade, every game page and every leaderboard are open to anyone. Yes, to play and be ranked: signing in with Google opens a wallet with 2,000 coins, which is what pays the entry fees.
What are coins for?
Coins pay a game's entry fee and buy cosmetics for your character. A run pays coins back based on your score, with awards depending on the verified run. Coins are a game token with no cash value and cannot be sold or cashed out. A score award may be smaller than the entry fee.
What happens if I run out of coins?
You need the full fee to enter. With a lower balance the run is refused and no coins are charged. An available daily check-in pays 600 coins plus a streak bonus. Optional rewarded ads are another route only when available on your platform and account.
How do I earn more coins?
Score well — payouts scale with your score. Check in daily for 600 coins plus a streak bonus. Place on a ranked daily board and take a share of the prize pool. Publish a beat map in BeatSequence and earn coins every time somebody plays it. Watching a rewarded ad is optional and also pays.
What are today's games?
3 of the 16 games carry a ranked daily board and a prize pool each day, marked with a star in both lobbies. Which ones is decided by the calendar date, identically for every player. Over a full cycle every game gets its turn.
How are scores checked?
The server validates submissions before ranking. Replay-supported runs are reconstructed from their issued seed and recorded inputs. Other accepted formats are checked against score and duration bounds. Ending a run early preserves eligible coin awards, but a quit is not a completed leaderboard entry.
Why is my recorded score sometimes different from what I saw?
It should not be, and if it is, the recorded one is the server's own arithmetic and is authoritative. Differences of this kind have been bugs in the replay rather than a judgement about you, and they get fixed — see the Updates page.
What is the community vault?
A shared pot fed by 10% of every payout. It pays the daily prize pools, and when the running total passes a threshold it unlocks something permanent for everybody — the first is CRT Theme at 10,000 coins.
Can I change my name?
Yes. The first sign-in suggests a name from your Google profile and immediately offers to change it, and you can rename later from your profile. Names are unique regardless of capitalisation.
What can I buy for my character?
Face, hair, clothes, an accessory and a back item are worn. Emotes are additive — each one you own adds a button to your emote wheel. Walk styles change how your character moves, and you wear one at a time. You can try anything on in the fitting room before buying, and you can buy an item as a gift for another player.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Every game has touch controls; keyboard bindings depend on the game, and the arcade is built for a phone screen. The 3D hall needs WebGL; a browser without it gets the 2D lobby automatically.
Is there advertising?
Yes, and some of it is optional: a rewarded ad you choose to watch pays coins. The Privacy Policy explains what advertising does and does not know about you.
How do I delete my account?
Ask us from the mail screen inside the arcade and we will delete it. The Privacy Policy lists exactly what deletion removes and the little that survives it.