Power Up Exhibition at London Science Museum: A Gamer's Paradise

We visited the London Science Museum to check out the Power Up interactive gallery, which is a gamers paradise, let me tell you. My kids got to play video games from the past that I grew up on and even further back. I’m talking about consoles like Super Nintendo, Gameboy, Sega, Playstation, Xbox, Game Cube, Nintendo 64, Wii, Nintendo Switch, Panasonic REAL, PCs, BBC Micro and the classic Atari 2600.

This interactive gaming experience had various themed game sections like Mario, 2, 4 and 16-Player, New Gen, Superhero, Racing, Sonic, Arcade, Virtual Reality, PC Games and more. It was so cool to see my kids enjoy playing Super Mario just like I did when I was their age. My son, who loves Pac Mac, was right in his element when he walked into the room and saw the massive multiplayer Pac Man digital game table.

As you can tell by the photos, the room lighting is kept down low, for those with sensory needs, and there is a lot of open space to move around and feel relaxed while enjoying the various games to play.

Parents, the Science Museum has got yo’ backs because there is plenty of seating to sit back, have a cuppa or even get some work done as you allow your kids to play on. If you’re feeling peckish, there is an onsite snack stand, called, ‘Checkpoint’, where you can buy snacks and alcoholic drinks to kill time. Now if you’re a gaming parent, I can’t see you just sitting around as you watch your kids because I’m pretty sure you will be immersed in this evolution of gaming.

Not to worry about the cleanliness of the machines and controllers because there are surface wipe stations situated around the room that you can use along with tons of hand sanitisers to keep those germs away.

I paid £15 each for a year membership for my son and I, and £9 (discounted because of the family discount applied) for my 5 year old. You can opt for a day pass which will cost £12 for everyone over the age of 4 years old and free for 3 years and under.

A membership originally costs £18 per person, but because I bought one parent and one child ticket, the system automatically applies a family discount to your total at checkout.

In order to enter the power up exhibition, you have to purchase a general admission to the Science Museum which is free. You will see options to pay £5, £7.50 or £10, which you can bypass. It’s just an option for those who want to give a donation to the museum.

We went to the museum on a Monday at 2:00 p.m., and even though there was a fair amount of people, there still was plenty of room and game stations to play at without having to wait your turn. I assume, due to the heat that each console produces, the temperature in the room was quite cool, so if you get cold easily, bring a jumper with you.

I almost didn’t buy a year membership, but I’m so glad I did because this is definitely a place for my autistic son to enjoy, learn and have a really good time.

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Side note: I don’t expect for this individual to read this post, but you never know. So, I just want to give a big thanks to the young gentleman who graciously taught my son the basics on how to play Minecraft. I think he’s getting the hang of it! 😊