Created From Cardboard, Filled With Heart

Caine’s Arcade Goes Viral

On Sunday afternoon dozens of people, mainly families, flocked to a small Auto-parts shop in East LA to play at Caine’s arcade, a nine year old boy’s world of homemade cardboard games.

The surprise event was organised by Nirvan Mullick, Caine’s very first customer. Mullick had entered the Auto Shop looking for a spare part, but found more than he expected and ended up spending $2 for a Fun Pass, giving him 500 turns at the cardboard arcade.

Mullick said, “This kid’s a genius ... (and) the fun pass is an awesome deal.” With the help of Caine’s father, Mullick organised a flash mob to appear at the arcade on a Sunday afternoon.

Caine’s father had been worried that Caine would be bullied at school, as none of the other children believed that Caine had his own arcade. Caine even went as far as to stop wearing his “Caine’s Arcade” shirt, of his own design, to school.

The event led to many people playing at the arcade and was sure to boost Caine’s confidence, who, with a smile on his face, handed out passes and prizes to happy customers.

The soccer game: Originally, Caine had only one soldier to defend the goal post. However, when he realised that was too easy for customers, he added two more soldiers to increase the challenge.

The basketball game: This is the first game that Caine made for his arcade.

The claw game: This is Caine's personal favourite. This game consists of a simple claw which hooks onto the toys, which originally belonged to Caine. This "machine" is of Caine's own design.

The prizes: When a customer wins a game, their reward is one of many toys donated by Caine himself. Only nine years old himself, he says that he does not miss the toys, as they were from when he was little.