Anxiety Arcade is a full-sized arcade machine exploring themes of anxiety and isolation. A love letter to 80s pop culture and classic video games, Anxiety Arcade is a digital space that allows you to reset and take a break from everything in your world.

What if there is a game you can’t win? How long would you play if you were told there is no end? Explore a virtual world where each room is a song in an album and every puzzle unlocks more mystery.

Created by Closed Forum, Anxiety Arcade is bleak, funny and bizarre.

Looking at anxiety through the lens of those that experience it, Anxiety Arcade uses iconic retro gameplay to get people talking about mental health, rather than trying to solve it.

Closed Forum make digital and participatory artworks, with a focus on mental health and a love for retro gaming. They create art about dreams, reality and anxiety using video game platforms and open-source software.

Creating experiences that put the audience at the heart of the work, they make unique encounters, one-off events and artworks that can be experienced anywhere. Active since 2017 Closed Forum is led by artists Matt Allen and Adam Sas-Skowronski. The pair make both collaborative and solo performances, digital artworks and often invite other amazing artists to join them.