Turning a Broken Atari Into an Awesome Drinking Game Machine

The Cider Racer 2600 is an electronic drink racer and timer for competitive beverage consumption. The project was initially made by YouTuber “MonkeyBOX Entertainment” for an annual Christmas party out of a retrofitted Atari console with an Arduino Mega — though we can see a commercial version of this system catching on.

The Cider Racer 2600 has two different game modes: quick draw and drag race. In the latter, users place their drinks on the device’s pressure-sensitive coasters and push a red button along the side they’re ready to go. Upon releasing, LEDs begin to countdown from red to green, prompting them to start chugging.

Time is shown on two 7-segment displays, which stop once a competitor puts their glass back down, allowing a champion to be crowned. The winning time will flash, and can then be cleared using the Atari’s old game reset switch.

The Cider Racer 2600 features individual player handicap settings for more competitive play. It can even detect false starts and whenever someone sets down a glass that isn’t actually empty. If this occurs, the timer makes the necessary corrections.