You’ve invested in the exhibition space, stand design, staff, travel and marketing.
Now you need people to actually stop at your stand.
Interactive games can give exhibition visitors an immediate reason to approach your space, participate in an activity and engage with your team.
Instead of relying entirely on banners, giveaways or sales staff to attract attention, an interactive game can create visible activity around your exhibition stand.
Visitors see other people:
Racing
Competing
Playing
Trying to Beat a High Score
Winning Prizes
Challenging Colleagues
and naturally want to see what is happening.
Boutique Party Hire provides Arcade Machine Hire London & UK Nationwide for exhibitions, trade shows, conferences, corporate events and brand activations throughout London and across the UK.
This guide looks at some of the best games to attract visitors to an exhibition stand and how to choose the right equipment for your space.
Exhibition halls can contain hundreds of companies competing for the same visitors’ attention.
Many stands contain similar elements:
Screens
Printed Graphics
Product Displays
Sales Teams
Promotional Merchandise
Seating Areas
Adding an interactive game introduces something visitors can physically participate in.
A good exhibition game can help create:
Visible Activity
Friendly Competition
Conversation Opportunities
Longer Interaction
Repeat Visits
Brand Engagement
A More Memorable Stand Experience
The important part is choosing a game that fits your available space, expected footfall and exhibition objectives.
Reaction games are one of the strongest options for busy exhibition environments.
The concept is immediately understandable.
Visitors compete to react as quickly as possible, achieve a score and then challenge colleagues or other exhibition visitors to beat them.
Our Catch It Reaction Ring Game Hire can be used to create a simple competitive challenge directly on an exhibition stand.
The concept is easy for visitors to understand:
See the Target → React → Score Points → Try to Beat the Leaderboard
Reaction games can work particularly well for:
Technology Exhibitions
Automotive Events
Sports Exhibitions
Business Conferences
Recruitment Events
Corporate Trade Shows
Brand Activations
You can also run a highest-score competition throughout the exhibition.
Reaction games offer several advantages.
Gameplay can be relatively quick, allowing more people to participate throughout the day.
They also create movement.
Someone walking past the stand can see another visitor rapidly attempting the challenge.
That visible activity can help draw attention to what is happening.
A scoreboard or leaderboard can provide an additional competitive element.
Our Batak Lite Game Hire can create a fast-paced physical reaction challenge on an exhibition stand.
Visitors attempt to hit illuminated targets as quickly as possible and achieve the highest score.
This gives exhibitors a very simple campaign mechanic:
The concept requires little explanation and can work well in environments where visitors are moving quickly between stands.
Batak can be particularly suitable when you want to introduce competition without dedicating a huge part of the exhibition stand to entertainment.
You could potentially operate:
Daily High Score
Morning vs Afternoon
Customer vs Sales Team
Company vs Company
Visitor vs Visitor
Team Challenges
The organiser can determine the competition structure and any prizes.
The important advantage is that the game provides your exhibition team with a natural reason to start a conversation.
Basketball arcade games provide fast, energetic competition.
Our 2-Player Basketball Arcade Game Hire can create a highly visible head-to-head challenge on larger exhibition stands.
Visitors immediately understand what they need to do:
Basketball machines can work particularly well for:
Sports Exhibitions
Retail Events
Fashion Events
Trainer & Sportswear Brands
Corporate Events
Brand Activations
Large Exhibition Stands
The physical movement involved in basketball can also make the activity visible to people walking past the stand.
A basketball competition can run throughout the exhibition.
Display the current high score and invite visitors to beat it.
You could potentially have:
Visitor Leaderboard
Customer Leaderboard
Company Leaderboard
Daily Champion
Overall Exhibition Champion
The event organiser can decide whether prizes are offered.
Grabber machines offer a different type of exhibition interaction.
Our Prize Crane Grabber Hire can potentially combine interactive entertainment with suitable promotional merchandise.
Depending on the machine, campaign and product dimensions, potential contents could include:
Branded Merchandise
Promotional Products
Small Gifts
Campaign Merchandise
Vouchers
Suitable Product Samples
Sponsor Items
This can turn a standard exhibition giveaway into an activity.
Giveaways are common at exhibitions.
The difference is in the experience.
Instead of simply picking up an item from a table, visitors can potentially attempt to win it through the machine.
A grabber machine can therefore provide:
Entertainment
A Giveaway Mechanic
Visual Interest
Customer Interaction
A Reason to Stop
An Opportunity to Start a Conversation
For suitable promotional campaigns, the machine itself can become part of the wider exhibition experience.
Another option for promotional campaigns is our Gashapon Dispenser Hire.
A giant capsule dispenser provides a different type of interaction from a traditional arcade game.
Rather than simply handing visitors merchandise, suitable promotional items can potentially be incorporated into capsules.
This can be particularly interesting for:
Product Launches
Promotional Campaigns
Retail Brands
Exhibitions
Brand Activations
Experiential Events
Trade Shows
It provides another way of turning the distribution of promotional items into part of the visitor experience.
Retro arcade machines provide a different style of attraction.
Our Arcade Game Machine Hire can create a more relaxed gaming area within an exhibition stand.
Retro arcade machines can appeal to visitors through familiarity and nostalgia.
They can work particularly well for:
Technology Exhibitions
Gaming Events
Creative Industry Events
Media Exhibitions
Marketing Events
Corporate Exhibitions
Several cabinets can potentially create a small temporary arcade within a larger stand.
If you have sufficient space, several retro machines can be positioned together.
This can create a dedicated gaming area where visitors can spend time between meetings or conference sessions.
It can work particularly well where the objective is to create a more relaxed hospitality environment.
Visitors don’t necessarily need to enter a competition.
They can simply:
Walk Up
Choose a Game
Play
Challenge a Colleague
Spend Time on the Stand
If brand visibility is important, selected arcade equipment can potentially be customised.
Depending on the machine and project, branding options may include:
Company Logos
Campaign Artwork
Product Graphics
Exhibition Messaging
Sponsor Logos
Stand Graphics
This can make the machine feel integrated into the exhibition stand rather than appearing like unrelated hired entertainment.
Browse our wider Arcade Machine Hire London & UK Nationwide range to see arcade and amusement games available for suitable events.
For larger stands, several games can potentially use coordinated branding.
For example:
Branded Reaction Game
Branded Basketball
Branded Grabber Machine
Branded Arcade Machines
Combined with a leaderboard and campaign graphics, this can create a dedicated interactive area within the exhibition stand.
Competition is one of the easiest ways to turn an arcade machine into an exhibition activation.
You don’t necessarily need a complicated format.
Simply display:
and give visitors the opportunity to beat it.
Suitable games can include:
Reaction Games
Batak
Basketball
Racing Simulators
Football Challenges
Other Score-Based Arcade Games
The competition itself can create an additional reason for people to participate.
A leaderboard can potentially increase the value of the game beyond the initial play.
Without a leaderboard, the experience may be:
Play → Finish → Leave
With a leaderboard, it becomes:
Play → Check Score → Compare → Challenge Someone → Potentially Return
That creates more opportunities for interaction around the stand.
A leaderboard can also give exhibition staff an easy conversation starter:
Head-to-head games can create particularly visible activity.
Instead of one person playing alone, two visitors compete directly against one another.
This can naturally attract:
Colleagues
Customers
Friends
Sales Teams
Other Exhibition Visitors
Games such as our 2-Player Basketball Arcade Game can work well when direct competition is part of the exhibition concept.
If your main objective is to make your exhibition stand more interactive, some of our suitable options include:
Catch It Reaction Ring Game Hire
A fast interactive reaction challenge that can be incorporated into competitions and leaderboard concepts.
Ideal for creating a simple “beat the high score” challenge.
2-Player Basketball Arcade Game Hire
A competitive basketball attraction where visitors can compete directly against each other.
Combine suitable promotional merchandise with an interactive grabber-machine experience.
A different way to incorporate suitable promotional giveaways into an exhibition activation.
Retro Arcade Game Machine Hire
Create a nostalgic gaming experience or larger temporary arcade area.
Arcade Machine Hire London & UK Nationwide
Browse our wider range when you need several games or want to build a larger exhibition entertainment package.
One of the most important considerations is whether people walking through the exhibition can understand that something is happening.
Games involving:
Movement
Lights
Competition
Scores
Head-to-Head Gameplay
can naturally create visible activity.
This can be useful where your stand is competing with many nearby exhibitors.
You don’t necessarily need a huge stand to incorporate an interactive game.
For smaller exhibition stands, consider equipment with a relatively compact footprint.
Potential options include:
Before booking, confirm the exact machine dimensions and required operating space.
Larger exhibition stands can create a much more substantial entertainment area.
A larger installation could potentially include:
Basketball Arcade
Reaction Games
Batak
Retro Arcade Machines
Prize Crane
Gashapon Dispenser
Racing Simulators
Additional Arcade Machines
Browse our full Arcade Machine Hire range when planning a larger exhibition installation.
If you expect very high footfall, gameplay duration becomes important.
A fantastic game isn’t necessarily suitable if every participant occupies it for 15 minutes while twenty people wait.
For busy exhibitions, consider games where participation can be relatively quick.
Reaction and high-score challenges can work particularly well.
Our Batak Lite and Catch It Reaction Ring are examples of the type of competitive reaction game that can suit this style of event.
Quick-play games allow more visitors to participate.
They can also fit naturally between:
Meetings
Conference Sessions
Presentations
Networking
Walking the Exhibition Floor
The goal is often to make participation easy rather than requiring a large commitment from the visitor.
If increasing stand footfall is the objective, think about what a visitor sees from the aisle.
Ask:
Can they understand the activity?
Can they see people participating?
Is there an obvious challenge?
Is the game positioned visibly?
Does the branding make sense?
Is there enough room for spectators?
The game itself matters, but positioning and stand design matter too.
Some exhibitors are less concerned with attracting huge numbers and more interested in creating longer interactions with valuable prospects.
For this objective, larger experiences such as:
Racing Simulators
Retro Gaming Areas
Multiplayer Games
Head-to-Head Challenges
may be useful.
Our Retro Arcade Game Machine Hire can be particularly suitable when you want visitors to relax and spend more time within the stand.
Interactive games can also make it easier for exhibition staff to approach visitors.
Instead of immediately starting with a sales question, staff can introduce the activity:
“Want to try the challenge?”
Once the visitor has participated, the conversation can naturally move toward the company, product or service.
The game isn’t replacing the sales conversation.
It is creating another route into it.
Some exhibitors may want to incorporate the game into a wider lead-generation campaign.
For example, the organiser might run a competition around the activity.
A reaction challenge, basketball high score or other competition can provide the activity while the exhibitor handles registration, qualification and follow-up.
Any collection and processing of visitor information should be handled appropriately by the organiser.
B2B exhibitions can benefit from interactive entertainment because the environment can otherwise become heavily focused on sales conversations.
Suitable options might include:
Reaction Games
Racing Simulators
Retro Arcade
Batak
Branded Games
Basketball
The best choice depends on the industry and audience.
Technology exhibitions can potentially use:
Reaction Games
Racing Simulators
Retro Arcade Machines
Interactive Games
Branded Challenges
These can complement demonstrations and technology-focused stand designs.
Automotive exhibitions are naturally suited to competitive entertainment.
Potential options include:
Racing Simulators
Fastest-Lap Challenges
Reaction Games
Batak
Branded Arcade Machines
A score-based competition can provide a simple interactive concept around the stand.
Sports exhibitions can use:
as well as football and other competitive arcade games.
Visitors can compete around familiar sporting and reaction-based activities.
Employers attending recruitment fairs can potentially use interactive games to make their stand feel more approachable.
Reaction games, retro arcade and competitive challenges can provide an informal activity for candidates.
This can work particularly well at graduate and university recruitment events.
Marketing, advertising and creative-industry exhibitions can potentially use visually distinctive games.
Potential choices include:
The equipment can become part of the overall stand creative.
Trade shows often involve substantial competition between exhibitors.
An interactive attraction can provide a reason for visitors to stop rather than simply walking past.
The strongest game isn’t necessarily the biggest machine.
It is the game that best matches:
Your Audience
Your Stand Size
Your Brand
Your Campaign
Your Footfall
Your Objectives
Conference exhibition areas can be slightly different from traditional trade shows.
Footfall may arrive in concentrated bursts during:
Registration
Coffee Breaks
Lunch
Session Changes
Networking
Quick-play games can therefore be particularly useful.
If your stand is being used as a brand activation, the equipment can potentially be incorporated into the campaign.
For example:
Interactive Game
Leaderboard
Promotional Giveaway
Campaign Artwork
This creates a more complete interactive experience.
A Prize Crane Grabber Machine or Gashapon Dispenser can be particularly interesting where giveaways form part of the campaign.
Companies launching a product at an exhibition can potentially use games alongside:
Product Displays
Demonstrations
Presentations
Sampling
Meetings
Hospitality
A suitable game can provide another activity around the launch.
If you’re already investing in promotional merchandise, there are ways to make the giveaway itself more interactive.
Our Prize Crane Grabber Hire can potentially incorporate suitable items into a grabber-machine experience.
Alternatively, our Gashapon Dispenser Hire can provide a capsule-based promotional experience.
Instead of simply:
Take a Giveaway
you can potentially create:
Participate → Interact → Receive or Try to Win a Giveaway
This can make the promotional element more memorable.
They don’t have to be.
However, branding can make sense when the game is a major part of the stand.
Selected machines can potentially incorporate:
Logos
Campaign Graphics
Product Artwork
Exhibition Messaging
The branding requirements should be discussed well before the exhibition date.
There isn’t one answer.
A small stand may only require:
One Feature Game
A medium stand might use:
2–3 Games
A large experiential stand might use:
4–6+ Games
The decision should be based on available space and expected visitor numbers rather than simply adding as many machines as possible.
If you’re planning a larger installation, browse our Arcade Machine Hire London & UK Nationwide range to see the wider equipment options.
One high-impact game can work extremely well.
For example:
One Batak Reaction Challenge
or:
One Catch It Reaction Game
or:
One Prize Crane Activation
For larger stands, multiple games can create an entire interactive zone.
Neither approach is automatically better.
The right setup depends on the exhibition.
Machine dimensions vary considerably.
You also need to think beyond the physical footprint.
Consider:
Playing Space
Spectator Space
Queuing Space
Sales Staff Movement
Emergency Routes
Neighbouring Stands
Power Access
Venue Regulations
Send the stand dimensions when requesting a quote so suitable machines can be discussed.
The game should be visible without obstructing the stand.
Potential positions include:
Near the Front of the Stand
Along an Open Edge
Inside a Dedicated Activity Area
Near a Hospitality Zone
Avoid creating a layout where people playing the game block the entrance or prevent other visitors from speaking to staff.
Start with the objective.
Consider quick-play reaction games such as Batak Lite or Catch It Reaction Ring.
Consider our 2-Player Basketball Arcade Game or other multiplayer arcade games.
Consider a Prize Crane Grabber Machine or Gashapon Dispenser.
Consider Retro Arcade Game Machine Hire.
Browse our complete Arcade Machine Hire London & UK Nationwide range.
The best game is the one that fits the purpose of the stand.
One standout game for a smaller exhibition stand.
2–3 interactive games.
4–6 games.
Multiple games creating a substantial entertainment area.
Selected equipment with suitable company, campaign or product branding.
Packages can be tailored around stand size, visitor numbers and exhibition duration.
London hosts a huge number of exhibitions, conferences and trade shows.
Suitable exhibition arcade hire can be discussed for venues and events throughout London.
For larger machines, loading arrangements and venue access should be confirmed before booking.
Browse our Arcade Machine Hire London & UK Nationwide range when planning your exhibition entertainment.
Suitable exhibition game hire can be discussed throughout the UK, including:
London
Birmingham
Manchester
Leeds
Liverpool
Bristol
Cardiff
Nottingham
Leicester
Coventry
Sheffield
and other locations.
For exhibitions outside London, provide the venue and full event schedule when requesting a quote.
Many exhibitions run for several days.
Suitable arcade machines can potentially remain installed for the full exhibition rather than being removed each evening.
Provide:
Build Date
Opening Dates
Exhibition Hours
Breakdown Date
when requesting a quote.
Exhibition venues often operate strict build and breakdown schedules.
When contacting us, provide:
This helps determine whether the equipment and installation requirements are suitable for the event.
Reaction games, Batak, basketball, prize cranes, racing simulators and retro arcade machines can all work well. The best option depends on stand size, audience and campaign objective.
Interactive games can create visible activity and provide visitors with a reason to approach and participate. Results will also depend on stand position, promotion, design and how the activity is operated.
Compact reaction games such as Batak Lite and Catch It Reaction Ring can be suitable depending on the available space.
Quick-play reaction and high-score games can be useful where large numbers of visitors need to participate.
Selected machines may offer custom branding depending on the equipment, artwork requirements and available lead time.
Yes. Suitable score-based games can form part of a leaderboard competition managed by the organiser.
Potentially, depending on the machine, item dimensions and campaign requirements. See our Prize Crane Grabber Hire.
Yes. Suitable larger stands can potentially use several machines to create a complete interactive area. Browse our Arcade Machine Hire London & UK Nationwide range.
Installation can be planned around suitable venue build schedules and access arrangements.
Suitable exhibition bookings can be discussed nationwide.
The right interactive game can turn part of your exhibition stand into an activity visitors can see, understand and participate in.
Whether you want a fast reaction challenge, head-to-head basketball competition, prize crane, Gashapon dispenser, retro arcade experience or complete exhibition arcade, Boutique Party Hire can build a package around your stand.
Explore our popular options:
Catch It Reaction Ring Game Hire
Retro Arcade Game Machine Hire
Or browse the complete Arcade Machine Hire London & UK Nationwide range.
Send us your exhibition name, venue, dates, stand dimensions, expected footfall, required games and branding requirements for an exhibition game hire quote.
