What Is Attract Mode on a Classic Arcade Game and How Does It Work?

By HighScoreSaves Technical Team

Reviewed and updated August 23, 2026

If you leave a classic arcade game powered on without anyone playing it, the game usually does not remain on a single screen. Instead, it cycles through title screens, high scores, gameplay demonstrations, instructions, character introductions, or other displays intended to attract attention. This repeating sequence is commonly known as attract mode.

Attract mode was an important part of the original arcade experience. Arcade games were commercial machines, and a game sitting on an arcade floor needed to advertise itself to passing players. The cabinet artwork attracted attention from a distance, while the monitor and speakers helped demonstrate what the game looked and sounded like.

Attract mode can also interact with operator settings, DIP switches, Free Play features, high-score displays, and modern upgrade-kit functions. Understanding what attract mode does can therefore be useful when operating, restoring, or upgrading an original classic arcade machine.

What Does Attract Mode Mean?

Attract mode is the automatic sequence a classic arcade game normally runs while it is waiting for a player. It begins after the game boots and can return after a game ends and the machine becomes idle again.

The exact sequence is determined by the game software. Depending on the title, attract mode may include:

• The game title or logo
• Copyright and manufacturer information
• High-score tables
• Character names or introductions
• Scoring instructions
• Short demonstrations of gameplay
• Game instructions
• Coin or credit messages
• Free Play messages when supported
• Other game-specific screens or animations

There is no universal attract-mode sequence. Games from different manufacturers—and even different games using related hardware—can behave differently.

Why Did Arcade Games Use Attract Mode?

Original arcade machines were designed to earn money one play at a time. When nobody was playing, the machine still needed to encourage the next person to insert a coin.

Attract mode effectively turned the arcade cabinet into its own advertisement. A gameplay demonstration could show a potential player how the game worked, while flashing graphics, recognizable sounds, and high-score tables could encourage competition.

This is one reason attract mode remains an important part of the authentic presentation of a restored classic arcade cabinet even when the machine is now operated in a home collection rather than a commercial arcade.

What Are Attract Sounds?

Some classic arcade games can produce sounds during attract mode. These are commonly called attract sounds.

Whether attract sounds are available—and whether they can be enabled or disabled—depends on the game. On some original arcade PCBs, an operator setting or physical DIP switch controls this behavior. Other games may always remain quiet during portions of attract mode or may handle sound differently.

Operators could choose quieter settings when many machines were operating close together. In a home arcade, owners may prefer attract sounds because they reproduce more of the game's audiovisual presentation.

DIP Switches and Attract Mode

Physical DIP switches on an original arcade PCB can control operator-selectable settings. Depending on the game, one of those settings may affect attract-mode sound or another aspect of idle operation.

DIP-switch functions are game-specific. A switch position that controls attract sound on one PCB may control something completely different on another.

For a more detailed explanation of physical switch banks and their settings, read How Classic Arcade DIP Switches Work and What They Control .

Attract Mode and High-Score Tables

High scores are a major part of the attract sequence on many classic arcade games. After a game ends, the machine may eventually return to an idle sequence that periodically displays the current high-score table.

The important distinction is that displaying a high score and permanently storing a high score are different functions. An original game may display scores perfectly during attract mode while the cabinet is powered on but lose some or all of those scores after power is removed.

HighScoreSaves upgrade kits add persistent high-score storage on supported games so qualifying saved scores can remain available after normal power cycles. Attract mode can then continue displaying the supported saved score information according to the game's operation and kit design.

Attract Mode and Free Play

Free Play allows a supported arcade game to be started without inserting a coin. A properly designed Free Play implementation should not simply eliminate the idle presentation that makes a classic arcade cabinet look and behave like an arcade game.

HighScoreSaves kits are designed on a game-specific basis, and supported Free Play operation allows the cabinet to remain available for play while preserving the appropriate game behavior.

To understand the distinction between starting a game without coins and preserving scores after shutdown, see Free Play vs. High Score Save Kits for Classic Arcade Games .

Attract Mode and HighScoreSaves Game Selection

On supported HighScoreSaves multigame kits, attract mode can also provide access to game-selection functions.

A common HighScoreSaves control method is to hold the Player 1 Start button for approximately four seconds while the game is in attract mode. On supported multigame kits, this opens the game-selection menu.

This avoids adding unnecessary external switches to the cabinet for normal game selection. Exact behavior is kit-specific, so the installation guide and product documentation for the particular kit should always be followed.

Learn more in How Multigame Upgrade Kits Work on Original Arcade PCBs .

Is Attract Mode Stored in the Arcade ROMs?

The program code responsible for the game's normal behavior—including its idle sequence—is part of the software executed by the arcade hardware. Original arcade PCBs commonly contain program ROMs along with ROM devices containing graphics, sound, or other game data.

For an explanation of these components, see Original Arcade ROMs Explained: Program ROMs, Graphics ROMs, and Sound ROMs .

Does Attract Mode Cause Screen Burn?

Classic CRT monitors can develop phosphor wear when the same bright or stationary graphics are displayed repeatedly for long periods. This is commonly called screen burn or burn-in.

Attract mode changes the image on the screen and is preferable to leaving one completely static image displayed continuously, but many arcade games still repeat fixed logos, score tables, mazes, borders, status areas, or other graphics in the same positions.

For that reason, decades-old arcade monitors may show recognizable patterns from the game even when the cabinet is turned off.

Attract Mode Is Part of the Original Arcade Experience

Attract mode may appear to be nothing more than a repeating demonstration, but it is an important part of how classic arcade games were designed to operate.

It advertises the game, demonstrates gameplay, presents score information, communicates with potential players, and provides the familiar sights and sounds of an arcade cabinet waiting for its next game.

Understanding attract mode also makes it easier to understand related arcade concepts such as DIP-switch settings, Free Play, persistent high-score saving, multigame selection, and original arcade ROM operation.

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Classic Arcade • Modern Features