Finland’s fourth-largest video game collection to become a museum in Kuhmo

A private collection of roughly 13,000 video games—ranked as the world’s fourth-largest documented archive—will open as a retro gaming museum in Kuhmo within two years, Finnish broadcaster Yle reports.

Collector Mika Hoffrén, who relocated to the eastern Finnish municipality five years ago, plans to transform his lifelong hobby into Retro Game House, a destination blending gaming with local nature experiences. The museum will cater primarily to international visitors, offering tailored sessions based on pre-assessed interests.

“Each visit will be customized,” Hoffrén told Yle. “We’ll select games and consoles in advance to match what the traveler wants.”

The collection spans gaming history, with every title photographed and cataloged in the I Collect database. Rare systems like the 1980s Vectrex—of which Hoffrén owns five units—sit alongside mainstream consoles. His son, Samu Hoffrén, assists with organization, testing, and documentation.

Beyond gaming, the project emphasizes Kainuu’s wilderness. “Kuhmo is the world’s most beautiful place,” Hoffrén said. “We’ll guide visitors to enjoy our national treasures—the forests and lakes—as part of the experience.”

Inspiration came from Europe’s Home Computer Museum (Netherlands) and Computerspielemuseum (Berlin), though Hoffrén aims to surpass their models. While the museum will serve locals through events, its core audience is affluent international tourists seeking niche cultural travel.

Hoffrén, a self-described “old-school IT nerd,” began programming games in the 1980s. His childhood fascination with arcade windows evolved into a decades-long quest to preserve physical media—“beautiful to touch,” he noted—amid gaming’s digital shift.