Elena Brooks

Elena Brooks came to Arcade Monthly from museum work. She spent six years as a collections assistant handling electronic and mechanical exhibits, where she learned to document, repair and store ageing hardware properly. That training shapes how she writes about old games: as objects that need care, with histories that deserve accurate records.

She runs the retro desk, interviews the developers and operators who were there, and writes Arcade Monthly's restoration guides. Her series on rescuing water-damaged cabinets is the most-read retro work the magazine has published.

Elena holds a master's degree in public history from the University of Texas. She owns four working cabinets, one of which lives in her kitchen, and volunteers with a local repair café.