The Ultimate Retro Game Treasure Review

I used Retro Game Treasure for 3 months. Here’s everything you need to know about the retro video game crate service.

Retro Game Treasure Review - my second Retro game loot crate contents

This Retro Game Treasure review is based on my own personal experience subscribing to the service for 3 months. Let me say up front that they gave me the three-month trial for the purpose of reviewing their service. You should also know that I won’t pull any punches and I’ll do my best to make this an honest and frank Retro Game Treasure review.

If you decide you are interested in subscribing to them, you can use my promo code GHETTO5 to get $5 off your first month.

Fortunately, the service is pretty straightforward so there’s not much fudging I could do even if I wanted to. But there are a few questions and concerns that I had before I started using RGT, and that I’ve heard echoed around the interwebs enough times that I think they should be addressed.

So I’ll go through the basic rundown of their service and simultaneously answer questions you probably have. If I repeat myself, it’s for the sake of making this review more scannable for those who just have specific questions. But I’ll try to be thorough and clear for ya. Cool?

Alright, let’s check it out.

First off…

What is Retro Game Treasure?

Retro Game Treasure is a monthly service that delivers retro video games and accessories to your mailbox. Every month they ship 3 to 5 games for consoles ranging from Atari 2600 to Playstation 3 and most major consoles in between. 

It’s basically just a retro video game loot crate service. They hand pick a selection of games and/or accessories each month based on the preferences on your profile when you first sign up.

You can subscribe month-to-month, or you can purchase several months in advance, up to a year, to save some money and not have to worry about monthly payments coming out. The savings are nice, but nothing insane. They still have to order the games, and they still have to pay to ship them to you. So you pretty much always get close to the value of what you spend.

Part of the gimmick is that they send their crates in actual 8-bit style cardboard treasure-chest boxes. They are cute and fun and should give you a thrill every time one pops up in your mailbox.

Retro Game Treasure Retro game crate treasure box with Milo
Milo and me are both big RGT fans.

Is Retro Game Treasure Legit?

Yes, Retro Game Treasure is totally legit. It’s real. They don’t just take your money. They’ll send authentic, working retro video game crates every month. Definitely legit. They’ve been in business for about five years. Next question.

How do I know they won’t just send me garbage games every month?

That’s the big important question everybody wants answered before they spend their hard-earned money on Retro Game Treasure or any retro game loot crate type subscription. And it should be! Nobody wants to sign up for a retro game crate and end up with a box full of crappy dollar-bin games.

And nobody wants to sign up for said retro game loot crate, only to receive a game that’s generally considered okay, but isn’t something to your preference.

I personally don’t enjoy sports games and one big concern for me was that I would get a crate full of the crappy sports games that game shops can never get rid of. 

Fortunately, Retro Game Treasure guides new subscribers through a (somewhat lengthy, depending on the size of your existing collection) onboarding process that gives their database your preferences so you’ll get only games you’re into.

I’m good with this. Cobra Triangle and All-Stars were both from my wishlist.

RGT also has a List of Shame: games that they vow to never sent a subscriber. The following is from the RetroGameTreasure.com website:

Superman 64, Shaq Fu (all consoles), Madden (All Years, All Consoles), Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (GBA), Dogz (GBA), Catz (GBA), all Dora & Barbie Games, “Imagine” series for DS and more. This list is ever growing!

They also invite readers to contact them with games they think should be on the list.

What can new Retro Game Treasure subscribers expect?

I mentioned their onboarding profile setup process already. If you’re just a non-subscribed visitor to their site, you can’t really see what’s going to happen when you sign on.

That was the main reason I never signed up with them until they gave me this Retro Game Treasure review trial. I just wasn’t sure what to expect once I signed up.

Lucky for you, I already wrote a Retro Game Treasure walkthrough article to actually show you what happens after sign-up. I even made a video so you can see step-by-step how to set up your Retro Game Treasure profile preferences and be more likely to get the games you prefer. It’s all there; you should check it out.

Will Retro Game Treasure send me games I already have?

Nope. When you’re setting up your profile, you’ll be guided through the process of recording every game in your collection. Once you can sign in, you’ll find your games inventory on their website under the link Manage Game Collection and you can view your inventory or add games to your inventory. You can see step by step how it’s done in my previous post.

Depending on the size of your collection, this could get pretty tedious. I only have a few hundred games, so it was simple. If you have a very small collection, it’ll be easier. If you have a positively massive retro game collection then… well, I’m sure you can figure it out, too.

What worked for me was taking pictures of all my shelves and going left to right on all the photos, adding each game as I went. It was much easier than running back and forth from the shelf or squatting next to it with my laptop.

Retro Game Treasure Review - RGT's retro game inventory
Not my collection. It’s a pic of RGT’s inventory before they ship their crates.

Will Retro Game Treasure send me games I actually want?

That depends on how well you fill out your profile. They have several methods for you to tell them what you would like to receive. Besides specifying games you already own, you also fill out what consoles you are collecting for (choose minimum of 2), what genres you like, what genres you definitely don’t like, and your wishlist.

Your wishlist is where you tell them what games or accessories you really want. If you want it to be effective, you should give them lots of options. They have lots and lots of subscribers, so they can’t exactly go out shopping for you personally. You’ve got to want something they have in stock. And while they do get hundreds and hundreds of games stocked every month, there’s never a guarantee.

Also, make sure you’re keeping the subscription price in mind when creating your wishlist. You only pay $34.99 ($24.99 with my Retro Game Treasure promo code, winky emoji), so you probably won’t get Little Samson or Earthbound. And they try to send 3 – 5 games each month. So that means you aren’t likely to get any game worth more than $20 or $25, even if it’s on your wishlist.

Each month I’ve been subscribed, they’ve sent me at least one game from my wishlist, and a few cheaper (but still fun) games. I’ve been quite satisfied.

Who benefits from Retro Game Treasure?

If you’re looking for a service that will send you expensive collectable games, you’re looking in the wrong place. If you’re a hardcore collector, RGT may not work for you. But if you’re a hardcore NES collector who is starting your PS2 collection, then RGT may be a fun way to start filling out that PS2 shelf.

One thing I really like about the concept of a retro video game crate service is that it reminds me of ye days of olde, when you would end up with something from Blockbuster. Sometimes it was almost random. The games you really wanted would be checked out already so you just wound up with M.C. Kids (Retro Game Treasure sent me a copy of that last month). You take a chance on something new and a lot of time, it pays off. M.C. Kids is surprisingly fun and challenging.

Retro Game Treasure review - retro video game crates ready to ship.
A hundred crates, ready to go.

If you’re a new to collecting retro games, a crate subscription is a really fun way to grow your new collection. You can even specify on your profile whether you’re a casual collector and don’t mind scuffed labels, etc. They might be able to squeeze a little more value out of a game with a poor label.

My NES collection has gotten to the point where I have re-purchased pretty much every game I owned as a child. And I own most of the popular commons. Now I just need to fill out the middle of my collection, those games that cost between $15 and $25 that I don’t have any nostalgic connection to. 

There are a ton of games I never played, so many that I wouldn’t know where to begin choosing. RGT solves that by choosing for me and surprising me every month.

What consoles does Retro Game Treasure accommodate?

According to their website, RGT offers games for NES, SNES, Genesis, Nintendo 64, Playstation 1, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Original XBOX, Xbox 360 Gamecube, Dreamcast, Sega CD, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii, Game Gear, Atari 2600, & Sega Master System. Not too shabby.

Is Retro Game Treasure “worth it”?

The answer depends on how big your existing collection is and how picky you are. If you’re just starting out collecting, Retro Game Treasure is definitely worth it. If you’ve been collecting for a while and you’re still missing a lot of common games, RGT is a fun way to fill those gaps. If you have a huge collection and only need a few rare games, RGT might not be for you.

Will I get my money’s worth?

As far as I can tell, yes.

The regular service is $35 (Save $5 with the code GHETTO5) and each month I’ve received right around $35 worth of games, according to Pricecharting, when you include the cost of shipping. The price for shipping is included in your monthly fee. So when that’s taken into account, I think you get your games a bit cheaper than you would if you bought them individually somewhere else.

So far, I’ve gotten a game from my wishlist (more on that later), along with a few random games. And the random games have all been decent, playable ones. No generic sports games. All good stuff.

Is there anything about Retro Game Treasure that isn’t great?

The low cap on game values is kind of a pain. I think a lot of subscribers would love to upgrade a premium plan, if it were offered, where they could spend a little more and get a higher quality of games. But I suppose that would be hard to pull off, since RGT can’t exactly place an order with the manufacturer. They’re limited by what games they can scrounge up every month.

Their website also leaves something to be desired. It’s really hard to use some of the features on mobile, and some of the navigation is really awkward.

I also think users would benefit big-time from being able to create an account and log their game inventory without having to be a paid customer. It would also offer additional value to the user beyond the retro game crate subscription itself.

Other than those minor gripes, Retro Game Treasure is certainly legit. They do what they say. You’re not going to get a boxed copy of Power Blade 2, but you’ll get decent, playable games to add to your collection every month.

I do recommend Retro Game Treasure.

As mentioned already, RGT gave me a free 3-month trial for the purpose of this review. I’ve given my honest feedback here. If you want to try their service too, here’s my referral link and my promo code GHETTO5 to save $5 on your first month. Doing so helps me out, and helps out GhettoGamer.net too.

Plus, you get old games and save money!

Cheers!

4 responses to “The Ultimate Retro Game Treasure Review”

  1. The fact they straight-up tell you they WON’T send you Superman 64 or Shaq-Fu is pretty hilarious….I still have my Shaq-Fu Genesis game anyways 🙂

  2. They definitely know what’s up. But yeah, I love my SNES Shaq Fu enough to buy it complete.

  3. […] (If you’re growing your own retro gaming collection, check out our Retro Game Treasure review) […]

  4. […] The Ultimate Retro Game Treasure Review […]

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