Welcome! You've arrived to the right place if you are looking for the Commodore 64 / +4, 8bit Atari and/or Spectrum scene. You won't be disappointed if interested in exotic computers of the 80s, early Nintendo, Sega or Atari game consoles either. Arok covers them all and lets you celebrate 8bit love all together.

Arok is an annual demoscene event for retro computer and video game console fans. This is the longest lasting gathering of this kind in Hungary, organized for the 27th time in 2026. It attracts around 200 enthusiasts to Ajka/Hungary from all around Europe. Attendees can watch regular art competitions, enter gaming contests, listen to hardware and software development presentations, concerts and party together!

To get into the mood right now, you might check the archived video recordings of previous events.

...but exactly when and where can we meet? Your question is on spot! Open your calendar and note the date!

Ajka is our lovely, small town in western Hungary, north to lake Balaton (the largest lake in Central Europe!). It is easy to access by train from the west (from the east you have to use replacement buses at the moment) or car (route nr. 8 / E66). We are celebrating our common 8 bit enthusiasm in the local ice rink. It has plenty of room, easy access, has lots of parking space and owns a buffet also. In case multiple shops and restaurants/fast food are in the close neighborhood for cheap meal&bevs also (Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Penny, KFC, McDonalds...).

If you arrive by train or bus, you need a little walking. You might use this map to get in direction.

Arriving by car is going to be easy as you won't need to get into the town center. From route nr. 8 / E66 head to Ajka from Bakonygyepes (not from Ajkarendek!!!), at the roundabout next to Tesco store take the first exit, leaving the gas station turn to the left. ...and you are there ;)

Are you looking for a room for the weekend? We can recommend a few options for you:

General rules

No smoke/smoking inside
Smoking (including e-cigars) inside the building is strictly forbidden! Smoking area can be found in front of the entrance. Please, use the bins for your buds! The installed smoke alarms neither allow laser show inside, but in case we can record such a production outside.
No animals allowed
The building is quite new and is surrounded by maintained football fields. We promised the owners that it'll be kept that way. Pets are not allowed on the premises normally which unfortunately means they need to stay at home or at friends. Thank you for your understanding!
No tenting allowed
Reason is the same as mentioned above. If you want to have a cheap accommodation, check our recommendations in the accommodation section or use the sleeping rooms.
Keep away from football fields
Reasons are the same as above. Party is running in the stadium. Respect this!
Alcohol allowed
Alcohol consumption is allowed, but be aware of your limits. If you make trouble, we throw you out.
No drugs
According to Hungarian law, no drugs are allowed. Anything noticed, you will be handed over to the police immediately.
Your hardware, your responsibility
No damage or theft happened so far, but we can't take responsibility for your equipment. Please, take this into account if you bring your valuable retro treasures.
Big Brother is watching you
By visiting our event you implicitly agree to be videotaped or photographed. We will also have a 0-24 internet stream, which will be recorded and later published on well known video streaming sites. Furthermore, many of the visitors will create their own photos and record videos, and the location is also equipped with security cameras. That said, when taking videos or photos we kindly ask you to be considerate about the privacy of others.
Bring your power cords
Not a rule but a friendly advice.
If you have any question, feel free to contact us via arok@singularcrew.hu !

Compo rules

Our compo categories are: demo (runnable, non-interactive, visual effects and music), graphics (runnable, hand pixelized still image), music (runnable, chip music), remix (remix of existing chip music), game dev (playable game), wild (any creation that doesn't fit in the previous categories) and game (multiplayer game competition)
First: check schedule for deadlines! We won't accept entries after a deadline was hit.
We bring vanilla Commodore 64 / plus4 + 1541. If you have a release for an exotic platform, please let us know and / or bring your gear!
C64 releases are run on new SID if not noted otherwise. Old SID is of course available.
Demo entries have a time limit of 10 minutes.
Music entries have a time limit of 3 minutes and 30 seconds (might be longer, but will be faded out). Digitized samples are allowed.
During music playback we show general slides (author, title, note), not the screen of your player.
Remix entries should provide (at least link to) original. For example HVSC entry in case of C64 covers.
Remix entries should be submitted in 256kbit, constant bitrate MP3 format. It is needed for proper playback on C64.
Graphic entries should have no animation/scrolling and must be original art. Converted photo composition or use of AI isn't allowed. Signature is allowed.
Graphic entries should have workstages/timelapse to reveal creation process. Dedicated jury is going to check the entries for human made pixels.
One entry/competition is allowed for each participant.
Remote entries are allowed but those go for the fame only. Prices are handed personally for attendees only. Use arok@singularcrew.hu to submit.
We reserve the right for preselection that includes moving entries to the wild compo or rejecting them.
Entries with porn or racism are going to be excluded.
Compo entries may not have been released before.
All compo entries will be available to download freely after the party.

Do you plan to visit Arok? Help organizing the party by signing into this pre-visitor list! Your friends are going to know that they can expect you and we can calculate desk/chair needs + costs.