Variation Prize Games
| The Good | The Not-So Good |
| Fun to try (set a budget) | Will eat your money |
| Blatant rigging on many games |
A continuation to part 1 found here. This article contains less common (and therefore more interesting) prize games in Japan.
Chocolate slab grab and wiggle
| Fun Rating: |  (3 / 5) |
| Difficulty: | (3 / 5) |
| Frustration: | (3 / 5) |
| Money Grabbing: | (3 / 5) |
The aim here is to pull the chocolate off the ledge so it drops down the prize shoot. However, note that there is a second ledge the chocolate will fall onto first. Also, the best tactic is to lift the chocolate from the far side (away from the ledge) rather than the more obvious near side. This is because lifting from the near side will just lift the prize up and drop it back down without any sideways movement. While lifting from the lower end will cause the prize to be pulled to the side a bit. Repeat and you will get the prize.
At a certain point pushing the prize off the ledge from above is a good play. Also look out for sticky pads and other methods of restricting the sideways movement of the prize. If the second ledge looks really narrow, probably there is a mat or something that increases friction.
Sliding down a ramp
| Fun Rating: |  (4.0 / 5) |
| Difficulty: | (3.0 / 5) |
| Frustration: | (3.0 / 5) |
| Money Grabbing: | (3.0 / 5) |
The method here is fairly simple. Push or pull the prize down the ramp until it falls off. However, beware! There is almost always clear tape affixed to the ramp to slow the prize down. When there is a handle, pull the prize along and make sure you get the pincer arms as close to the handle as possible for maximal power. For push types, the same applies but you push.
Sometimes pushing down from above on the edge of the box is a good tactic, depending on the weight distribution of the prize in the box.
Pushing a prize down and out
| Fun Rating: |  (2.0 / 5) |
| Difficulty: | (2.0 / 5) |
| Frustration: | (2.0 / 5) |
| Money Grabbing: | (4.0 / 5) |
The aim of these types is simple enough. Push the item out from the vice-like grip! Obviously, the grip is might strong and one push will do very little. Aim to push from the edges, alternating edges to wiggle the prize out. If pushing the right edge, use the right pincer. If the left edge, use the left pincer. If you push in the center, the prize won’t move at all and you will have wasted your time and money.
Chocolate pile games
| Fun Rating: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Difficulty: | (3.0 / 5) |
| Frustration: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Money Grabbing: | (4.0 / 5) |
Cheap chocolate stacked high, precariously balanced to fall at the slightest nudge! Of course not. The “easy” prize (circled in red below) will be balanced on a sticky rod (can you see it?) or else taped to one of the other prizes that is firmly wedged in the pile. You are tempted into going for the “easy” prize when they are the most difficult. Resist! Instead, aim to pull a prize from the top of the pile. If you have to go for the “easy” prizes, it will take multiple tries.
Long thing topple
| Fun Rating: | (4 / 5) |
| Difficulty: | (2 / 5) |
| Frustration: | (3 / 5) |
| Money Grabbing: | (3 / 5) |
These games are fairly straight forward. Pull the items into the pit to claim your prize. Of course, the pincer arm will be weak, or the hole will be tiny. They always have some trick to take your money. However, the prizes are not so expensive so you can often get lucky on the first couple of attempts, especially if someone has already had a go and shifted the prize a bit closer to the edge.
String pull and drop
| Fun Rating: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Difficulty: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Frustration: | (3.0 / 5) |
| Money Grabbing: | (3.0 / 5) |
The aim here is to insert the peg around the chain and above the stopper (in this game it is the red thing at the end of the chain) so that the peg pulls the stopper down and releases the prize. You will have to do it multiple times. Some machines plan fair and allow you to use skill to move the stopper exactly, while some games will “slip” the position randomly. The anime figure prizes are worth over ¥1000 so expect 3-4 pulls before payout.
Bounce off a ball
| Fun Rating: | (2.0 / 5) |
| Difficulty: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Frustration: | (4.0 / 5) |
| Money Grabbing: | (4.0 / 5) |
There are a few variations of this game but the basic flow is that you grab an item with the pincers (the pincers are set strong so you always lift up something). The item is then dropped automatically onto the ball and will hopefully (if a miracle occurs) bounce into the hole.
The problem is of course that the item is dropped onto the ball in such a way that the bounce is almost always away from the hole. In the case of the “figure” prizes in the picture above (with values of 2000-3000 yen if sold), the drop position is such that the boxes almost always bounce backwards. You also cannot grab a box laying on its side as the pincer arms don’t go that far down. The only option once all 4 boxes are out of reach it to ask the staff to reset the game. Lower value prizes will be easier to get.
The only way the item is going to go towards the hole is that if the center of gravity is hole side, or else the way backwards is blocked by prizes. Give this type of game a miss.
Rotating arm drop
| Fun Rating: | (3 / 5) |
| Difficulty: | (3 / 5) |
| Frustration: | (3 / 5) |
| Money Grabbing: | (3 / 5) |
The prizes rotate around the carousel, dangling off of hooks that when pushed from above, pivot backwards releasing the item to drop below. The aim is to time the release of the arm so that it rotates down and directly pushes one of the hooks with the thickest end of the arm, giving a maximum push down that should allow the prize to fall off of the hook.
Of course, how much of the arm head (yellow box) is the strike zone for a good push will depend on the settings. High value prizes will need the very, very edge (thickest part) to directly hit the hook otherwise the prize will not fall off. Less valuable prizes will be easier.
Pro-tip: The arrows showing you where to best time the “start” of your play are always lies, so don’t use them. Almost always the timing of your play will be outside of these arrows, so make careful note. Also, on the hardest settings, the speed of the hammer arm is slightly random so no amount of careful timing will help you. On the normal settings the speed is consistent so you can build up a feel for the timing after a couple of goes.
