How I Win at Crane Games, Every Time
disclaimer: this is not every ATTEMPT, I do not possess that magic. Some games are rigged to only win a prize every x times, so keep that in mind.
Hi everybody, this is my guide to winning something at the arcade. It’s going to take a few attempts, take some money, but it’ll impress people.
1st step: pick the right machine. Some machines can be incredibly finicky. If you get the chance, watch the machine for a while. Count how many losses people have between wins, stuff like that. Watch how the claw moves, does it jerk every little input? Or is it pretty easy to control.
If you are a beginner at claw machines, pick something that’s pretty round and looks really light. This increases your chances of the claw picking it up and holding it, even if it’s rigged to drop.
2nd step: pick the right prize.
There’s often only one item that will be easy to grab in a machine. Don’t pick anything with weird shapes that are caught under other items. Pick something in the center, (usually try for the direct center, often things that don’t look like they are at the walls the claw can’t move enough to grab). Pick some that isn’t squished in between other things, something that’s above most of the other prizes.
Don’t let your mind trick you. If you really want a specific prize, you can go for it, but it’s going to take a lot of time and money to get it.
To position the claw, you should make sure the claw is directly on top horizontally. Look through the side of the machine to make sure that it isn’t off on that side. I usually do left to right first until it looks right, then front to back, and then check one more time to make sure it’s correctly positioned. You want to hit the direct center of an object if it’s round. If it has a big loop tag too, you can try to grab onto that.
If there’s no time limit on the machine, take your time positioning it. If there is a time limit (usually 30 seconds in my experience) as soon as you are sure that the claw is in the right position, grab it.
I’ve heard from some people that double tapping the grab button makes the claw tighten. I don’t know if that is true, but it doesn’t hurt to add it.
You’ll need a couple attempts, but you’ll usually come home with at least one prize using these methods. There’s also a couple of machines that offer a prize every time, like smaller candy machines and the rubber duck ones. These are great practice, as they’re usually pretty cheap too. Have fun y’all!
