Skill Games

There are two games at the Illinois State Fair that are more addictive to me than anything else I've ever experienced, except maybe honey sticks from said State Fair. I put them here to show that not all of my games are going to be violent, sexual, etc. I'll probably end up playing this one more than any other game I'm working on. I don't have screenshots of my versions yet, as I'm still doing the physics research to get the collisions just right.

Skill Crane (Erie Digger-style)

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This is one of my earlier memories of my second wave of State Fair attendance. I spend probably at least 50 dollars a year (in one day) on this game, and it only costs a quarter to play (well, some of the cranes with higher stuff costs two quarters, with a double coin insertion tray). A disproportionate amount of time is spent at this and the game below. Basically, you put a quarter in, using the kind of slot still seen on sticker machines, turn the crank to rotate the swing over your prize, and push a button to stop it. If you're quick and have good timing, like me, you learn pretty quickly how to swing the crane fast enough and stop it suddenly enough to swing it over a prize not in the main route. You have to be careful, though, or else you'll slam the glass and call attention to yourself. Then you'd get kicked off, which wouldn't be so bad, as long as you could go and play...

Sweeper (AKA Rotary Merchandiser, coined in the early 1900's)

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Any prize cylinder can be traded for a Small (which you can also get as a Small cylinder), 4 Smalls for a Medium, 8 Medium for an X-Large, and no more than two green X-Larges a day. These are the rules I live by for the hours I'm at this game. In the picture, the green X-Large is at the back, in the center. I was only allowed to take one picture, for trade secret protection I imagine. Still, the picture is clear enough so that the rules, as is a count of prize cylinders (albeit without prize value distribution, which will most likely end up more smalls than mediums, but ultimately adjustable). Like the cranes, this game costs only a quarter to play, and is where I spend a great deal of my post-swag, post-concert, post-teriyaki post-everything pre-going home time. I love this game. Timing plays a much bigger part in this game than it does in the crane game. I'm pretty sure the game is completely electro-mechanical, giving each of the individual sweepers their own exact revolution speed, though if there is any difference in their respective speeds, it's imperceptible. Basically, you focus on getting your desired cylinder to the edge, or you pick one that's already close to the edge, or bunched up with other pucks. Then, you spend enough quarters to get the timing of the arm down, as a single stroke. This will help you develop your strategy on when to sweep, and when to rest. Make mental note of how long it takes a puck on the edge to get from a landmark, say the back center (where the green XL is in the picture), to the contact point or just before the contact point on the edge, where the prize pucks are pushed off. From there, it's pretty much primal. As if you're a primitive tribesman, you sort of know when to advance, when to rest, and when to strike. On this game, and all that I've seen, the arm continues out to the edge once you bring it past a certain point. I pretty much only do that when I'm trying to sweep off a flock of closely bunched prize pucks. This game is a lot of fun, and I kind of wonder if it won't lose its appeal to me when it loses its once a year exclusivity. I don't think I'll actually play it, once I finish it and have my post-mortem play streak. It just wouldn't be the same, though since I probably won't be at the Illinois State Fair again for a while, if ever, I might pull this game out on those "Wish it were August in Springfield" days.

Well, that's it! Thanks for checking it out. If you want to let me know what you think, or have any ideas for other State Fair/Picnic kind of skill games, e-mail me at slimeseed underscore white at yahoo dot com. I'm sure some OCR, reconstructive bot will read that and put it back together, but oh well... Anyway, next weekend is the picnic here in town, and there's a couple games that I only see or play at it (well, except one that's at the Fair, but I don't play it at the Fair cos there are better games, and I can play this at the local Picnic), so I'll be sure to take my camera when I go. I'll have to take pictures of the prizes, too; they're cool, and very Coney Island-ish. Last time I was there, I got a milk glass vase on the electromechanical slot machine poker. That'll be put up here soon, too.