Claw Crane - Machine Configuration and Chances of Winning

Machine Configuration and Chances of Winning

The success rate winning a prize is dependent on several factors, including operator settings, player skill, type of machine, and prizes available (size, density, and distribution). A prize may be lost due to player inexperience, player error in manipulating the claw, the weakness of the claw, or the specific crane configuration. Many modern cranes use a computer to determine a payout percentage based on the operator's settings, in the manner that the claw would have a strong grasp on objects only on a certain percentage of attempts. All modern claw machines incorporate some means for the owner to adjust at least the strength of the claw's grip and how closely the claw's fingers pull together, usually with screws on the mechanism or potentiometers on the PCB. Even on older machines, the grip strength can be adjusted by adding circuit components or additional hardware. Some machines incorporate a feature called two-level claw power, which, when enabled, causes the claw to at first grip at full strength, but then gradually weaken its grip to the normal level after a brief delay. This can cause the crane to initially pick up the prize, but then drop it.

Modern, higher-end claw machines are fully computerized and are remotely programmable by the owner (via a hand-held device). Settings and features commonly available include:

• Claw strength and aperture
• Motion speed, in any direction (that is, the claw can be made to drop slowly but come up quickly, or move right faster than it moves forward)
• Pick-up strength and retain strength can be specified separately, as well as the delay between pick-up and return.
• Payout percentage: Cranes equipped with this setting have onboard programming which cause the claw's grip parameters to be continually adjusted to achieve a pre-set payout percentage, usually specified with respect to the value of the prizes inside
• Fail limit: If the machine dispenses too many prizes in a given time period, it stops accepting coins and is out of order
• Free replay can be granted on a certain percentage of plays
• Instant replay: the user can opt to touch a certain button and have the claw automatically move to where it was last dropped, in order to try again for a prize that was just missed on the previous try.

Some cranes are also able to display the number and value of prizes won in a given time period, enabling the owner to keep track of how profitable the machine is for them.

Some machines can be configured to basically be games of chance. On a machine with a flimsy grip and a mechanism controlling the odds of a strong grip, little skill is involved in winning prizes by attempting to grasp them with the claw: the crane's random number generator decides whether the claw will grip or not. However, if the claw's grip strength is set such that it is capable of holding a prize — even tenuously — on most attempts, then experienced players will win more often than inexperienced players because an experienced player will be able to identify which toys will be easiest to win and how they should be grasped by the claw. It is also worth noting that, even given a machine with a very weak claw grip or low payout percentage, players have discovered various techniques for using the claw to drag or tip prizes into the chute without necessarily grasping them.

Claw machines holding expensive prizes, such as a video game console or a mobile phone are typically programmed so that the grip strength of the claw is determined according to a payout percentage that is profitable to the operator. Experienced skill crane players also say that box shaped prizes are among the most difficult kinds of objects to pick up with any claw, regardless of its settings.