[megameter]

Like with gambling devices, redemption games all seem to have operator-adjustable payout.

I recall playing "Stacker" for a little while in the 2000's. It used an LED dot display for gameplay, which was a simple timing game where you "built" a tower by stacking up the blocks, with it getting faster at each level.

What it did was exactly as you describe: it had a minor reward level that you could always win, and then a few levels above that where the game would cheat and instantly warp the block ahead to make you lose. I did get a win out of it once(and got an iPod mini), so I think I did come out ahead, but that was it.

Overall, it's better to be good at pinball(replay scores) or DDR(adoration of strangers).

[userbinator]

where the game would cheat and instantly warp the block ahead to make you lose.

Thanks to the Internet, this has been recorded on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofEb9fM8m0Q

[ericpruitt]

Mark Rober also made a video about this for a machine that works similarly. Rober built a machine to play the game perfectly, and it still lost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXBfwgwT1nQ

[idonotknowwhy]

This annoys me, i spent most of my poket money on these when I was a kid, after my friend "won" an xbox

[542354234235]

> Like with gambling devices, redemption games all seem to have operator-adjustable payout.

This isn’t really the same because most gambling devices are regulated so that, while you can adjust payout percentages, you cannot remove random chance. That any given play has some percent chance of winning, even if it is adjusted very low or dynamically adjusted. This game is simply forcing a certain number of guaranteed loses before considering a payout. That isn’t luck.

[TedDoesntTalk]

> pinball

At least there is skill involved with pinball