Stacker (game)
Encyclopedia
Stacker is a video game merchandiser
manufactured by LAI Games. The goal of the game is to align rows of moving blocks on top of each other. A player who can stack 11 rows will win a minor prize, which is usually very low in value, sometimes lower in value than the amount of money the player paid to play the game. A player who gets to the top row wins a major prize, along the lines of a Wii
, mobile phone
, Nintendo DS
, CD player, or a digital camera.
A typical stacker game is 78" high by 27". A newly released version of the game, called Stacker Giant, is about twice the size. Stacker games come in two different color schemes, black and blue, or red and blue. Yet another version has been added to the family recently. The Stacker Mini. Just like the standard stacker except it only has 2 major prize arms and 4 minor prize arms. It only has 10 rows of lights instead of the 15 the standard has. It is Red, black, and white and stands about 6 feet tall by two feet deep and two feet wide. It could almost be thought of as a portable Stacker. All of the different schemes are attractively painted to draw in customers. Stacker games have large windows covering the top half of the machine on three sides. The large windows are to allow passersby to be able to view the prizes, which may in turn lead them to play the game. Such techniques use prizes such as the Nintendo Wii
and the Xbox 360
and other products that are either difficult for children to obtain due to cost, or are appealing to kids because of looks. The four "Prize rods" on a stacker game are spread far apart and lit from the ceiling to add emphasis.
distributing in 14 European countries: Germany, Switzerland, France, Greece, Holland, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain, Czechia, Hungary, United Kingdom and Cyprus.
Merchandiser
A merchandiser is an arcade gaming device, which features a machine that contains a display of merchandise, which can be won by playing the game....
manufactured by LAI Games. The goal of the game is to align rows of moving blocks on top of each other. A player who can stack 11 rows will win a minor prize, which is usually very low in value, sometimes lower in value than the amount of money the player paid to play the game. A player who gets to the top row wins a major prize, along the lines of a Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
, Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, CD player, or a digital camera.
Standard layout
There is a row of three cubes which move side to side on the screen, at the first row. When the player pushes the start/stop button, the row of squares will stop. Then, another row of three moving squares appears above the previous row, moving faster than the one before it. If the squares do not align directly above the previous set, any overhanging squares will be removed. If the player misses completely, the game is over. The number of available squares is automatically reduced to two, then one, during the game. The goal is to consistently get the squares directly above the previous set, "stacking" them to the minor prize and ultimately major prize levels. According to the merchandise manual, a major prize is worth about 100 times the cost per play.Difficulty
Stacker is a Skill With Prizes game, although the relative proportions are not specified by LAI or in the operator's manual, just that "every game can be a winning game". The owner's manual states that at the game's highest difficulty level, the estimated ratio of wins to losses will be near 1 in 800. However, the actual ratio may be lower or higher based somewhat on the skill of the players, with the approximate frequency of winning the major prize being set at the discretion of the game's operator.Sales tactics
Stacker is billed as a successor to crane games.A typical stacker game is 78" high by 27". A newly released version of the game, called Stacker Giant, is about twice the size. Stacker games come in two different color schemes, black and blue, or red and blue. Yet another version has been added to the family recently. The Stacker Mini. Just like the standard stacker except it only has 2 major prize arms and 4 minor prize arms. It only has 10 rows of lights instead of the 15 the standard has. It is Red, black, and white and stands about 6 feet tall by two feet deep and two feet wide. It could almost be thought of as a portable Stacker. All of the different schemes are attractively painted to draw in customers. Stacker games have large windows covering the top half of the machine on three sides. The large windows are to allow passersby to be able to view the prizes, which may in turn lead them to play the game. Such techniques use prizes such as the Nintendo Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and other products that are either difficult for children to obtain due to cost, or are appealing to kids because of looks. The four "Prize rods" on a stacker game are spread far apart and lit from the ceiling to add emphasis.
Distribution
In Europe, the primary distributor of Stacker is the Austrian company funworld AG,distributing in 14 European countries: Germany, Switzerland, France, Greece, Holland, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain, Czechia, Hungary, United Kingdom and Cyprus.