Redemption game

Redemption games are typically arcade games of skill that reward the player proportionally to their score in the game. The reward most often comes in the form of tickets, with more tickets being awarded for higher scores. These tickets can then be redeemed (hence the name) at a central location for prizes. The most inexpensive prizes (candy, small plastic or rubber toys) may only require a small number of tickets to acquire, while the most expensive ones (skateboards, low end electronics) may require several thousand. In general, the amount of money spent to win enough tickets for a given prize will exceed the value of the prize itself. Some redemption games such as Flamin' Finger involve elements of chance, which can be set by the operator.

A variation on the ticket-based redemption game is the merchandiser, which directly displays and dispenses merchandise, rather than dispensing tickets which are then redeemed for prizes.

Redemption games can be seen as the modern successor to carnival games, as the same general principles apply.

The state of New Jersey in the United States is the first to prohibit redemption games that distribute tickets based on a player's skill. Games must either dispense no tickets or a fixed amount of tickets per play. For example, Chuck E. Cheese's located in these regions have their redemption games configured to always dispense four tickets per play, regardless of how successful a player is at any game.

In April 2013, the state of Florida passed legislation designed to target sweepstakes parlors—among other changes, it prevents gambling machines from awarding prizes more than $0.75 in value, and prohibits them from accepting cards or bills as payment. Although the law does contain specific distinctions meant to exclude arcade redemption games from its scope, the law attracted concern from the arcade industry, who felt that it could be interpreted to ban their operation—especially at facilities that use card-based systems for credits rather than tokens. In January 2015, as a cautionary measure, Disney Parks removed redemption and claw machines from the arcades of its Florida resorts: representatives of the company have supported attempts to clarify the wording of the sweepstakes parlor ban to reduce its potential effects on arcades.

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Wikipedia