There was a strategy to it! Instead of dropping coin down every last blade, little kid me aligned the machine a particular way so the coin would drop all the way down to the second to last blade. Then I would nudge the coin to the edge, then twist and suddenly stop to give it enough force to not just fall straight down, but also not enough to fling it past the final blade. I'd say I won around half the time, and intentionally only did it once every so often to not arise suspicion you could game it well. I was sad when my 25 cent burritos were taken away for good after this machine left, ah well.
Same here. I was so good at it. I still remember the manager snide remark about how I didn't actually care about the charity, and me being like, "yup, now about those burritos..."
Right. Like those skill arcades popping up are 💯 fair to the gamer, and not in any way rigged in the owner’s favor.
It’s interesting that some Taco Bells filled the tank with water and others didn’t, seriously makes it way way harder .
This picture is the first time I've seen one without liquid. It seems like it would be harder since now the coin will fall fast and straight down, so it will hit the shelf harder and just bounce off.
Nah, the water ones had a lot of random chance, the non water ones could be won 75% of the time.
I think they all started with water. Eventually almost none had water. I'm guessing they started to leak after a couple years.
Ones like this were really easy to win. You drop the nickel or quarter* straight onto the second to last platform. A quick twist will usually work, but if you don't mind dirty looks from the employees you could tap on the side of the top twist knob to "nudge" the coin. This is easy to control and makes it trivial to win, but takes a little time and makes an annoying rattling sound.
*My experience is that dimes are too light weight, which makes them very unreliable for winning consistently.
Ya, me and my friends had rules created at our tbell due to us winning so much. One of my friends was very brazen about it and would get change for a dollar then win 4 burritos. New rule: 1 win per visit. I would win a burrito but ask for a taco. New rule: no exchanges. I think someone got told to stop shaking the spinner up and down too lol.
Back then if you "won" one of each that was $0.40. Today we're all losers and one of each is $4.97. Plus tax, and hopefully not delivery. Don't do delivery for Taco Bell.
I can't imagine getting Taco Bell delivered. It kind of turns to greasy mush within like 5 minutes after making it. I don't even like taking it home to eat because it gets bad so quickly.
Worked at Taco Bell in '08/'09 and we had a regular who would come in with a whole ass zip lock bag full of change and stand there playing that thing for an hour plus.
These were justified in a way (and this kind of thing is very much still around) since all of the coins are picked up by a charity.
Skill-based, so it's not considered gambling.
Same reason arcade games can give out tokens -> prizes.
Was the same deal with pinball in the US at one point iirc - a bunch of places tried to ban pinball because it was seen as being the same as slot machines, until a professional player got a machine in front of the supreme court and repeatedly called his shots to prove it was a skill game
It's a cool story. They actually swapped tables on him at the last minute, replacing the one he had been practicing on. Still called the shot and saved pinball.
Almost certainly - can't remember where I heard it, but if it was a 99pi story it'll be that
There's a recent movie about it! Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game. It was on Hulu a few months ago. A little cheesy, but honestly it's delightful.
There was one at the Burger King I grew up near. I won enough 25¢ Whoppers that the manager said I couldn't play anymore.
My friends and I got banned from using this because we got so good at it. Our technique was instead of twisting it we figured out their was a lil bit of room to pull up on on the lil handle and basically gently shake the coin to the next platform. Being able to eat a shitload of taco bell for like 2 bucks as a teen made the food taste so much better.
I always assumed that they were impossible to win, and that the coins you saw on the ledges were placed there by the employees.
Dude its actually so sad. Can't even keep the tokens as momentos because its just a FuCKING sTUPIDASS KEYCARD. God it pisses me off so fuckin much bro. I refuse to keey this stupid ass banner ad of a card on my shelf with my other momentos. Bring back fucking tokens man.
Cards or phone apps are way easier to deal with then tokens though. Dave and Busters is the only reason I've used nfc on my phone.
A challenge coin size memento would be cool though.
Back then the food was a lot better. No idea whats different, but the chalupas were good. The sauces are still okay so maybe it's the "meat" and the "cheese" that they serve, now?
