Whac-A-Mole is an
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
, originally known as or in Japan. A typical Whac-A-Mole machine consists of a waist-level cabinet with a play area and display screen, and a large, soft, black
mallet
A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...
. Five holes in the play area top are filled with small, plastic, cartoonish
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
s, which pop up at random. Points are scored by whacking each mole as it appears. The faster the reaction, the higher the score.
Play
The cabinet has a three-digit readout of the current player's score and, on later models, a "best score of the day" readout. The mallet is usually attached to the game by a rope to prevent it from being stolen.
Current versions of Whac-A-Mole include three displays for Bonus Score, High Score, and the current game score. Home versions, distributed by Bob's Space Racers, have one display with the current score.
If the player does not strike a mole within a certain time or with enough force, it eventually sinks back into its hole with no score. Although gameplay starts out slow enough for most people to hit all of the moles that rise, it gradually increases in speed, with each mole spending less time exposed and with more moles exposed at once. After a designated time limit, the game ends, regardless of the player's score. The final score is based on the number of moles the player struck.
In addition to the single-player game described above, there is a multi-player game, most often found at
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
s. In this version, there is a large bank of individual Whac-A-Mole games linked together, and the goal is to be the first player to reach a designated score (rather than hitting the most moles within a certain time). In most versions, striking a mole is worth ten points, and the winner is the first player to reach a score of 150 (15 moles). The winner receives a prize, typically a small
stuffed animal
A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be cal ...
, which can be traded up for a larger stuffed animal should the player win again.
Game play options have become more adjustable, allowing the operator/owner to selectively alter the high score, hits points, rate of progressive speed, and game time.
The game has been criticized for teaching children to be cruel towards animals, though it is still used for teaching auditory processing and attention.
History
''Mogura Taiji'' was invented in 1975 by Kazuo Yamada of
TOGO
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
, based on ten of the designer's pencil sketches from 1974.
TOGO released it as ''Mogura Taiji'' to Japanese
amusement arcades
An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such as cl ...
in 1975.
It became a major commercial success in Japan, where it was the second highest-grossing
electro-mechanical arcade
game of 1976 and
again in 1977, second only to
Namco
was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...
's popular arcade
racing game
Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...
in both years.
''Mogura Taiji'' was licensed to
Bandai
is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...
in 1977.
Bandai (now part of
Bandai Namco Holdings
also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on S ...
) introduced the game to the Japanese home market as a toy in 1977, called ; it was a major hit by 1978, selling over units. In the late 1970s, arcade centers in Japan were flooded with similar, derivative "mole buster" games.
''Mogura Taiji'' has since been commonly found at Japanese festivals.
''Mogura Taiji'' made its North American debut in November 1976 at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) show, where it drew attention for being the first mallet game of its type. Gerald Denton and Donny Anderson saw it and saw great potential for converting it into a
carnival game by putting it in a
trailer. Denton showed the game to
Aaron Fechter
Aaron Fechter (born December 21, 1953) is an American engineering entrepreneur, voice actor, singer and musician who owns and operates Creative Engineering, Inc. (CEI). He is best known as the creator of , an animatronic show featuring a variety ...
and assigned him the task of building their own version of the game. Fechter coined the name "Whac-A-Mole" and added air cylinders "so that when air pushed up the moles, the air acted as a cushion." He developed the prototype in 1977, and Denton and Anderson presented it to the founder of Bob's Space Racers, Bob Cassata, that year. After Bob made further refinements, Bob's Space Racers began selling the game in 1977. In 1978 it debuted at a midway exhibition show, where it was the most popular game. The following year, it debuted at
pinball parlours. In 1980, it was sold in the carnival, amusement park and coin-op arcade markets. Whac-A-Mole has since become a popular carnival game.
Back in Japan, Namco, who were beginning to shift towards
arcade video game production with hits like ''
Galaxian'' (1979) and ''
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
'' (1980), noticed arcade centers in Japan were flooded with "mole buster" games.
To capitalize on their popularity, Namco began work on a similar game with a unique motif to help it stand out from similar games.
''
Sweet Licks
''Sweet Licks'', known as ''Okashi Daisakusen'' in Japan and ''Choco-Kid'' in Europe, is a 1981 coin-operated redemption mole-buster arcade game developed and published by Namco. Players use a foam-covered mallet to whack the eight "Pyokotan" ca ...
'' (1981) was originally designed by TOGO, who had originally named it ''Mole Attack''. Namco purchased the rights to the game and gave it new artwork. ''Sweet Licks'' was designed by Yukio Ishikawa, a mechanical game designer for Namco. The game was themed around cake and pastries to help attract women.
It was the first arcade game to use an
LCD monitor
A thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD) is a variant of a liquid-crystal display that uses thin-film-transistor technology to improve image qualities such as addressability and contrast. A TFT LCD is an active matrix LCD, in cont ...
to display the player's score.
''Sweet Licks'' became popular in Japan
and was subsequently released in North America in April 1982, then in Europe, where it became popular in the 1980s.
Variations
The original Whac-A-Mole game inspired the first genre of games with a violent aspect as central to their user experience. Researchers have used Whac-A-Mole and its variations to study the violent aspects of these games.
The Whac-A-Mole game trademark was originally owned by Bob's Space Racers but since 2008 has been owned by
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
. Machines with similar gameplay are sold under other names. Whac-A-Mole has also been the basis for a number of
internet games and
mobile games
A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to ...
that are similar in play and strategy.
Engineer
Tim Hunkin
Tim Hunkin (born Timothy Mark Trelawney Hunkin, 27 December 1950 in London) is an English engineer, cartoonist, writer, and artist living in Suffolk, England. He is best known for creating the Channel Four television series ''The Secret Life of ...
built and installed a "Whack a Banker" machine at
Southwold Pier
Southwold Pier is a pier in the coastal town of Southwold in the English county of Suffolk. It is on the northern edge of the town and extends into the North Sea.
Whilst many English seaside piers are in decline, Southwold Pier is enjoying rene ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 2009 made from parts of a previous "Whack a
Warden
A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint.
''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...
" machine.
Mattel Television currently is partnered with
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
to develop a game show inspired by the game, which has yet to debut. The show will be an elimination-style, unscripted series to determine the "Whac-a-Mole Champion." The competition will involve a life-size version of the game, as well as obstacle courses and other "surprising twist
"
Design
The moles are mounted on rods and raised by a lever and crank system. When the user strikes the mole, a microswitch is activated by a pin housed within the mole and the system lowers the mole.
The timing of the moles was originally controlled by tones from an audio tape which then drove an air cylinder system.
Colloquial usage
The term "whac-a-mole" (or "whack-a-mole") is used colloquially to depict a situation characterized by a series of repetitious and futile tasks, where the successful completion of one just yields another popping up elsewhere.
In
computer programming
Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana ...
/debugging it refers to the prospect of fixing a bug causing a new one to appear as a result. In an
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
context, it refers to the challenge of fending off recurring spammers, vandals, pop-up ads,
malware
Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, depri ...
,
ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim's personal data or permanently block access to it unless a ransom is paid off. While some simple ransomware may lock the system without damaging any files, ...
, and other distractions, annoyances, and harm.
In
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
it refers to criminal activity popping up in another part of an area after increased enforcement in one district reduces it there. In a military context it refers to ostensibly inferior opposing troops continuing to appear after previous waves have been eliminated.
It has also been applied to
fake news, where as soon as one story is debunked another appears elsewhere – or sooner.
See also
*
Bat a rat
Splat the rat, also known as bat the rat, is a simple variant on a bat and ball game that can be played at parties or fêtes.
An open-ended metal or plastic tube or section of drainpipe is mounted on a board so that it is almost vertical. A ...
*''
Gator Panic''
*''
Sweet Licks
''Sweet Licks'', known as ''Okashi Daisakusen'' in Japan and ''Choco-Kid'' in Europe, is a 1981 coin-operated redemption mole-buster arcade game developed and published by Namco. Players use a foam-covered mallet to whack the eight "Pyokotan" ca ...
''
*
Simon
References
External links
Official Whac-a-Mole website maintained by Bob's Space Racers, Inc. Bob's Space Racer's Flash version of Whac-A-Mole
* {{KLOV game, id=10421
Museum of Hoaxes article refuting the etymological link claimed between Whac-A-Mole and "guacamole"
Redemption games
Products introduced in 1975
Products introduced in 1976
Products introduced in 1977
Carnival games