If you’ve never had the misfortune of putting loads of cash into a “claw machine” and coming up empty, then consider yourself lucky. These, of course, are the big glass boxes often found in arcades and grocery stores. They’re filled with toys wherein one must maneuver a grabby “claw” into a pile of toys and bring it to the “toy chute.”
But one man called The Claw Master (clawmaster_30) on social media has somewhat cracked the code on these elusive machines. He’s been having a good time sharing his tips and tricks with his followers. At the very least, he’s helping steer them in the right direction with his various fun tutorials.
Easy guide
In one clip posted on Instagram, he gives a play-by-play. As he guides the big claw to the top, he shares, “Do not start on the toy like that. You start over the hole and you swing like this in one direction. When it’s facing the toy, that’s when you drop it. Go down and grab it!” The audience gathered around him gasps as he drops the claw, grabs the stuffed animal, and throws it in the toy chute.
This clip alone (and there are many) has over 5.5 million likes and nearly 10,000 comments, some who doubt the Claw Master’s tactics. A few even challenge him to come to their country to try it. “Come to Hong Kong and you get nothing with this skill.” (The Claw Master replies, “Pay for my ticket and we will see!”)
One commenter joked, “I can only imagine this child’s origin story as a kid.” Another notes, “Chuck E. Cheese, your days are ‘blanking’ numbered.”
The Claw Master demonstrates many other hacks. One called “The Hurricane Technique” shows a pole connected to the claw, which picks up multiple toys at once. In another hilarious video, he places a drone into the machine and lets it do all the work. These are most likely not allowed in most places, and are merely for fun. (In other words, don’t try this at home or at your local arcade.)
Are they rigged for failure?
Many have claimed these games are rigged and are designed for failure. Vox writer Phil Edwards insists they’re rigged, but perhaps not for the reason one might think. He writes, “Some people think the claw machine is so hard to win because the stuffed animals are packed so tightly together. But the bigger reason is more insidious than that: the claw machine is programmed to have a strong grip only part of the time.”
Edwards continues, “This isn’t a closely kept secret. It’s publicly available information, pulled straight from the instruction guides for the biggest claw games out there. Open the manual for Black Tie Toys’ Advanced Crane Machine. Look at page eight, section subheading ‘Claw Strength’: The machine’s owner can fine-tune the strength of the claw beforehand so that it only has a strong grip a fraction of the time that people play. The owner can manually adjust the ‘dropping skill,’ as well.”
User’s guide gives clues
In a previous Upworthy article, Heather Wake shared a viral TikTok from Katie Clark, an Australian woman who actually bought a claw machine. She then installed it in her house and studied it closely. The user’s guide, she says, “confirms it’s rigged,” showing it’s really all dependent on the settings.
In the video, Clark claims commenters were complaining, “We all knew (it was rigged).” She adds, “We all knew. But when it’s documented, when it’s printed…now it’s confirmed. It’s confirmed and we’re still gonna play it.”
Again, lucky for us, the Claw Master (and others like him) have learned to, in many ways, game the system. And if nothing else, it’s fun to watch him inspire others to believe that they can too.
“Wondered if it was dumb luck”
Upworthy had the chance to ask the Claw Master, whose real name is Myooran, a few questions. He shares that he remembers the exact month and year he realized he had the skill. “December of 2021, to be exact! I visited a claw machine arcade in a mall with friends, and we tried our luck with 20 dollars’ worth of tokens each. While my friends got about 2-3 toys, I walked away with 7. I wondered if it was dumb luck, so I went back on my own one day and won the same amount. The owner also told me that day that if I won more than 3 toys for 20 dollars, he loses money and asked me, in some choice words, to not come back so often, if at all.”
Myooran explains that “losing” at such games as a child pushed him to learn how one could win. “I remember not winning anything from claw machines or arcades when I was a kid and leaving with an eraser or something tiny as a ‘prize.’ This discouraged me enough, like most people, and I never really cared to play them until their more recent surge in popularity. Winning using different tricks really did heal something in me, and now I try to teach people what I know on social media!”
As for his biggest prize so far? “My most satisfying prize was definitely winning roughly 20 Pokémon plushie keychains by using the swing trick to bring down the bar at the back of the machine that was holding the prizes! The owner was so impressed that he even let me keep the pole the keychains were on.”
Prizes can be worth the hard work
His most expensive prize, though, was something else. “BUT my most epic prize was when I won a full-powered Kawasaki Ninja 650cc motorcycle by redeeming it at the claw machine arcade. We believe that, to this day, it’s the largest prize ever redeemed at an arcade!” he explains.
And for what it’s worth, he has also picked up masterly skills for other games too. “I got really good at carnival midway games, especially the tub toss. I was interviewed by the CBC for it even!”
