Medal game


Medal games are a type of game commonly found in arcades and casinos, especially within Japan. In order to play a medal game, a customer must first exchange their cash into medals. The rate of medals versus cash varies from arcade to arcade, but usually the cheapest range is from ¥300 all the way up to ¥10,000. While many of the medal games simulate gambling, the medals cannot be traded back into cash, but only used to play more games, or exchanged for prizes.
There are many types of medal games, but the two most popular are the gambling type and the pusher game type.

Gambling type

The gambling type of medal games has two types of games, those that simulate a Las Vegas style casino.
The other type is video horse racing. These are often set up in a quite lavish lounge set up, each player has a personal screen, often with a padded chair, an ashtray and cup holders. All of these personal seats are in front of a very large screen displaying the virtual horse race.
In the Philippines, video horse racing is also known as "video karera." These games are often raided by police as some proprietors try to evade taxes.

Pusher game type

These games are characterized by multiple levels filled with medals or coins. Behind these platforms are mechanical "brooms" that push the coins forward. When a coin is dropped in, it falls onto one of the platforms and has the chance of pushing other coins off the edge and being awarded to the player, unless they fall in the left and right 'lose' side of the edge. Timing in dropping the coin is a skill factor in the game.
In the United Kingdom, pusher games — often called "penny falls" — are very popular in arcades, and can often be found at tourist attractions such as theme parks and bowling alleys. Often, these machines use real coins rather than tokens, but otherwise behave in the same way as games that operate with medals or tokens.
Variations on the pusher game can be much more complex. They often involve a Plinko-style chute that causes the coin to drop in which there are different slots the dropped medal can fall into, causing various in game effects. Some slots may have the machine drop in more coins, others may initiate a video slot machine built into the machine. From the video slot machine more coins and other bonuses can be awarded. Many pusher games are connected to one another, some even with shared platforms, to form mega jackpots, sometimes as many as 100,000+ medals. Sometimes a video mini game can be activated, in which coins must be dropped or rolled to hit specific targets, or buttons on the machine must be pressed in order to play. For example, a mini game could involve pressing a star shaped button to make Mario jump and hit coin blocks, which could give coins.
Another aspect of the pusher games is that they are often themed on things targeted towards children, such as video game and cartoon characters.

List of games

GameManufacturerTypeYear
World BingoSegaCasino1986
World DerbySegaHorse racing1988
Bingo CircusSegaCasino1988
Kamen RacingBanprestoRacing1991
Tsuriko PentaKonamiTiming1991
Royal AscotSegaHorse racing1991
Imo Hori PentaKonamiTiming1992
Caribbean RouleSegaCasino1992
Bingo PartySegaCasino1992
Kung Fu KidKonamiFighting1993
Shuriken BoyKonamiTiming1993
Fusen PentaKonamiTiming1993
Wai Wai PokerKonamiCasino1993
Super Dice CrapsSegaCasino1994
Spiral FallNamcoCoin pusher1994
Dum Dum BoyKonamiTiming1994
Buttobi StrikerKonamiTiming1994
Bingo Party MulticardSegaCasino1994
GI ClassicKonamiHorse racing1995
Tsukande Toru ChitchiKonamiTiming1995
Pitto Nako ZaorusKonamiTiming1995
GI Classic WindsKonamiHorse racing1996
Space PokanKonamiTiming1996
Dobo ChanKonamiTiming1996
Pac EightNamcoCasino1996
Pac CarnivelNamcoCasino1996
Pac SlotNamcoCasino1996
Bingo Party PhoenixSegaCasino1996
Bingo FantasySegaCasino1996
Tekken Card WorldNamcoPoker1997
Bingo PlanetSegaCasino1997
Royal AscotSegaHorse racing1997
Royal Ascot 2SegaHorse racing1997
Korokoro Pen KaiKonamiTiming1997
Kureyon Shin Chan No Daruma Otoshi DazoBanprestoSlot simulation1998
The Bingo ShowNamcoBingo1998
G1 Classic EXKonamiHorse racing1998
G1 Classic EX WindsKonamiHorse racing1998
Bobble RouletteTaitoCasino1998
Treasure RokomoSammyTiming1999
G1 Leading SireKonamiHorse racing1999
Shate KizzuSammyTiming1999
Dokidoki Goldfish SukuiSammyTiming1999
Tobikose Jump ManNamcoTiming1999
Animal CatcherSammyTiming2000
Itazura MonkeySammyTiming2000
Otoshi Cha OttottoSammyTiming2000
Sugoroku Adventure NotoNamcoCasino2000
Star HorseSegaHorse racing2000
Hana PuKonamiTiming2000
Taiho De DobonSammyTiming2000
Pai Nage TakaiSammyTiming2000
Bubble No KuruKuru Jump!TaitoTiming2000
Pikkari Chansu!KonamiTiming2000
Fan CubeNamcoCasino2000
Run Run Puppy!KonamiTiming2000
Muscle Ranking Kick TargetKonamiTiming2001
Neko ShotNamcoTiming2001
Star Horse 2001SegaHorse racing2001
Neratte Don DonKonamiTiming2001
Pakkun RestaurantNamcoTiming2001
Fortune OrbKonamiCoin Pusher2001
Oten Kiten ChanNamcoTiming2002
Karate ManSammyTiming2002
Star Horse 2002SegaHorse racing2002
Nigaoe PittankoNamcoTiming2002
Bingo Party SplashSegaCasino2002
Bun Bun BoomerangNamcoTiming2002
Kan RanshaNamcoTiming2002
G1 Turf WildKonamiHorse racing2003
Star Horse ProgressSegaHorse racing2003
Fortune Orb 2 LegendKonamiCasino2003
G1 Turf Wild 2KonamiHorse racing2004
Bingo Party Splash SPSegaCasino2004
Pac-Man BallNamcoCoin pusher2004
G1 Turf Wild 3SegaHorse Racing2005
G1 Horse ParkKonamiHorse Racing2005
Star Horse 2SegaHorse Racing2005
Rockman EXE: The Medal OperationCapcomTiming2005
G1 Horse Park EXKonamiOnline horse racing2006
Star Horse 2 Second FusionSegaOnline horse racing2006
Fortune Orb 3 Gem KingdomSegaCoin pusher2006
ShibukuruAtlusCasino2007
Sibu DinosaursAtlusCasino2007
Alien LegendsCapcomCoin pusher2007
Medal Mahjong Mokari BanchoCaveMahjong2007
Eternal KnightsKonamiRPG2007
Spin FeverKonamiCoin pusher2007
Twinkle DropKonamiCasino2007
Panic PiratesKonamiCasino2007
Euro QueenKonamiCasino2007
Sega Network Casino ClubSegaOnline casino2007
Club MajestySegaCasino2007
Star Horse 2 Third EvolutionSegaOnline horse racing2007
To Ami-GyoSegaTiming2007
Bingo GalaxySegaCasino2007
Bingo Party PiratesSegaCasino2007
Fantasy ArenaSegaCasino2007
Mirage WorldSegaCasino2007
MedalinkSegaCasino2007
Dyno MaxTaitoCoin pusher2007
Crayon Shin-Chan gameNamco BandaiCoin pusher2007
Taiko no Tatsujin gameNamco BandaiCoin pusher2007
Kinnikuman gameBanprestoCasino2007
Crayon Shin-Chan gameBanprestoCasino2007
Lupin III gameBanprestoCasino2007
Kinnikuman gameBanprestoCasino2007
Chibi Maruko-chan gameCapcomCoin pusher2008
Mario Party Fushigi no Korokoro CatcherCapcomCoin pusher2008
Eternal Knights 2KonamiOnline RPG2008
Grand CrossKonamiOnline coin pusher2008
Fantastic FeverKonamiOnline coin pusher2008
Castlevania gameKonamiCasino2008
Meteor SparkKonamiCoin pusher2008
Motor XKonamiRacing2008
Ascot GardenSegaHorse racing2008
GAlilEO FACTORYSegaCoin pusher2008
Kizzu Yatai Mura KingyosukuiSegaTiming2008
Club Majesty: Where is Wally?SegaCasino2008
Club Majesty: Gatling PokerSegaCasino2008
Star Horse 2: Fourth AmbitionSegaOnline horse Racing2008
Sega Network Casino Club Ver. 2SegaOnline casino2008
Black Jack Nailed AceSegaCasino2008
Medalink - UNO gameSegaCasino2008
Monopoly gameSegaCasino2008
Infinity RingsKonamiOnline Casino2009
Kizzu Yatai-Mura ShatekiSegaTiming2009
GAlilEO FACTORY 2SegaCoin pusher2009
Galaxy World Panic HunterKonamiCasino2009
Grand Cross PremiumKonamiCoin Pusher2009
Spin FeverKonamiCoin Pusher2009
G1 Horse Park GXKonamiHorse Racing2009
Star Horse: Fifth ExpansionSegaHorse Racing2009
Star Horse: Progress ReturnsSegaHorse Racing2009
Sega Network Casino Club Ver. 2SegaCasino2009
Fantasy ColiseumTaitoCoin Pusher-