Amusement with prize or amusement with prizes (AWP) are slot machines that provide some level of player interaction. They do not, however, depend on the skill of the player; machines that depend on player skill are called skill with prize (SWP) machines. Both of these terms are trade terms, and such machines are referred to by alternative names by the public.
These machines are commonly named after the software of the arcade style cabinet.
Most common are Cherry Master, Pot-o-gold and the generic term 8-liner.
The term is particularly used in the United Kingdom, where they are also called fruit machines, and are found in amusement arcades and public houses.
The distinction with slot machines is not clearly defined; in the United Kingdom, such machines found in arcades and pubs are called AWPs, while machines in casinos may instead be called slots. There is different licensing depending on the premise, with AWP machines having lower limits on stake wagered and payout.
AWP machines are generally regulated as gambling devices; in the UK, they are regulated under the Gambling Act 2005.
Games that involve skill are considered SWPs, and may be regulated separately; games that provide amusement but no prizes are generally considered a kind of video game.
In Switzerland, AWP machines – but not SWP machines – have been banned since 1 April 2005. [1]
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, concerts, and sports.
A slot machine, known variously as a fruit machine, puggy, the slots, poker machine/pokies, fruities or slots, is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively as one-armed bandits because of the large mechanical levers affixed to the sides of early mechanical machines and the games' ability to empty players' pockets and wallets as thieves would.
Pachinko (パチンコ) is a type of mechanical game originating in Japan and is used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a Japanese gambling niche comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling.
An amusement arcade is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers, or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables. In some countries, some types of arcades are also legally permitted to provide gambling machines such as slot machines or pachinko machines. Games are usually housed in cabinets. The term used for ancestors of these venues in the beginning of the 20th century was penny arcades.
Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of traditional casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet. It is a prolific form of online gambling.
WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. Williams. However, the company that became WMS Industries was formally founded in 1974 as Williams Electronics, Inc.
Quiz machine is a term used in the UK for commercial coin-operated video quiz games that offer cash prizes for winning performances. These machines are usually found sited in pubs, bars and other places of entertainment. The term quiz machine is often used interchangeably with the trade term SWP although not all SWP games are quiz based.
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 at a central location for prizes. The most inexpensive prizes may require only a small number of tickets to acquire, while the most expensive ones 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 claw crane, claw machine, toy crane or skill crane is a type of arcade game known as a merchandiser, commonly found in video arcades, supermarkets, restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls, and bowling alleys.
A progressive jackpot is a jackpot which increases each time the game is played but the jackpot is not won. When the progressive jackpot is won, the jackpot for the next play is reset to a predetermined value, and resumes increasing under the same rule.
Coinslot International is a UK trade magazine that caters for the 'pay-to-play' leisure sector, generally known as 'coin-op' before the widespread introduction of electronic means of payment. It is published weekly with a 'double' issue over the Christmas/New Year period.
Gambling in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) under the Gambling Act 2005. This Act of Parliament significantly updated the UK's gambling laws, including the introduction of a new structure of protections for children and vulnerable adults, as well as bringing the burgeoning Internet gaming sector within British regulation for the first time.
Prize Bingo is a game derived from standard Bingo games which is particularly popular in UK seaside resorts. Rather than winning cash prizes as per normal bingo, Prize Bingo instead offers points to the winner of each game which can be redeemed in a dedicated shop near to or within the Prize Bingo area although some games reward players with free games or tokens.
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.
A merchandiser is an arcade gaming device, which features a machine that contains a display of merchandise, which can be won by playing the game. In the trade, such games are described as "skill with prize" (SWP) games, and are a hybrid of games of skill and games of chance, with the preponderance of skill or chance differing between devices and often able to be set by the operator.
A skill with prize or skill with prizes (SWP) machine is a gaming machine which provides a payout and whose outcome depends in part on the player's skill. They are contrasted with amusement with prize machines which, while interactive, do not depend on the player's skill in determining outcome.
Slot machine terminology, characteristics and regulations vary around the world.
A sweepstakes parlor is an establishment that gives away chances to win prizes with the purchase of a product or service, typically internet access or telephone cards. They began to appear in the Southern United States some time around 2005, and quickly proliferated. Purchased entries are redeemed using computers at the establishment, which contain specialized software that presents whether a participant has won a prize. Results are often presented using mechanisms that resemble casino games, such as slots, and the facility itself may contain casino motifs in their overall decor.
Video bingo, or electronic bingo machine, is a type of slot machine or amusement-with-prize machine (AWP) which instead of the typical reel-style game play, one or more bingo cards can be played on the machine.
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 video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games or merchandisers.