3-6 min
Claw Machine

Claw Machine

Reaction

Line the claw up over the middle of a toy in two axes and drop. Centre it properly and it comes up — the grip is not rigged.

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Home / Reaction / Claw Machine

Claw Machine is a free online claw game that takes the genre's defining feature away on purpose. A real cabinet decides whether you win before the claw closes: the grip strength is an operator setting and most grabs are built to fail. Here the grip is a plain function of how well you centred the claw, how heavy the toy is and how wedged in it is — all three of which are on screen before you commit. Centre it properly and it comes up, every time, with no dice anywhere in the code. What makes it hard is that you position in two axes on a rail that gets faster every level, and that a big toy in a pile can be a worse bet than a small one in the clear. Eight cabinets, a limited number of grabs each, no download and no account.

How to play Claw Machine

  1. Drag on the cabinet, or use the arrow keys, to move the claw. It travels left-right and near-far, so you are lining up two axes.
  2. The dashed circle around the nearest toy is exactly how far the claw can reach. Outside it, a grab catches nothing at all.
  3. The meter under the cabinet shows your current grip as a percentage, and the gold mark shows what this particular toy needs.
  4. When the meter passes the mark, drop. If it reached the mark the toy comes up — the outcome is decided by your alignment and nothing else.
  5. Heavier toys need a better-centred grab, and a toy wedged against its neighbours needs better again.
  6. Every level has a prize-value target and a fixed number of grabs. Missing costs a grab and nothing else.
  7. Bigger toys are worth more, so they are usually the right target — as long as they are not buried.
  8. The claw rail gets faster on later levels, which is what makes stopping it accurately hard.
  9. Clearing a cabinet without a single empty grab is three stars.

Tips

  • Line up one axis at a time. Get the left-right right, then come in on the near-far — judging both at once is where most misses come from.
  • Watch the meter, not the toy. It is a direct readout of how close to the centre you are, and it is the same number the grab uses.
  • A toy touching three others is much harder than the same toy on its own. If two look similar, take the one with space around it.
  • Small toys are cheap grabs. On a tight target, two keyrings in the clear can beat one giant bear you are not sure about.
  • On the fast levels, tap the arrow keys rather than holding them — the rail speed is the difficulty, and short taps are how you beat it.
  • On a touch screen, drag rather than tap: dragging lets you creep the last few pixels, which is exactly where the meter climbs fastest.
  • If the meter will not reach the mark from any angle, that toy is too buried for now — take something else and come back once its neighbours have gone.
  • Nothing is random, so a grab that failed will fail again from the same spot. Move before you drop again.

FAQ

Is Claw Machine free to play?

Yes. It runs in the browser with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. All eight cabinets are included and unlock as you clear them.

Is the claw rigged like a real one?

No, and that is the whole point of this version. A real cabinet decides the result before the claw closes, using a grip setting the operator controls. Here the grip is a plain function of how far off centre you were, how heavy the toy is and how wedged in it is — there is no randomness in it anywhere, and the test suite checks that a closer grab can never do worse than a further one.

Then why did my toy not come up?

Because the grip meter did not reach the mark. The meter is your alignment and the mark is what that toy needs — if the bar passes the mark the toy lifts, without exception. The message after a failed grab tells you both numbers.

How is this different from Gold Miner here?

Gold Miner is a pendulum: the claw swings by itself and the only decision is when to release, so it is a timing game on one axis. Here nothing moves until you move it and you are positioning in two axes, so it is a precision game. They share a word and very little else.

What does the dashed circle mean?

It is the reach of the claw around the nearest toy. Anywhere inside it you will get some grip; outside it the grab catches nothing and costs you an attempt.

Are the big toys always worth going for?

Usually, because value rises faster than the grip they demand — but not when they are buried. A giant wedged against three neighbours needs a near-perfect grab, and a bear in the open is often the better use of the attempt.

What gets harder on the later levels?

The rail speed. The grab itself stays exactly as honest as it is on level one; what changes is how hard it is to stop the claw where you meant to.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes, and dragging is the better control there: your finger places the claw directly, so you can creep the last few pixels while watching the meter climb.