Tapper

Tapper

Overview & History

Released by Bally Midway in 1983 and designed by Steve Meyer and Eugene Jarvis, *Tapper* is a frantic arcade classic that places players in the fast-paced shoes of a busy bartender. Originally sponsored by Budweiser with branded cabinets featuring real beer-tap handles as joysticks, the game was later released in a non-alcoholic root beer version to appeal to family-friendly arcades. The storyline is wonderfully straightforward: desperate, thirsty patrons are flooding into four distinct themed saloons—a Western saloon, a sports bar, a punk rock club, and a pirate hangout—demanding service at breakneck speed.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Players must sprint up and down four parallel wooden bars, rapidly pulling mugs from the tap and sliding them toward advancing, rowdy customers before they reach the end of the counter and toss the bartender off screen. Empty mugs and discarded tips slide back, requiring swift catches to prevent broken glassware and lost lives. Interspersed between frantic pouring shifts are bonus stages, such as a shell game where a masked character shakes up soda cans and players must track the untainted one. The difficulty scales aggressively; patrons multiply, empty mugs return with terrifying speed, and multi-handed customers require multiple drinks to satisfy, creating an escalating test of peripheral vision, rhythm, and manic multi-tasking.

Keyboard Controls

• Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Move
• Action Keys: Attack / Jump
• Enter: Start / Pause