Tapper

aka: Root Beer Tapper
Moby ID: 298
Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

Tapper is an action game where you're a beer tapper (barman) and have to serve beer to demanding customers. There are four customers, each has its own lane lengthier than the previous one, whom you have to keep at bay. If they reach the end of the lane without receiving their beer, you're a goner; if you miss one and accidentally spill beer needlessly you lose a life and should one of them throw you back the mug and you fail to catch it, you lose a life as well.

Occasionally a bizarre icon will appear on one of the lines and, should you grab it, will invoke a "cabarette"-style show which will keep some of the customers occupied.

The Xbox 360 version includes bonus rounds, as well as co-op and versus multiplayer modes, also online, along with achievements.

Spellings

  • タッパー - Japanese spelling

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Arcade version)

5 People

Programming by
Graphics by
Sounds by
Support
Additional development by

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 12 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 91 ratings with 2 reviews)

Cute and insanely annoying.

The Good
Well, it's playable and it's got cool music. It's really addictive at first too.

The Bad
It gets to you after a while and you stop enjoying it. The controls are rather difficult as well (because they don't respond very well).

The Bottom Line
Cute and playable, but nothing more.

PC Booter · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 2000

This game makes me want to scull a beer

The Good
Bally/ Midway's Tapper is just one of the games designed in the early 80s where you have to complete one of your objectives to advance a level. One thing that isn't mentioned in the trivia is that the game was very popular in bars. People would store their beer mugs in the holder that was part of the cabinet, and took a swig while they were waiting for the next level. Tapper was released for most computers and consoles, but in my opinion, Commodore 64 version of Tapper is the one that stands out from the rest.

Gameplay: As a bartender with the usual suit and mustache, you are required to serve thirsty customers who work their way down all four benches. To do this, you fill up a glass of beer from one of the four taps near each bench and throw it at a customer in order to get rid of them. Unfortunately, some customers drink their beer just before they reach the chute at the other end of the bench and when they finish their beer, they want another. Since no bins are found in the game, unfortunately, they dispose of their last glass and let it slide along, and you are expected to catch it before it falls off the bench. if serving customers is too much for you, then you can get money that some will leave behind, and if you collect the money, they will be treated to a cabaret and they can choose whether or not to watch.

You can lose a life in a number of ways. First, you slide along one of the benches to a chute if you fail to serve the customers and they have gotten to the end of the bench. Second, an empty glass will fall off the bench and break if you do not have the time to catch them. Finally, a glass will also break if you serve a bench that does not have customers.

Every couple or so levels will be a bonus level where a guy that looks like Hamburgular will shake up every beer can except one, and you have to guess which beer can that he hasn't shook up. If you happen to guess the wrong can, the beer will squirt on your face, but if you guess correctly, you receive a free beer. Whether you win or lose, you will proceed to the next level.

The further you progress through the game, the more difficult that it becomes. More customers instead of just one or two will start coming out of the chute at once, and that rule also applies to the number of customers that you start off with, corresponding to the level that you are on. For example, level one starts with one customer, level two starts off with two, level three with three customers, level four with four customers, and so on.

Tapper is the sort of game that requires some skill and patience. As a good bartender, you need to figure out which customers (as well as empty mugs) are closest to the end of the bar than the ones that are not. If you serve the customers who are furthest away from the bench, then you are likely to be thrown into a chute. If one of them starts drinking, you need to tend to other customers before you can deal with him/her again. Also, you won't get further in the game if you are not fast enough. If you take too long serving a customer, another will appear out of nowhere and will make your job difficult.

Graphics: The graphics in the C64 version of Tapper are in line with the other versions, and the game itself is set indoors and outdoors. Both the characters and mugs are drawn exactly as they should be. The characters move along the bar, and when they do, they are seen holding one or both of their arms in the air, as if they are shouting "I want beer!". The cabaret dancers and the outdoor settings look very colorful than the ones in the coin-op version.

Music & Sound: The music is good and blends in with the situation that you face. One of the music pieces is a chopped down version of what you hear from Gold Rush by Sierra, but I have no idea what the rest of the music is called. The sounds were very basic at the time, with a beep indicating that a customer appears, the and the shattered sound of the glass breaking.

The Bad
When you complete a level in the coin-op version, the bartender does a funny stunt after he has a beer himself. This is not present in the C64 version. When a customer decides to throw you across the bench, you don't actually go through the chute, but near it and you stand up, looking like your normal self. I didn't expect this.

The Bottom Line
If you were one of these guys who played Tapper in a local bar, and want to relive the experience, sit down with a beer while play this game today.

Rating: ***

Commodore 64 · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2004

Discussion

Subject By Date
PC Booter Kabushi (260849) Jul 20, 2014

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Tapper appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

How to Squeeze an Arcade Into Your 64

Tapper on the Commodore 64 appeared in an article by Julian Rignall in Zzap! (Issue 3 Jul 85 p80) about how accurate to the arcade original it came from. It scored 93%.

Movie appearance

Tapper is one of the games appearing in the Wreck-It Ralph movie. The bartender also has a small speaking role, and the bar seems to serve the same purposes for game characters as it would for people in the real world (drinking, chatting..).

Player character

The player character in this game is based on an employee of the game's designer (Marvin Glass) named Mike Ferris who had the same bald head, glasses and mustache, and always wore a red T-shirt. In the original coin-op versions, his T-shirt is in red. The same man is also found in some other Marvin Glass coin-ops: "Domino Man" and "Timber".

Product placement

The original arcade game featured references to Budweiser ingame, as well as on the cabinet. Most of the home conversions lack these, instead they feature Mountain Dew/Pepsi. Because of laws against advertising alcoholic beverages to minors, another arcade version was released called Root Beer Tapper. The game is the same, but you are a soda jerk in game and on the cabinet.

Awards

  • Zzap!
    • May 1985 (Issue 1) - #13 It's the Zzap! 64 Top 64!

Information also contributed by Tony Gies.

Analytics

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 298
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tomer Gabel.

Commodore 64 added by Quapil. BBC Micro added by fwibbler. Browser added by HelloMrKearns. Xbox 360 added by Matthias Günl. Palm OS added by Kabushi. Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Arcade added by Pseudo_Intellectual. Antstream added by lights out party. Atari 8-bit, ColecoVision, Atari 2600 added by Servo. Apple II added by RodeoInTheGreatWhiteNorth.

Additional contributors: Olivier Masse, formercontrib, LepricahnsGold, Trypticon, FatherJack, Bart Smith, OmegaPC777.

Game added October 1, 1999. Last modified March 2, 2024.