Carnival games are deceivingly tricky. When you’re spectating them, they seem easy as pie – but when you’re playing, it’s a totally different story: the balls get heavier, the distance from the target gets longer, and what seemed easy at first soon becomes mission impossible. You know that old saying, ‘a magician never reveals his tricks’? Yeah… today, we’re throwing that rule out the window. We’re going to look at five common mistakes and spill all the secrets to beating carnival games, revealed to you by the experts at Advanced Amusements.
Mistake #1: Not getting your timing right in Laughing Clowns
Here’s a huge mistake that we see people make all the time. Timing, with a lot of things, is everything. And playing the Laughing Clowns is one of them. Each set of Laughing Clowns is calibrated slightly differently, so it’s ultra important to get your bearings from the moment you start playing. That first ball that you put in the clown’s mouth is the most important; pay very close attention to when you placed the ball in, and why it was or wasn’t successful. Usually, feeding the ball when the clown’s head is at its leftmost or rightmost side is the way to go.
Mistake #2: Aiming incorrectly with the Milk Bottles
Ah yes… the Milk Bottles. A classic carnival game that always fools beginners. When aiming at the milk bottles, go for the lob. This way, the coin has a better chance of falling directly into the milk can, instead of bouncing off.
Mistake #3: Going for power, and not accuracy, in High Striker
It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve gone to the gym this week: you can be shredded like Arnold Schwarzenegger and still fail in High Striker. This is because it’s a game of accuracy and not power. Hit the target right in the centre, focussing on placement and not speed.
Mistake #4: Using the backboard in Shooting Hoops
OK, so you’ve seen Lebron James score hundreds of goals off the backboard in real basketball, but this won’t get you anywhere in the carnival version of the game. The backboards are usually extra springy, causing your shots to bounce everywhere. Instead, use a high arc and go for the swish.
Mistake #5: Not aiming in front of the fish when playing the Fishing Game
The idea in the Fishing Game is to snag the biggest fish – the bigger the fish, the better the prize. Aim just in front of the fish you want and time it correctly so that you can simply pull the fish out as it glides along the water. Don’t go directly for the fish because it’ll likely get away from you!