Skill based prize games
The Commission’s approach to the status of a particular prize machine will be informed by the answers to the questions in Part 2 of this document.
However, in relation to games which purport to test a player’s skill in order for them to win a prize, if any of the factors set out below are present at any time, whether or not the machine would otherwise be considered a gaming machine, the Commission considers it likely that the game in question will contain an appreciable element of chance and the prize machine would therefore be a gaming machine. For this purpose it does not matter whether the factors, or any of them, are present at all times, or whether they are introduced by means of a compensation mechanism.
The factors are:
- a prize game does not allow a suitably skilful player a sufficient minimum time to exercise their skill
- an outcome based on a player’s reactions is not genuinely achievable
- a prize game based on memory does not give the player the opportunity for all the necessary information to be retained and recalled
- a prize game where the player controls operates in an inconsistent manner, for example where a pressure sensitive button does not give the same output for the same applied pressure in each go on that machine.
The Commission considers that it becomes increasingly difficult to manufacture an SWP machine that does not contain an appreciable element of chance, but is economically viable, as you offer prizes beyond £50, the prize limit set by the industry trade body following discussion with the Commission. The Commission is more likely to raise questions of machines with prizes above this range. Finally, if it is not possible for all of the advertised prizes to be won, then it appears to the Commission that the game may be a fraud, in which case the Commission would draw it to the attention of other agencies.
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Last updated: 5 August 2021
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