Tapper

Tapper, also known as Root Beer Tapper, is a 1983 arcade game released by Bally Midway. The goal of the game is to serve beer (or root beer) and collect empty mugs and tips.

Overview

Tapper puts the player in the shoes of a bartender. The player must serve eager, thirsty patrons before their patience expires. The game was produced in association with Budweiser.

Gameplay

The Tapper game screen features four bars. Patrons arrive periodically at the end of the bar opposite the player and demand drinks. The player must draw and serve drinks to the patrons as they slowly advance towards the player. If any customers reach the player's end of the bar, they grab the player-as-bartender and toss him out the far end of the bar, costing the player a life.

The player serves customers by filling a mug at one of the four taps. Once the mug is full, the player releases the tap which automatically slides the mug towards the advancing customer. Customers catch mugs that are slid towards them, as long as they are not already drinking a beer, or otherwise distracted. If a mug is not caught by a customer (whether the customer is already drinking or distracted, or if there is no customer), then it falls off the bar on the other end, resulting in a loss of a life for the player. If a customer does catch the mug, though, then he or she is pushed back some amount towards the opposite end of the screen. The goal is to push the customer completely off the screen, but if they are not then they will stay and consume their drink in place. When a customer finishes his drink, he slides the empty mug back towards the player, after which the customer resumes his advance on the player. The player must collect the empty mugs before they reach the end of the bar and fall to the ground, as a mug falling to the ground costs a life.

Spile

A spile is a small wooden or metal peg used to control the flow of air into, and carbon dioxide out of, a cask of ale. It also can be used to obtain water from a tree.

Ale use

Cask ale is served without externally supplied carbon dioxide or nitrogen. The idea that it is served "flat" with no bubbles at all, though, is a misconception; properly conditioned cask ale contains bubbles of carbon dioxide generated by the natural action of the yeast living in the beer while it is transported and stored. In fact, the yeast will actually produce more carbon dioxide than is required, and it is for this reason that the cask is vented through the spile hole in the shive.

Two kinds of spile are available. Initially, "soft" or porous spiles are used, made of open-grained softwood, bamboo, or harder wood with cuts in. These allow the excess gas to escape. Once the cellarman judges this process to be complete, a hard spile is inserted which does not allow any more gas out of the cask. These are made of harder wood (usually still technically "softwood", but denser and more solid than soft spiles). Plastic pegs intended for sealing shives are occasionally used as hard spiles.

Tapper (surname)

Tapper is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: