Download Tapper

Tapper was published in 1983 by Sega. First it was a coin-op game, then, sometime later it has been ported to PC, C-64, Atari and to some other platforms. Lately, an Xbox 360 conversion has been made as well.

What is this game about?

In this game your character is a barman (called sometimes a tapper). It’s not an easy job. You need to be quick if you want to make your customers happy. You need to be careful, because the mugs are not free. You need to think, to make a strategy, about how to get rid of customers and get a chance to go home (and have a cold beer waiting there).

How can you play it?

You (the tapper) fill the mugs when you keep the fire button pressed. After releasing it, you slide the mug to customers over the counter. If you slide more mugs then customers, they’ll break. As mentioned before – they’re not for free so you lose a life. When the customers empty their glasses, they slide them back. Don’t let them fall on the ground if you want to succeed. You can move left and right to get the mug before it gets to the edge. You can also move up and down between the counters. This is the place for the strategy – clients without beer slowly (sometimes quite quickly) move towards you. If you let someone get near your end of the counter, they will be angry, and you will end up being hurt.

I want a bonus!

In game there two ways to score some extra points. First is a bit risky. Some clients leave tips. If you get it a cabaret-style show will start. What is the risk? Many customers stops being interested in drinking – they start to stare at the ladies. So, some of them wants a beer, some doesn’t – if you make a mistake – mug breaks and you know what happens then.
Second one is a simple game between pubs. On a table there are some cans with sparkling drinks. Strange guy comes in and shakes all but one can. After that he makes a mess with their order. If You manage to find the not-shaked one - bonus points are added to your account.

And now for the ratings…

Graphics are clear and simple, not too many colors are used. In my opinion nothing more should be added. Clients looks funny, cabaret girls look nice ;) Music is same as graphics – it doesn’t disturb. Sound effects are too simple – that is only thing I didn’t like about this game. Only beeps ... new customer BEEP, beer full BEEP, glass collected BEEP … come on ... it could be better! Overall I give this game 4. Gameplay is interesting and addictive.

The game works on XP, but it's impossible to play. You lose the match in less than a second. With DOSBox You should lower DOSBox cycles below 500 to get the right speed of Tapper.