Ah, Toreba. The cute little crane game app from Japan where you can win 100%-genuine plushies, figurines, and apparel of your beloved anime and JRPG characters. But as is the case with crane games (and anything where you dabble with your luck, really), the prizes can be difficult to win. Crane game operators are even known to rig the systems to make it harder for you to win—heck, even Toreba has come under fire for such dishonest practices.
Here’s the thing about crane games, though: they’re more a matter of skill, and not too much your luck. Experienced Toreba players the world over have shared their strategies to beat Toreba’s system, and we have compiled 10 of the best Toreba tips in this article to help you out.
Check out our beginner’s guide and in-depth review of Toreba to better understand the game before you start.
Download from Google Play Store
Toreba Tips and Tricks to Game the System
Winning prizes on Toreba can be tricky, but there are strategies you can use to increase your chances. Use our handy navigator to work through our Toreba tips:
- Go for Machines Actively Used by Other Players
- Prize Must Be Able to Fit Into Bars
- Claw Must Wrap Around Prize and Be Strong Enough
- Check What the Prize Is Packaged In
- Give Up if the Prize Is Awkwardly Placed
- Flip the Item Instead of Nudging It Repeatedly
- Position One Claw Arm in the Middle of a Prize Plushie
- Hook the Claw Through Two Rings
- Ensure Most of the Ping Pong Ball Slots are Filled Up
- Monitor the Machines With Toreba Prize Watcher Plus
- Join the Dedicated Discord Server and/or Subreddit
1. Go for Machines Actively Used by Other Players
This is a bit of a no-brainer, but you should ideally target machines that are already actively in use. While you have to wait in line before your turn, you can use this opportunity to observe what the players before you are doing. Then when your turn arrives, you can adapt their strategies to your own to snag the prize.
What’s more, more players means that there’s a higher chance that the prize will be moved to a sweet spot that lets it be easily scooped into the chute. And when the time is ripe, you can jump in and seize the prize for an easy win.
2. Prize Must Be Able to Fit Into Bars
This tip is most applicable to parallel bar-type machines. As a general rule of thumb, you want to ensure that your prize is able to fit through the spaces between the bars. By doing so, you can use the claw to push the prize through the bar into the chute below.
3. Claw Must Wrap Around Prize and Be Strong Enough
This will require you to burn one play to test. It’s not enough for you to ensure that the claw can wrap around your desired prize. It must also be strong enough to at least move it.
4. Check What the Prize Is Packaged In
Don’t be fooled by the plastic packaging that the prize—especially plushies—is wrapped in. It is usually strong enough to grip onto the bar, making it difficult to push the prize into the chute. Prepare yourself to try a few times to push against the prize enough to fall.
5. Give Up if the Prize Is Awkwardly Placed
Don’t waste your time, tickets, and money on prizes that are awkwardly positioned. These prizes will eat up your resources quickly as they require many plays to move them sufficiently. Even then, they may not be able to fit through the bar spaces, so it’s wise to give up and move to another machine instead.
6. Flip the Item Instead of Nudging It Repeatedly
While you can play the game of patience and persistence by nudging an item repeatedly until it falls, why do that? It’s a waste of resources—especially if you’re solely relying on free play tickets. Instead, try looking for items where at least one edge is jutting out over the chute like the box in the screenshot above. Simply aim one of the claw’s arm at the edge and its push will flip the whole item and cause it to fall.
7. Position One Claw Arm in the Middle of a Prize Plushie
When aiming for plushies placed on platforms with ramp-like edges, don’t try to pick them up with the claw—oftentimes, the claw simply isn’t strong enough to grip the plushie. Instead, position one of the claw’s arms squarely on top of the plushie. This way, the claw can “hook” the plushie to the edge of the platform and push it into the chute.
8. Hook the Claw Through Two Rings
When you face ring-type claw machines, your best bet is by hooking the claw through at least two of the rings. This will give the claw enough purchase to haul the prize towards the chute without letting go. Do be careful though: if the claw is too weak to lift the prize even when it’s hooked through two rings, leave the machine alone. Chances are that it just not be strong enough to help you bag the win.
9. Ensure Most of the Ping Pong Ball Slots are Filled Up
Ping pong ball-type machines are by far the easiest to win—and they’re even easier if you come across one where most of the slots are filled up. Alternatively, you should also look for machines where there are several ping pong balls surrounding the slots. When you encounter such machines, the filled slots can actually help you win by acting as ramps for the balls you pick up to roll into the winning slot.
10. Monitor the Machines With Toreba Prize Watcher Plus
As mentioned earlier, the easiest machines are the ping pong ball pick-up ones. But you can’t filter them on Toreba as they aren’t officially identified. Luckily for you, there is a dedicated prize watcher you can use to do so. As the screenshot above shows, you can filter the ping pong ball pick-up machines and view all the available ones at a glance.
You just have to select the machine you want to preview before playing.
11. Join the Dedicated Discord Server and/or Subreddit
With a strong fanbase comes the formation of communities, and Toreba is no exception. Fans have set up bases on both Discord and Reddit, where they share Toreba tips and tricks and even their victory clips to help others figure out how to win prizes from different setups.
Win Genuine Japanese Prizes From Toreba Today
Without a doubt, Toreba isn’t easy to win, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to win its arsenal of true-blue Japanese merch. With these Toreba tips on hand, snagging wins should be a lot easier for you—now go out there and win yourself a new plushie or even a collectible figure with your free play tickets!
