Tapper Download (1983 Arcade action Game)

Tapper is an action game where you're a beer tapper (barman) and have to serve beer to demanding customers. There are four customers, each has its own lane lengthier than the previous one, whom you have to keep at bay. If they reach the end of the lane without receiving their beer, you're a goner; if you miss one and accidentally spill beer needlessly you lose a life and should one of them throw you back the mug and you fail to catch it, you lose a life as well.

Occasionally a tip will appear on one of the lines and, should you grab it, will invoke a "cabarette"-style show which will keep some of the customers occupied.

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.

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.

This is a very, very cool game! I remember playing this when I was young, and thinking it was cool that I was allowed to play a game that had alcohol in it ;) This is a great example of a game where you play and play and play just to see who can get the highest score (like jezzball hehe). It's a very simple game really. You are a bartender, and your job is to fill up the beer glass, then chuck it down the bar to the guy, who throws it back and you fill it and then throw it back, I think you get the idea. Don't be fooled into thinking this is not a challenge, the game gets very hard and fast and you have to work hard for your precious points!

Lovely CGA graphics in pink, white and cyan! The PC speaker will be pumping out the fine beepy tunes in time to this game, although I must admit, the sound in this game is not as annoying as some. :) Overall it's a fun little game, not very big, and well worth the download. Great classic gameplay indeed!

I remember that we played this one on our C64s for hours back then. Unfortunately the PC-version is not quite as good, but what can you expect from CGA-graphics - of course it looked better on the C64 (C64 version is also available at our site, in C64 section), sound was also better - the whole thing got a better atmosphere. But anyway - this is still fun. Give the customers their beer or they will get angry. You should also have a look at them sliding back the empty glasses - if they crash on the floor the game's over too. What starts as an easy thing soon gets pretty fast and challenging. I remember that 'Only one more round'-syndrome catching me everytime I played this. It's really a nice thing.

Good graphics, great gameplay-- what else does a game need? Serve beer to customers and also collect the mugs back... a bartender's job has never been better illustrated. I remember spending hours in vain on this game trying to beat my brother's score :)

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

People who downloaded Tapper have also downloaded:
River Raid, Donkey Kong, Take Your Best Shot, Targhan, Super Star Wars, Centipede, Super Bubsy for Windows, Thomas The Tank Engine 2