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Coastal Amusements Brings Classic Carnival Game to Coin-Op

When designing a coin-op redemption game, the ideal is to create one that’s fun and easy to play for all ages, and one that also carries timeless appeal. That’s much easier to say than to do, but according to the team at Coastal Amusements, they’ve done just that with the classic carnival game-inspired Ring Toss, shipping this month.

Ring Toss is exactly what you’d think: A modern redemption game version of the toss-the-ring-on-the-bottle midway game. A colorful cabinet (complete with red and white striped tent top), 46 LED-lit plastic bottles and large video display combine for an eye-catching piece that is truly a game room “attraction.” Even the game’s audio helps draw attention with its enthusiastic “wows,” “woo-hoos,” “yippees,” and “yays.”

In Ring Toss, the player is challenged to toss as many rings as possible onto the translucent, LED-lit plastic bottles within a short period of time. As the player lands the ring on the physical bottle to score points, it’s reflected on the virtual bottle shown on the game’s vibrant 32” LCD display. Bottles are color-coded by point value with the ones furthest away worth more points than those closer to the player. Adding to the excitement are flashing bottles, which award double points and a bonus jackpot win when the player rings all flashing bottles.

To make it even better, two or more games can be linked for a progressive bonus jackpot. The optional top display, ringed with flashing colored lights, increases the appeal while updating players on the running prize total.

Simple Suggestion & Great Execution

While you might think the game was inspired by the New Jersey factory’s proximity to the famous Jersey shore and boardwalk full of amusements, company owners Sal Mirando and Lenny Dean said Ring Toss was suggested by an operator friend of theirs more than a year ago. The Coastal design team then got to work and the result was shown at the IAAPA show in Novem­ber. The response, said Mirando repeatedly, was: “Overwhelming!”

“Carnival games have been successful in coin-op for a number of years now,” said Lenny Dean. “Ring Toss was a natural progression of what should come next.”

Sal Mirando added, “The game’s a natural, but even so, the response to it has been overwhelming. And all of this without a single test report!”

You read that right. The Coastal team was busy taking orders at IAAPA for Ring Toss without any test data to back up its potential.

“You know our industry,” Lenny Dean said. “People want earnings reports before they take action. Surprisingly, the orders started coming in right on the show floor in numbers that were just astounding without one single test result!

“We’ve been around forever,” Dean continued, “but quite frankly, we were blown away. We had three new products at the show and took orders for all three and not one of them had a single test result. We keep getting orders, even from companies that weren’t present at IAAPA. It’s word of mouth mostly…people don’t want to miss out.”

Salesman Patrick Mills said, “This was our first entry into the carnival side of amusement games. Will there be more? You bet there will! It’s a viable part of the industry. We want to compete in that side of the business and we think our first entry demonstrates we can do it well.”

“We knew Ring Toss was going to be good by the very nature of the game: It’s a natural,” Mirando said, “But even so, the reception has exceeded our expectations.”

Overall, this past IAAPA show was one of the best in years,” Mirando continued, “because the economy is good, the industry is picking up and all the fallout from past years is gone. The show was ‘good,’ but when you have good product, the show was ‘great!’”

While the biggest new-product buzz was around Ring Toss, Coastal’s Ice Man continues to be a “phenomenal success,” Mirando said. “ We’ve been shipping it for months, and can’t keep up with demand. It just keeps building.”

Ice Man is a 2-player ticket redemption game that earned a first-place IAAPA Brass Ring Award. Players shoot a continuous jet of water at the video screen to freeze the onslaught of attacking zombies. Getting the “super sprayer” power-up unlocks an intense, 12-stream, zombie-slaying water canon with extra stopping power. For operators, Ice Man has a four-stage, in-line water filtration system with an innovative, ultraviolet purification system to keep it running smoothly and cleanly.

Also new is their 3 Ring Circus ticket redemption game. After making adjustments based on feedback at the show, production is planned for later this month. A real show-stopper with its three player stations, tall rotating drum, bright, flashing lights and video display, 3 Ring Circus has a progressive bonus feature, as well as a “mystery” bonus, to add to the excitement.

And if that isn’t enough, in production now is Coastal’s latest “Coin-App” game, Qubes, the most recent addition to their 65” video redemption game system. (There are now six games available in full cabinet form or conversion kit for other games in this modular system.) Licensed from Ketchapp, a popular publisher of mobile app games and adapted for coin-op by Coastal, Qubes is a family-friendly, one-button game that is easy to play, but challenging to master. Players tap the button to change the direction of the ball while navigating down the video playfield, collecting coins and power-ups to assist them as the ball bounces down the Qubes.

With all those games in the pipeline as Coastal heads toward its 30th anniversary this May, you can bet it will be a very happy celebration indeed. (Look for RePlay’s May 2018 issue for more on the three decades of Coastal Amusements.) In the meantime, contact your distributor for more information on Ring Toss and the other latest amusements from Coastal, visit the factory online at www.coastalamusements.com or call them at 732-905-6662.