Claw is a one-tap claw machine game. The claw glides back and forth over a pit of plush bears, ducks and bunnies that wobble from side to side on their own. Tap anywhere to drop it. The prizes keep moving while the claw falls, so you aim for where they'll be, not where they are. Land dead centre and the claw locks on for a PERFECT. Land off to one side and the plush might wriggle free on the way up. Every drop costs a credit and every prize you win gives it back, so the run lasts as long as your aim does. There's a new machine every day, and friends' ghost claws drop beside yours.
How to play Claw
- Watch the claw glide along the rail.
- Tap anywhere to drop it. It falls straight down.
- Line it up with a prize so the claw closes around its middle. Centred grabs hold, sloppy ones slip.
- Each drop costs a credit and each prize refunds one. Run out of credits and the game ends.
- Don't wait too long: if the timer bar runs out, you lose the credit.
Tips to get a high score
- Prizes keep jiggling during the drop. Tap a moment before the claw is over a prize that's moving toward it.
- Slow, wide-swinging prizes are easier to lead than fast twitchy ones.
- Golden stars are smaller, but they're worth coins and an extra credit.
- PERFECT grabs in a row climb in pitch, and every third drops a coin.
- The claw speeds up and the prizes get smaller and jumpier the more you win.
Timing the drop
The claw takes about two-thirds of a second to fall, speeding up as it goes. The prizes keep swaying the whole time, so whatever is under the claw when you tap won't be there when it lands.
Each prize swings back and forth around its own resting spot, and it moves slowest at the ends of its swing. Aim for a prize that will be at a turning point when the claw lands, and small timing errors barely matter. Aim at one rushing through the middle of its swing, and they matter a lot.
After a win, the claw always returns to the left end and starts gliding right, so you know where it will be. After a miss it carries on from wherever it was. You have about 7 seconds to drop at first, and about 4 later. If that runs out, the credit is gone without a drop.
Grip, slips and credits
When the claw lands it grabs whichever prize is most centred under it. If it's off by more than a prize's half-width, it's a miss. Inside that, grip depends on how close to the centre you were. Early on, landing within about 60% of the way from centre to edge holds. Later it has to be under half. Anything further out slips loose about halfway up.
A slipped prize drops back into the pit right below the claw and starts swaying from there.
Credits are your lives. You start with 5, can hold up to 7, and every drop costs one. A win refunds it, so normal prizes keep you level. Golden stars, which start showing up after your fourth prize, add an extra credit and three coins. Score is prizes won. A PERFECT grab scores the same 1 as any other, but every third PERFECT in a row gives a coin.
How the machine gets harder
Difficulty ramps by whichever comes first: 22 prizes won or about 75 seconds. Over that stretch the claw glides more than twice as fast, prizes shrink by about a third, and their sway gets over three times wider and more than twice as quick.
The pit starts with three prizes, the first barely moving. Every win drops in a new prize, placed away from the others. From your 8th win, the pit fills up to four, which gives you more choice but also more prizes moving at once.
After 22 wins it keeps going. The claw gets faster, and new prizes sway faster and come in smaller with every win, so every run ends. Bank credits early, while prizes are big and slow, as a buffer for the misses that come later.
Daily levels and ghost races
Today's Claw level is the same for everyone, and you race the ghosts of other players' runs. How daily levels and challenges work.
FAQ
Why did my prize slip out of the claw?
Grip depends on alignment. Grab a prize near its centre and it holds. Catch it near the edge and it wriggles free halfway up, which costs you that credit.
Do I need to pay to play?
No. Credits in Claw are just the game's lives. You start with five, every prize you win gives one back, and golden stars give an extra one.
Is it free?
Yes. Every Tapamine game is free to play in your browser with no download and no account.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Tapamine is built for phones first: portrait, one thumb, and it works offline after your first visit. It also works with a mouse or the spacebar on a computer.
How do challenges work?
After a run, tap “Challenge a friend” to send a link. Your friend plays the exact same level and races your ghost — a replay of your run — to see who wins.
Add Claw to your site
Claw is free to embed on your blog, class page or website. Paste this code:
<iframe src="https://tapamine.com/embed/claw/" title="Claw: free one-tap game" width="360" height="640" style="border:0;border-radius:16px;max-width:100%" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; web-share" loading="lazy"></iframe>