LogFAQs > #967987068

You hear me joke about how I'm why the game was taken out from the fair, haw haw, easy joke, whatever...

...listen to me. They changed the game and tried to make sure 2019 never happened again.

Reminder:. 10/10 prizes in 2019...no fair at all (fine, it was about COVID-19, I concede the point)...and no game to be found at the 2021 fair when they returned.

2022, the game is back, and it has specific changes.

First change was at the bottom of the rules.

HaRRicH posted...

One prize per person per day is the usual norm, yes.

^ oh, those were the days! Now the rule is "1 PRIZE.". That is it -- win, and then don't come back you dirty bottle-standing stick-wielder. They want to celebrate you so others will play, but also the next players who come from the advertisement of your win are standing on the grave of your Bottle Up career. The game-runners do not want to see you any more. Go home.

So, now there's a prize cap, but what else? Let's charge more too! The price has gone up. I believe it used to be one try for three dollars and two tries for five. Now it is one try for five dollars. More money up-front, presumably to make up on lost funds from 2019. Prices tend to waiver year to year anyway, but I'm just noting it has gone up.

Here's the kicker: they changed the game in a way where you can't even fully practice it at home anymore. I can't believe it and am genuinely impressed.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/9/1/AABgm0AADqz_.jpg

The plexiglass you see at the bottom? They're flatter than Earth my friends. I've never seen that before, and that is super tricky because you want an incline to help catch the bottle on the stand -- otherwise the bottle almost always has too much momentum not to fall over.

So then how do you do it?

I got scared, ya'll.

Here's the new trick. At first I thought plexiglass was loose and wobbly where it wasn't staying in place...but no, what's actually happening is when you have the weight of the bottle move from the center to the bottom edge of the plexiglass, it tilts the plexiglass up just enough for the incline you need, and then it catches itself so you don't just have the plexiglass fall off. It has two settings -- flat and incline -- and you gotta maneuver the bottle's weight to manipulate that.

So...now I can't just practice this on my floor too much because my floor doesn't tilt, and I can't make my practice board flat because it is four blocks of wood from the '80s. They've added a simple and dangerous new element to the game for people who know what's happening, and it's a sneaky deception for those who don't know.

AND THEN, to top it off, the barrier you can't cross is closer to the game now. Usually this would be seen as something to make it easier, but no! Now that the bottle is to the very dangerous front edge of the plexiglass to get it to tilt, you are now needing to stand almost directly over the bottle to play the rest of your turn safely -- which is a good way for the ring to fall off the lip of the bottle and cost you five dollars. If you try stepping back, the barrier's blocking your vision or even your string so good luck there too. I had to hold the stick differently in a way I never did before to adjust tonight.

Carnival people are brilliant people and don't you ever doubt that.

And they were intent on stopping me this year.

But even brilliant people have limits.