Whac-A-Mole or Whack-A-Mole is a Japanese arcade game that was created in 1975 by the amusements manufacturer TOGO in Japan, where it was originally known as Mogura Taiji (モグラ退治) or Mogura Tataki (モグラたたき).
A typical Whac-A-Mole machine consists of a waist-level cabinet with a play area and display screen, and a large, soft mallet. Five to eight holes in the play area top are filled with small, plastic, cartoonish moles, or other characters, which pop up at random. Points are scored by, as the name suggests, whacking each mole as it appears. The faster the reaction, the higher the score.
Play
The cabinet has a three-digit readout of the current player's score and, on later models, a "best score of the day" readout. The mallet is usually attached to the game by a rope to prevent it from being lost or stolen.
Current versions of Whac-A-Mole include three displays for Bonus Score, High Score, and the current game score. Home versions, distributed by Bob's Space Racers, have one display with the current score.
If the player does not strike a mole within a certain time or with enough force, it eventually sinks back into its hole with no score. Although gameplay starts out slow enough for most people to hit all of the moles that rise, it gradually increases in speed, with each mole spending less time exposed and with more moles exposed at once. After a designated time limit, the game ends, regardless of the player's score. The final score is based on the number of moles the player struck.
In addition to the single-player game described above, there is a multi-player game, most often found at amusement parks.