TOY CRANE / Stuck on the chute
Prizes Stuck on the Chute — Using No-Open and Release
A prize hanging on the chute lip, inches from the exit, is the most frustrating moment in any claw game. It is also the easiest prize on the board — if you know how.
Why prizes get stuck
A low lip runs around the exit hole so prizes don’t fall in too easily. If the claw lets go while the prize is tilted, or a leg or ear hits the lip first, it stops half-way over. Since update 1.2, TOY CRANE no longer magically pushes stuck prizes in — just like a real machine they stay put. Instead you have three tools.
1. Press it in with No-Open
The most reliable way. Turn on No-Open and press DROP: the claw descends with its prongs closed and presses the prize from above. Press the outer part (the bit resting on the lip), not the side over the hole. The prize levers itself into the chute. Pressing the inner edge just pushes it further up onto the lip.
2. Tap it with open prongs
No item? A normal claw works too. Drop it right beside the prize on the side away from the hole: the open prongs knock the prize toward the exit on the way down. Even when the claw comes up empty, the prize often falls in. Check from the side view that the prongs will actually touch its flank.
3. Plan ahead with RELEASE
While carrying, DROP becomes RELEASE. If you have a big prize that is already tilting dangerously as it rises, release it early over the edge of the chute and park it on the lip on purpose. A prize on the lip is easy to push in next turn with No-Open — far better than dropping it back into the middle of the pile.
When to Shake
If several prizes are crowded around the exit, Shake can sort them all at once. For a single stuck prize No-Open is more reliable — Shake rearranges the whole pile and can ruin positions you worked hard to set up.
A simple routine
- Look at the stuck prize from the side and find the part resting on the lip.
- With No-Open, press the centre of that part.
- Without it, drop the open claw against the flank on the far side.
- Still stuck? Shake, or win other prizes while you wait for a better moment.