The earliest claw machines are believed to have been created in the late 19th century and inspired by the machines used to build the Panama Canal, while the first patented claw machine, the Erie Digger, was inspired by the creation of the Erie Canal and invented in 1926. Claw machines are also known as skill cranes, claw cranes, and crane games, and are known as UFO catchers in Japan due to the claws' resemblance to UFOs.
They typically contain stuffed toys or other cheap prizes, and sometimes contain more expensive items like electronic devices and fashion accessories. Modern claw machines are upright cabinets with glass boxes that are lit from the inside and have a joystick-controlled claw at the top, which is coin-operated and positioned over a pile of prizes, dropped into the pile, and picked up to unload the prize or lack thereof into a chute. A claw machine in Ustroń, PolandĪ claw machine is a type of arcade game. For other uses, see Claw (video game) and SpongeBob SquarePants (season 4).
