This awesome Japanese arcade chain has crane game coaches to help you win prizes

Our crane game novice heads to Benex for a training day with the Assist Crew .

We’re in the middle of a golden age of crane games in Japan.

Though traditional video games continue to have a diminished presence at game centers, statistics show that the crane game industry more than doubled between 2013 and 2024, growing by 120 percent in that time frame .

A lot of this is thanks to the diverse array of prizes that modern crane games offer.

Plushies and figures of popular characters remain some of the most sought-after items, thanks to Japan’s multi-generational fandom population where everyone from little kids to mature adults has a series or two that they’re fond of.

Today’s crane games are also often stocked with candies, chocolates, and other snack foods, and even practical things like cleaning supplies and other sundry household goods, all waiting to be won by players willing to part with 100 yen (approximately US$0.65) per chance. ▼ A crane game with electric water kettles as the prize… ▼ …and another with high-end facial skin care packs.

With crane games a bigger deal than ever, they’ve been catching the eye of our Japanese reporter Natsuno Futon more and more.

There’s just one problem though…well, actually two, which is that Natsuno doesn’t have the luck or skill to consistently win at crane games.

The luck part we can’t help her with, since the blessings of Japan’s get-idol-concert-tickets shrine don’t transfer to crane games, as far as we can tell.

There is a path, though, for Natsuno to improve her crane game technique, and that path led her to Benex . ▼ Benex’s Kawasaki branch has 387 crane games .

Benex is a chain of all-crane game arcades, with five branches in Tokyo’s neighboring prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama.

The chain wisely realizes that if players aren’t winning, they’ll stop playing, and so it takes a couple of extra steps to up visitors’ chances of going home with a prize .

For example, at the Benex that Natsuno visited in the city of Kawasaki (just south of Tokyo), they have a dedicated free-to-play crane game that visitors can use for practice .

But there are skills in life that are hard to acquire though self-taught methods, so Benex also has a team of employees designated as the “Assist Crew,” who’ll give you personal, on-the-spot advice as you try to win prizes from the machines .