The Balloon Pop
Any toddler who has ever accidentally ended a party balloon with something only reasonably pointy knows that balloons are fragile things. And yet for some reason, you can't pop one of the stupid things with a freaking dart at the county fair. Why? There's a reason why those fair balloons look kind of limp and unenthusiastic — according to AARP, they're under-inflated, which means they have thicker skins than party balloons. In fact those balloons might only be holding a third as much air as they're capable of holding, which means they're going to be pretty resilient. Thick skins aren't as susceptible to damage as the much thinner, over-stretched skins of the typical party balloon. And the darts aren't regulation, either, so if you're awesome at darts when you're down at the pub you're going to be a little more challenged by the lighter version they give you at the fair. And never mind that the points are also a lot duller than they are on a regular dart. So why haven't you ever noticed the limp, floppy, under-inflated balloon phenomenon at the county fair? The balloons are lined up close together, which makes their diminutive size less obvious — but they are also arranged in a rainbow of colors, and those pretty colors help lull you into a false sense of security because rainbows can't ever have evil intentions, right? Sort of like the bioluminescent lure on an anglerfish, only way more evil.
Any toddler who has ever accidentally ended a party balloon with something only reasonably pointy knows that balloons are fragile things. And yet for some reason, you can't pop one of the stupid things with a freaking dart at the county fair. Why? There's a reason why those fair balloons look kind of limp and unenthusiastic — according to AARP, they're under-inflated, which means they have thicker skins than party balloons. In fact those balloons might only be holding a third as much air as they're capable of holding, which means they're going to be pretty resilient. Thick skins aren't as susceptible to damage as the much thinner, over-stretched skins of the typical party balloon. And the darts aren't regulation, either, so if you're awesome at darts when you're down at the pub you're going to be a little more challenged by the lighter version they give you at the fair. And never mind that the points are also a lot duller than they are on a regular dart. So why haven't you ever noticed the limp, floppy, under-inflated balloon phenomenon at the county fair? The balloons are lined up close together, which makes their diminutive size less obvious — but they are also arranged in a rainbow of colors, and those pretty colors help lull you into a false sense of security because rainbows can't ever have evil intentions, right? Sort of like the bioluminescent lure on an anglerfish, only way more evil.
The Ring Toss
This one looks like it should be easy to win. It's a game of skill — just toss the ring in exactly the right way, it goes over the bottle, and SpongeBob is yours. Now, if you really just feel in your heart like this is your game, you might want to take a step back for a moment and watch the other players. How many of them are actually landing a shot? Mostly no one, except the carnies, who love to show us suckers just how easy it is. Now consider this: According to Mental Floss, the carnies are standing right next to the bottles, so they can just drop the ring from above, easy-peasy. Now pay attention to what happens to the ring used for the demo. Does it end up in the stack of rings the next sucker buys for 10 bucks? Nope. That sucker gets a different stack of rings — the rings meant for the game are slightly smaller than the one the carnie used, and they're made from a hard plastic, which tends to bounce. And that means if the player does get a ring all the way over a bottle neck, it might end up bouncing off anyway, and then the player ends up empty-handed. Just think, that sucker could be you. If you want to avoid this terrible fate, just keep this in mind: If it looks simple, it's almost certainly because there's some deception.
This one looks like it should be easy to win. It's a game of skill — just toss the ring in exactly the right way, it goes over the bottle, and SpongeBob is yours. Now, if you really just feel in your heart like this is your game, you might want to take a step back for a moment and watch the other players. How many of them are actually landing a shot? Mostly no one, except the carnies, who love to show us suckers just how easy it is. Now consider this: According to Mental Floss, the carnies are standing right next to the bottles, so they can just drop the ring from above, easy-peasy. Now pay attention to what happens to the ring used for the demo. Does it end up in the stack of rings the next sucker buys for 10 bucks? Nope. That sucker gets a different stack of rings — the rings meant for the game are slightly smaller than the one the carnie used, and they're made from a hard plastic, which tends to bounce. And that means if the player does get a ring all the way over a bottle neck, it might end up bouncing off anyway, and then the player ends up empty-handed. Just think, that sucker could be you. If you want to avoid this terrible fate, just keep this in mind: If it looks simple, it's almost certainly because there's some deception.
The Ladder Climb
If you haven't spent hours practicing for this game, you're not going to win it. According to former NASA scientist Mark Rober, the ladder climb requires real skill, and not just the kind of skill that you get from being a softball star or spending a lot of time with weights or even walking on a tightrope. The rope ladder is supported on the end at only a single point, which means that you have to keep your center of mass directly over the middle of the ladder to keep the ladder from spinning on you. Even walking on a slackline doesn't prepare you for this challenge because that lets you wave your arms for balance. On a carnival ladder you need both hands to hang on to the rungs. One way to make the game a little easier is to keep your feet and hands at the outside of the ladder and keep three points of contact. But it's still really hard to do, which is why a resort doesn't mind uploading a video (above) divulging the "secret." It will still take practice, but it is possible to train your body to keep that center of mass in exactly the right place. Once you've mastered it, don't get too cocky — you're not going to be able to win over and over again because the carnival won't let you. This is probably the only game at the carnival that has a "one win per player" caveat.
If you haven't spent hours practicing for this game, you're not going to win it. According to former NASA scientist Mark Rober, the ladder climb requires real skill, and not just the kind of skill that you get from being a softball star or spending a lot of time with weights or even walking on a tightrope. The rope ladder is supported on the end at only a single point, which means that you have to keep your center of mass directly over the middle of the ladder to keep the ladder from spinning on you. Even walking on a slackline doesn't prepare you for this challenge because that lets you wave your arms for balance. On a carnival ladder you need both hands to hang on to the rungs. One way to make the game a little easier is to keep your feet and hands at the outside of the ladder and keep three points of contact. But it's still really hard to do, which is why a resort doesn't mind uploading a video (above) divulging the "secret." It will still take practice, but it is possible to train your body to keep that center of mass in exactly the right place. Once you've mastered it, don't get too cocky — you're not going to be able to win over and over again because the carnival won't let you. This is probably the only game at the carnival that has a "one win per player" caveat.
Shoot The Star
This game really seems like it ought to be easy, and one of the reasons it seems that way is because we all know how simple it is to shoot holes in people or to make whole vehicles explode because, you know, we've seen it on TV. But there are some limitations to just what a BB gun can do to a flimsy piece of paper. The object of this game is to completely blast away a star printed on a piece of paper. The first problem is that you're not going to be getting a BB gun with much accuracy. And AARP says the guns are rigged in other ways, too — the BBs might be smaller than standard, and the guns just aren't as powerful as real BB guns, so the BBs are just as likely to bounce off the paper as to actually tear through it. To give yourself the best chance of winning, you need to shoot around the star and cut it out of the target. If you just shoot the star itself, you're going to come up against some simple laws of physics. "Newton's Third Law tells us that you can only push on something as hard as it can resist your push," says scientist Mark Rober. "So at the end you have these barely supported pieces of the star that just move out of the way when the BB comes without building up enough stress to rip the paper." You lose. Again.
This game really seems like it ought to be easy, and one of the reasons it seems that way is because we all know how simple it is to shoot holes in people or to make whole vehicles explode because, you know, we've seen it on TV. But there are some limitations to just what a BB gun can do to a flimsy piece of paper. The object of this game is to completely blast away a star printed on a piece of paper. The first problem is that you're not going to be getting a BB gun with much accuracy. And AARP says the guns are rigged in other ways, too — the BBs might be smaller than standard, and the guns just aren't as powerful as real BB guns, so the BBs are just as likely to bounce off the paper as to actually tear through it. To give yourself the best chance of winning, you need to shoot around the star and cut it out of the target. If you just shoot the star itself, you're going to come up against some simple laws of physics. "Newton's Third Law tells us that you can only push on something as hard as it can resist your push," says scientist Mark Rober. "So at the end you have these barely supported pieces of the star that just move out of the way when the BB comes without building up enough stress to rip the paper." You lose. Again.
Many Games Of 'Skill' Are Actually Random Chance
There are a lot of games on the midway that look like games of skill but that are designed in such a way that any skill-based advantage you might have becomes null and void as soon as you toss the ball. According to Mark Rober, the trick is in the bounce factor — ping-pong balls, for example, are designed to be extremely bouncy, which means aiming them at hard surfaces is pretty much pointless. If you're just a little bit off with your aim, the ball or ring or whatever you're throwing will bounce and you'll end up with a totally random chance at getting that ball or ring where it needs to be in order to score a prize. Nevertheless, Rober says these are the games you should be playing if you aren't a baseball star or a basketball champ. Like slot machines, those random chance games may occasionally pay off right away, which means there's always that small possibility that you'll walk away with the big prize before you've actually squandered your life savings.
There are a lot of games on the midway that look like games of skill but that are designed in such a way that any skill-based advantage you might have becomes null and void as soon as you toss the ball. According to Mark Rober, the trick is in the bounce factor — ping-pong balls, for example, are designed to be extremely bouncy, which means aiming them at hard surfaces is pretty much pointless. If you're just a little bit off with your aim, the ball or ring or whatever you're throwing will bounce and you'll end up with a totally random chance at getting that ball or ring where it needs to be in order to score a prize. Nevertheless, Rober says these are the games you should be playing if you aren't a baseball star or a basketball champ. Like slot machines, those random chance games may occasionally pay off right away, which means there's always that small possibility that you'll walk away with the big prize before you've actually squandered your life savings.