Whac-A-Mole

Whac-A-Mole
A pair of Whac-A-Mole machines
Manufacturers
  • TOGO (Mogura Taiji)
  • Bandai (Mogura Tataki)
  • Bob's Space Racers (Whac-A-Mole)
Years active
  • 1975–present (Mogura Taiji)
  • 1977–present (Mogura Tataki)
  • 1977–present (Whac-A-Mole)

Whac-A-Mole is an arcade game. It was created in 1975 by the amusements manufacturer TOGO in Japan, where it was originally known as Mogura Taiji (モグラ退治, "Mole Buster") or Mogura Tataki (モグラたたき, "Mole Smash").

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.

A child playing with a classic Japanese Mogura Taiji machine.