Claw machines are infamous for being deceptively easy, but actually excruciatingly difficult to master, and one Japanese man found out just how difficult after failing to win a single price after 200 consecutive tries.

Twitter user Ogarun, who happens to be a big fan of claw machine games, or “UFO Cathers” as they are called in Japan, visited an arcade earlier this month and was so frustrated with one claw machine there that he ended up calling the police. He reportedly tried his luck 200 times in a row and failed to catch a single price, and after getting into an argument with the staff at the arcade, he called the authorities. Interestingly, the police asked the arcade operator to demonstrate that the machine could be beat, but the guy failed 300 times in a row as well…

Photo: AJ Garcia/Unsplash

Ogarun posted a photo of the arcade operator trying to catch a prize under the watchful eyes of the police officers and later added that after failing over 300 times, the man managed to move some of the prizes to a more favorable location inside the machine and finally picked up one. The police didn’t take any actions against the arcade or the machine manufacturer this time.

“I couldn’t win at all so now the police are here,” Ogarun captioned his now viral photo. “Uh, the police are investigating the staff member who still hasn’t won yet.”

The Twitter user’s post got a lot of attention online and over the past people have been sharing about their opinions about the incident, with most of them basically describing claw machines as a scam.

“Everyone knows the crane’s strength is proportional to how much money has been put in,” one user commented. 

“The ‘game’ is just putting your coin in the slot,” another Twitter user wrote.

Things got so bad online that the claw machine manufacturer, Japanese corporation SEGA, issued a statement on the matter:

“As a whole, crane games are meant to be enjoyed as a way for customers to try their skill and luck, and played knowing that when they put money in, a prize may not necessarily come out. Of course, we strive to have our staff be aware of customers’ situations, so if something seems off you are welcome to call them over, and have them assist you a little bit. That is a fundamental operation of our company.”

So maybe don’t waste your money on claw machines if you’re in it for the prizes, and not just the experience itself. Or at least, let a professional claw machine player do it for you.