OHYO FUN — Attraction in Toronto

Added photos of me with my Ultra prize from coin toss. Ohyo is a solid 20 out of 5!

Sigh my Spree review is not showing up cuz of a bug =( As if my review is the sun and the technical issue is the moon...

Be sure to check out their new store Ohyo Spree at the Yonge & Dundas area! But beware, you'll likely be mesmerized XD

** Before we start:

To people who think it's hard to win the prizes, you can just speak up and ask a staff member to help you rearrange the items. Don't be shy! Even if you're shy, you've gotta push yourself for the sake of your wallet and happiness XD... Remember, YOU are ultimately responsible for your own happiness, especially when you can so easily alter your own outcome!

Anyway, I've been going to this store regularly for a bit over a year now after I discovered them through a chance encounter one fateful night when I wanted to check out the DDR machine at the Cineplex upstairs as I love playing ITG.

Ohyo is now my FAVOURITE claw arcade because of the following:

1. When I first wrote this review late last year, I had to talk about their redemption items under the "things I think they can improve on" paragraph. Not long ago, I had to transfer the redemption items to one of these paragraphs as I noticed them getting more and more practical items such as an iPhone 15 Pro Max, a Dyson curling wand, a PS5, massage guns, portable water flossers, portable heaters, scales, etc. Recently, they also got some Apple AirPods. Then omg, a few weeks ago, they talked to me in person about this because they're trying to look for the stuff I personally requested for in this review. At that moment, I knew they were listening and trying their best to make me happy. They also know I love 飛天少女豬事丁 so they even played the theme song in the store just for me and I totally loved them to bits for it

An awesome spot for a date night, with instagramy vibes and cute prizing.

OHYO Fun opened up their doors around Fall/Winter of 2022. At the time, I had seen their Instagram posts promoting their open and decided to visit as I was always interested in going to a Claw Machine Arcade.

When you first visit, the location is kind of hard to find so I'll instruct you how to find it. When you enter Empress Walk on the street from Yonge, on the main floor you'll want to go to the right, into the hall that has an escalator going down. When you go downstairs and take a left you'll see the bright OHYO Fun sign.

Upon entry, you'll be met with what I can describe as an exceptionally designed arcade. From the light fixtures, to the decor, to the art installations such as the Silver Mouse character as well as an awesome KAWS-esque Astronaut that you can sit next to and take photos.

The process to play games is simple, you go to the cashier where the prizing is in order to purchase a card and load with tokens. I forgot to take a pic of the pricing for tokens but I can say that it isn't the greatest value and can be kind of expensive. I went with the option around $100 that grants you a lifetime membership that offers 15 free tokens every month. An FYI, you must visit every month to get the free tokens as they will not automatically load on. Each game ranges in cost but most are 4 tokens each.

As for the machines, it's a claw machine arcade. There will be times you will be outright played by the machine where it'll automatically drop your prizing before getting to the chute. I recommend searching up tutorials on how to win at claw machines before coming, because if you understand prizing placement and claw mechanics you can be like some of the people you'll see at these arcades with carts full of prizes.

A little piece of advice, if you win a prize in a machine but want to swap with another prize in that same exact machine, ask an employee and they'll gladly swap it out. Speaking about employees, service here is great, they're well staffed and always willing to help with machines and reorganizing prizing.

When you're all set and done, you have the option to swap out the prizes you won from machines, of which each prize is equal to 2 tickets. Prizes for trade-in range and can get pretty high for things such as Anime Figures, Pokemon Plushes, and general jumbo plushies. They also sometimes have specials on trade-ins, such as for the Kirby and Hello Kitty plushes I won as gifts for friends of which only cost me 4 tickets each which is really low compared to other popular characters.

Overall, although it might be pricey, I think OHYO Fun is an amazing spot for a date that will makes for an awesome surprise for the person you’re taking out if they’re into this...

This place is a lot of fun. It's probably one of the best claw machine arcades in Toronto and stands out for its clever marketing strategy. I don’t mean this in a bad way—on the contrary, I think all claw machine arcades could benefit from their approach to improve profits and customer satisfaction.

The machines are calibrated to a 1:5 prize-yielding ratio, meaning you’ll typically win a prize after about five plays. This is clear because the claw grip tightens as more tokens are inserted, and the swinging motion reduces. For the first few tries, the claw often swings away from the chute and drops the prize.

There’s also a random element to the algorithm. For example, at 4 tokens, there’s a 90% chance of swinging and 20% claw strength. At 8 tokens, the chance of swinging drops to 80% while the claw strength increases to 40%. By the time you’ve reached 12 tokens, there’s a probably 50% chance of swinging and 60% claw strength. With decent aim, you’re almost guaranteed to win after five tries, and if you’re lucky, you might win with fewer attempts.

If you live nearby or plan to visit often, I recommend their membership program. Spend $100, and you’re automatically enrolled. Membership benefits include saving tokens and tickets, 15 free tokens every month, and 80 free tokens on your birthday. Since each game costs 4 tokens (small ones are 3), the 15 tokens gives you three free plays, which is often just one or two plays away from winning. Who can resist that? Their strategy of offering free tokens to encourage regular spending is brilliant, and other arcades could learn from this.

I gave this place 4 stars instead of 5 for two reasons. First, the machine algorithm is a bit too predictable. Second, the plushies aren’t very cute and are of average quality.

Despite understanding their marketing scheme, I’ll still come back. Buying $100 worth of tokens brings the cost down to about $1.60 per play. Even if it takes five tries to win, that’s $8 per prize. If $8 can make my kids happy and excited, I think it’s worth it.

That said, the trade-in ratio for tickets is quite high. For example, small pokemon figures that cost around 10$ in Temu, requires about 11 tickets. Since each win earns you 2 tickets, you’d need to spend around $40 to get a $10 prize

If you have a toddler boy, the Poké Ball claw machine will be a big hit. It’s almost a guaranteed win every time, making it super easy to play, and they get so excited. While the prize quality is pretty poor, it’s still worth it to see them having...