How to Use a Strobe Light on a Stacker Skill Game

Some nightclubs use strobe lights on the dance floor.

Win big with a stacker skill game by using a strobe light to your advantage. Players try to stack shapes made up of cubes into rows of lines at the bottom of the screen in stacker skill video games. Typically, the games start slow and easy. As the player advances to new levels, the shapes move faster. If the cubed-shapes stack too high without creating rows, the player loses. Some arcade stacker games feature strobe lights to attract new players, but ideally setting up your own strobe light would be most beneficial to the player. Change the speed of the light to beat the game.

Things You'll Need

• Strobe light

Instructions

1. Darken the room if possible. If you are playing at home, dim the lights to half the normal setting. This allows you to focus on the lighting and the game.

2. Turn on the strobe light and shift it toward the player. Set it to flash approximately every three seconds to start. The game starts slow and you want to match the speed of the cubed-shapes with the light as they drop from the top of the screen. Adjust as needed so the visuals on the game seem to slow down.

3. Play the game trying to lay the shapes as flat as possible to from the rows. Once a completed row is made, that row disappears. Beat the level by making as many rows as needed without letting the shapes stack too high.

4. Switch the strobe light slightly faster with the next level. Each level is roughly half a second faster, so adjust the light to match the speed of the game. The flashing light makes the dropping shapes seem to slow down, and it helps the player focus on the game.

5. Change the strobe light faster with each new level. Beat each new level and turn the strobe light as fast as necessary so the cubed shapes seem to be slowed down.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice the game with and without the strobe lights.

• Though it seems like the light is slowing down the dropping cubed-shapes, it is still going the same speed. Your skill level needs to improve in order to win.

• In a small percentage of the population, strobe lights trigger photosensitive seizures, which are seizures caused by flashing lights.

• If you have blurred visions, feel nauseous or dizzy, turn off the strobe light immediately.

• Do not look directly into the flashing lights.

References

• University of Washington: Pokemon on the Brain
• Panda Vending: User Manual of TR1102 Stacker Machine
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety: Lighting Ergonomics -- Light Flicker