Tapper

Tapper, also known as Root Beer Tapper, is a 1983 arcade game released by Bally Midway. Tapper puts the player in the shoes of a bartender. The player must serve eager, thirsty patrons before their patience expires while collecting empty mugs and tips. The game was produced in association with Budweiser.

Several variants of the game were released, with similar gameplay but different graphics and music. The first was with Budweiser branding, followed in 1984 by Root Beer Tapper, which was developed specifically for arcades because the original version was construed as advertising alcohol to minors (since many of the games appeared in video game arcades). Developer Marvin Glass and Associates filed a patent in 1984 covering the game and variants, granted in 1987.

Tapper was ported to the Apple 2, Atari 8-bit family, Atari 5200, Atari 2600, BBC Micro, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum, IBM PC, and Amstrad CPC. Most of the home versions of Tapper featured the Mountain Dew logo, but retained the bartender character of the original arcade game instead of the soda jerk in Root Beer Tapper.