Handheld version of the arcade teddy picker machine

Teddy Bear Machine is an Android game of skill based around the popular teddy picker amusement arcade game.

All the fun of the fair

The object Teddy Bear Machine is to pick up toys using the metal claw and pull them up to the top of the screen. In each of the levels you are given a list of what you need to pick up and you must grab all of these before the time runs out. There are 60 levels available to play for free, plus several more pro levels.

The gamplay in Teddy Bear Machine is fun – even addictive – for a while, but it soon gets monotonous and boring. There are three different difficulty levels to try which does at least help to make the game more challenging, but the truth is you’ll probably get fed up of the repetitive gameplay before too long.

Putting the claw to work

Controlling the claw in Teddy Bear Machine is done through touch gestures. You drag your finger and the claw will follow it. Tap the screen to open and close the grabber mechanism and scoop up your prize. It’s a robust control system that’s enjoyable to use and which takes skill and practice to master.

Patchy presentation

The physics of the movement of the claw and the objects as they fall is pretty good. However, the overall presentation of Teddy Bear Machine isn’t great. Menu buttons are poorly designed with text that isn’t aligned properly and the in-game graphics are unspectacular. 

Worst of all is the music, which plays incessently on a short loop and can drive you crazy. Worse still is that the option for disabling music seems to have a mind of its own (testing version 1.3). It will turn off then seemingly turn on again when you exit to the level select menu (even though the music note strikethrough icon still appears). 

The verdict

Teddy Bear Machine is fun to play for a few minutes but the repetitive gameplay and the overall below-par implementation let the game down.