Kura Sushi adding premium tier pricing for better chance at capsule machine game

Kurazushi also sells sushi if you’re into that kind of thing.

Ever since having kids, my conveyor belt sushi options have been pretty much limited to just Kura Sushi/Kurazushi. The main reason for this is the Bikurapon! game built into each table in which inserting five used plates into a slot will trigger a video that may or may not cause a capsule toy to pop out of the machine above.

▼ Here’s a collection of some of the Bikurapon! videos, all with “atari” endings that give customers a prize.

They prizes are usually simple things like key chains or masking tape and in my rather extensive experience at the restaurant, they game used to pay out about every one in five tries. However, over the past year or so, it feels like the hit rate took a slight dip to about one in six or seven.

I simply chalked it up to an effect of inflation, but maybe it’s been the company’s way of gearing up for Bikurapon! Plus. Starting on 29 September, customers will be given a choice to take part in Bikurapon! Plus in which 10 yen (US$0.07) will be added to the price of each dish in exchange for the Bikurapon! win rate to be increased to one in three.

▼ The added cost will only be applied to orders that come on dishes like the following, not other items like beer or ramen.

That gives you a pretty good chance of winning something after 15 plates in exchange for incurring an additional cost of 150 yen ($1), which isn’t much in the grand scheme of things. Still, whether it’s worth it or not really boils down to how badly you want that prize.

▼ Example of some prices before Bikurapon! Plus

▼ And after Bikurapon! Plus

Bikurapon! prizes are almost always based on a major anime series from Pokémon and Conan the Detective to Spy x Family and Demon Slayer. But they’ve also tapped into other franchises with large fanbases like BTS, so there will probably be no shortage of people willing to shell out a bit more for limited-edition items.

Bikurapon! Plus is also not the only way to increase your chances of winning, or winning the item you want. When using the smartphone ordering system, ordering certain food items will go towards another chance at the game independent of the number of plates inserted into the slot.

There are also special Bikurapon! Sets that are guaranteed to come with one capsule, for those who can’t deal with the suspense. However you do it, one thing to keep in mind is that the Bikurapon! Plus must be selected at the beginning of the meal and can’t be opted into partway through.

But regardless of how you do it, you’ll still have far better chances than most other capsule games of chance out there.

Source, images: Press release
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