The goal of Gear It Up is to move a ball by pressing a button so that it rides three gears up to the top of the machine. Once there, you can spin the wheel to win more tickets with the chance of winning the jackpot bonus.
Keep reading to find out the timing trick that will help you easily get the ball to the top every time!
The Truth About Gear It Up Arcade Hacks
There are no “hacks” for Gear It Up. I will provide information that will give you an advantage to give yourself the best chance to win tickets. Then you will have to practice the game to know the correct timings.
There are no easy wins for Gear It Up.
But…..with the Gear It Up tips and tricks revealed below (along with good timing, reflexes, and maybe a little bit of luck) you should be able to win at least 100 tickets every play.
Gear It Up Arcade Tips: How to Win Tickets
Getting the ball to the top
This first part is a lot easier than it looks.
The timing is consistent for every Gear It Up arcade game so as long as you know this timing trick then you should get the ball to the top of the machine every time.
The timing trick for Gear It Up is pictured below:
The gears get progressively more difficult to hit as you move up, with less “Up” slots in the gear. But the timing is the same for each gear.
Hit the button when the slot you want to make it in is directly diagonal and towards the ramp above it.
This works because the timing for the ball to roll down the ramp matches the time for the “Up” slot to move from that diagonal position and hit the ball perfectly.
Watch ArcadeMatt’s video for a more in depth look at this Gear It Up timing trick.
Stopping the ticket wheel to get 100 tickets or the jackpot
Once you get the ball to the top of the Gear It Up machine, it is time to spin the bonus wheel to determine how many more tickets you will win.
The trick to the bonus wheel spin to win 100 tickets every time:
Hit the button when the light is at the top of the wheel on the “Bonus” slot.
This will cause the light to slow down and move 5 slots around the wheel until it comes to a complete stop on the 100 tickets slot.
You can use this strategy to try to go for the “Bonus” slot but the window to win is a lot smaller and is extremely difficult to win consistently.
In order to go for the bonus you will need to hit the button when the light is on the 20 tickets slot. This will cause the wheel to slow down and move 5 slots around to hopefully hit the bonus.
It is a lot harder than the 100 tickets. Adjust your timing to hitting either slightly earlier or later than the 20 slot to get this very precise timing just right.
I like to go for the 100 tickets most of the time as I can consistently win that. I will try to win the bonus if the bonus ticket value is close to or at the maximum ticket amount of 500 tickets.
Gear It Up Manual: Helpful Information to Know
The most important part of the Gear It Up manual can be found on page 20 where it lists all the option control settings.
These ticket values can change between Gear It Up machines depending on what settings the arcade owner has set on it.
Jackpot Bonus Starting Ticket Value: 100
This initial bonus goes up by 10 tickets every time someone misses the jackpot. It stops once it hits the maximum listed below.
Jackpot Bonus Maximum Value: 500
By default you will win 10 tickets for moving up the 1st gear and 10 more tickets for moving up the 2nd gear. There are no tickets won for moving up the 3rd gear.
The Gear It Up Manual also states that the “Ball Release Timing” can be changed in the settings of the machine. The default value is 20. I am not sure what the 20 means exactly. It does not say if it is 20 milliseconds or what that value is. But just be aware that the timing for the ball to go up the gears may be off depending on what the settings on the Gear It Up game you are playing is set to.
Though, I have not encountered a Gear It Up machine with different ball release timing settings than the default so you should not worry too much about this.
Gear It Up Review Score
Score is out of 10, with 1 being all luck to win and 10 being all skill.
Skill Rating: 8
Gear It Up is a game that can be almost 100% skill.
If you only go for the 100 tickets instead of the bonus jackpot you can win pretty consistently.
Luck comes into play when you go for the higher ticket jackpot. The window to stop the wheel on the jackpot is smaller. Also it depends on what settings the Gear It Up machine is set at which is out of your control.
Fun Rating: 6
I really enjoy playing Gear It Up. It is a game that I play a few times every time I go to Dave and Buster’s.
I like the consistency of getting at least 100 tickets. It is fun showing off to family and friends to prove that you can get the ball to the top every time.
Save money playing Gear It Up by playing on Half-off Wednesday at Dave and Buster’s or using coupons and deals to buy cheaper chips.
Check out other guides on similar arcade games (like Quik Drop or Monster Drop) to win tons of tickets.