itbox is a networked gambling games terminal which is found in thousands of pubs, leisure centres and amusement arcades in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Classified as a "skill with prizes" (SWP) machine, each itbox terminal typically includes 25 different games. Each game costs 50p or £1 to play and lasts between 10 seconds and several minutes. From most of these games it is possible to win modest cash prizes. Although strictly the name 'itbox' refers only to Leisure Link-made terminals, the name is often casually applied as a genericized trademark

Genericized trademark

A genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...

 to other SWP terminals such as Paragon SWP

Paragon SWP

Paragon is the name of Games Warehouse Limited's interactive SWP machine found in pubs across Great Britain. Currently in its third incarnation, Paragon offers pubgoers entertainment and the chance to win modest cash prizes for an initial stake of 50p. The payout percentage which the machine...

, Gamesnet, ind:e and Fatbox.

Games

The games on itbox are largely question-and-answer based where the player will need to answer a varying number of questions (often from a range of subject categories) correctly before he or she can opt to collect a small prize (normally £1) or gamble for a chance to win a larger prize by answering further questions.

Question-and-answer based

• Pub Quiz - the simplest itbox game. It consists of a total of six rounds of 4 or 5 questions each, with prizes ranging from £1 (usually on completion of the third round, but occasionally after the second round) to a £10 jackpot. The player starts with one "try again" and a "change category" option, and can gain bonuses such as "pass" or "cheat" (which automatically reveals the correct answer" during a bonus round. Occasionally a cash prize can also be won in this way. Pub Quiz differs from most Itbox quiz games in that once a prize is attained, it cannot be lost and does therefore not need to be "collected". Pub Quiz also often features comedy answers which will be obviously wrong, especially in the first round.

• Bullseye - This game is based on an old television programme of the same name
  Bullseye (UK game show)
  Bullseye was a popular British television programme. It was first made for the ITV network by ATV in 1981 and Central from 1982 until 1995, and hosted by Jim Bowen. The show originally aired on Monday nights from 1981, it was then moved to Sunday nights from 1982 to 1993 where it was watched by...
  
  . It became, and remains, one of the more popular Question and Answer games on the itbox. Players must skillfully throw darts into a dart board to achieve points towards their target score. If this score is achieved, then the player is entered into the prize round, where they are able to throw darts into a "prize" board to gain cash prizes.

• Every Loser Wins - Has a similar format to Pub Quiz, but requiring players to answer questions wrongly rather than correctly. Players start with a "change category" option but no "try agains", though an "extra life" option is available during the bonus round, along with "change category" and, occasionally, a cash prize. Unusually, the 2/3 odds given on each question means players can make good progress simply by guessing their way through the game.

• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? - Based on the popular television programme
  Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK game show)
  Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz show which offers a maximum cash prize of one million pounds for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty...
  
  , Millionaire enables gamers to sit with Chris Tarrant
  Chris Tarrant
  Christopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...
  
   in order to win £20. The completion of the Fastest Finger First round opens up bonuses such as 'Ask the Audience' and '50:50', which can be invaluable in helping the player reach the payout questions. A recent 2006 edition has been launched, with less time available to answer individual questions but improved odds of gaining Fastest Finger bonuses, as well as more video footage of Chris Tarrant.

• Monopoly - The latest "Hot Property" edition of this game requires players to attain a points target (usually between 5000 and 6000 points) and then play and endgame to win money. Points are accumulated by landing on properties, getting bonuses from "Chance" and "Community Chest" cards, and playing mini-games. Once a property has been landed on, a house is won (unlike in previous versions of Monopoly where a full set needed to be owned for houses to be available) and its points value increases to its base value plus its rent value with one house (hotels give a similar bonus). Collecting all 4 stations awards a cashpot prize. The endgame requires a player to choose three random properties from those accumulated during the main game. The game then offers a prize based on those properties, or the player can pick one and win its cash equivalent instead.

• Deal or No Deal - A popular new addition to the Itbox selection. Presented by Noel Edmonds
  Noel Edmonds
  Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...
  
  , the player must choose boxes and answer trivia questions to accumulate enough points to play a final cash round. The points target can range from 10000 to 90000, but is usually between 30000 and 60000, depending on how likely the Itbox is to pay out. The final cash round has no questions and requires to play, essentially, a very small-scale version of 'Deal or No Deal
  Deal or No Deal
  Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...
  
  ' with prizes ranging from 10p to a £20 jackpot. In some pubs the game has proved so popular that the minimum play is £1 and not 50p.

• • Deal or No Deal - No Questions - A new version of the game for Itbox. Presented by Noel Edmonds
    Noel Edmonds
    Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...
    
    , the player is presented with a succession of box values, and must light up all the boxes by accepting the values that appear and discarding the ones that don't within a given time limit. There are also bonus boxes that give more time or an extra box value. If all the boxes are lit, the player progresses to the same final cash round as in the original Deal or No Deal.

• Take It or Leave It - A relatively new game, launched in October 2007, in which the player must answer 10 questions to get to a final cash round. The questions each come with an answer, and the player must "take it" (if they believe it to be correct) or "leave it" (if it is incorrect). In between each question is a round which decides the total prize value. Players are presented with a selection of 20 "vaults" containing values from 10p to £3, and two "booby prizes". Players choose two vaults, then must decide which one to take based on the amount revealed in the first vault. The total prize accumulates through 10 such rounds. In the final round, players are presented with 6 "vaults", one of which contains the prize. They can either attempt to choose the right vault, or answer 5 questions correctly to eliminate empty vaults. Any incorrect answer ends the game.

• 1 vs 100 - Based on the 'National Lottery
  National Lottery (United Kingdom)
  The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
  
  ' programme of the same name, this game involves 100 "contestants" which players need to eliminate by answering questions. Each correct answer eliminates a number of "contestants", usually between 3 and 10. Players have two "dodge" options, similar to a pass, and one "double" option, which doubles the number of "contestants" eliminated by one correct answer. Once all the "contestants" have been eliminated, the player progresses to a cash round and can win a prize from 25p to £20 by eliminating 9 of the 10 prizes offered.

• In the Grid - Based on the In the Grid
  In the Grid
  In the Grid was a game show that airs on UK broadcaster Five at 6.30pm week nights. It first aired on Monday 30 October 2006.In the Grid was hosted by Les Dennis and was produced by Initial West, one of the Endemol UK companies.-Round 1 - The Grid:...
  
   television programme presented by Les Dennis
  Les Dennis
  Les Dennis is an English comedian, television presenter and actor best known as the host of Family Fortunes for 15 years.-Early life:...
  
  . Players attempt to reach a target score that is displayed before the game begins. The player then starts selecting squares on a 4x4 grid, each with a 3-answer multiple-choice question behind it. If the question is answered correctly, the colour of the square is revealed and points are added or taken away accordingly. Gold squares (Cash squares) increase the player's score by the amount shown, Green squares (Bonus squares) increase the player's score by the percentage shown, Purple squares (Steal squares) allow the player to steal a percentage of points from the Steal Pot (starting at 1000 points, but increasing when the player picks a Penalty square), Red squares (Penalty squares) decrease the player's score by the percentage shown and adds it to the Steal Pot and the one Black square (Bankrupt square) reduces the player's score to zero and must start over. The player is also given 2 Reveals to use at any time. These can be used in 2 ways. The first is to reveal the colour of an unrevealed square to determine if it will be good or bad, and the second is used to reveal the correct answer to the question presented to the player. The player is also given 1 Try Again, should they answer any question incorrectly. After a few squares have been played, the player is presented with a New Grid option. If the grid is looking less favourable to the player, they can press the New Grid button and a new grid of squares will be presented to the player and randomised, allowing them to carry on playing, however Reveals and Try Agains are not restored. If the score quota is reached, the player moves on to the MegaGrid round. The player is presented with a 5x5 grid and is told how many Gold and Black squares are in it. As long as the player keeps picking Gold squares, they move up a money tree starting at 25p and ending at a jackpot of £40. A Black square does not wipe the player's winnings out, but does end the game.

Skill / card games

Some games on itbox do not involve questions at all; examples of these are:

• Word Soup - (a new name for Word Up) Here the computer generates a "random" matrix of letters with different point values based upon the machine's 'willingness' to pay out, players must form English words from adjoining letters in order to reach a predetermined prize target which ranges from 450-2100 points. '

• Triple Towers - The solitaire
  Solitaire
  Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
  
   card game generically known as tri peaks
  Tri Peaks
  Tri Peaks is a solitaire card game that is akin to the solitaire games Golf and Black Hole. The game uses one deck and the object is to clear three peaks made up of cards....
  
  , in which a random sequence of playing cards are dealt face down in a tri-pyramid pattern. The player is then dealt 24 cards with which he must clear all the pyramid cards within a set time by creating sequential runs (in this game Ace is both high and low). Competing pub/bar game manufacturers call their versions of this very popular game Tri-Towers and Merry Maidens, among others.

• Trickshot Pool - A computerised simulation of 8-ball pool
  Blackball (pool)
  Blackball is a pool game that is popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, several Western European nations, Australia and some other countries. In the UK and Ireland it is usually called simply "pool"...
  
  . Players must pot a pre-determined number of their own colour balls (between 4-8). If successful the player has a chance to win a cash prize by completing a trickshot by potting an awkwardly positioned black ball determined by the computer. (Standard 8-ball pool rules apply with the exception that potting the 8ball off the break is considered a foul.) Recent modifications appear to have reintroduced more skill into this title by tweaking the CPU player's shot choices.

• Crystal Maze - A game where the player must use various skills to win crystals and proceed to the 'Dome', in the same way that contestants did on the hit TV show - The Crystal Maze
  The Crystal Maze
  The Crystal Maze was a British game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 15 February 1990 and 10 August 1995. There was one series per year, with the first four series presented by Richard O'Brien and the final two by Ed Tudor-Pole, who made...
  
  . Presented by Richard O'Brien, the player must torpedo ships, connect pipes and re-arrange words amongst mini-games to gain access to the final round where the amount of crystals collected translates as time. To win the prize the user must collect gold tickets whilst missing silver, which are deducted from the final total. (This title has been largely superseded on later itbox releases.)

• itbox Soccer - A test of knowledge based on the sport of football, Itbox Soccer is a word based game where players must fill in the blanks to complete the name of a player or other soccer-related term.

The amount of money won is determined by the number of points the player accumulates by successfully answering questions and filling in the missing letters.

• Cluedo - A game where the player has a choice of rolls on a dice to choose from. The aim is to find out the suspect, the weapon and the room the murder took place. If this is done, the player wins £20. You can also win money for landing on all 6 suspects for £5 or the amount of rooms entered- The amount of rooms before money can be collected varies, it can be the 2nd to the 5th room entered. You must be in the correct room and guess the murderer and weapon correctly to win £20.

• Skill Ball Bingo - A game where players get a standard English Bingo card, whilst 105 bingo balls jump around on the top part of the screen. when a Ball drops into a hole at the bottom of the screen, it appears stationary and the player must press the accept button if the ball is on the card or reject if it isn't. Also in the machine, there are 5 star balls, these activate the Jackpot collection if all 5 are collected. there is also a skull ball which must be rejected otherwise the player loses time and any star balls collected and finally a "?" ball, which gives the player added time. If a player accepts a ball not on the card,the skull ball or rejects a ball on the card,"?" ball or star ball, the playe gets a time penalty of 5 seconds.To win on the game, players must get a line. the amount that a player can win is on screen for each prize level, but as time decreases, the amount drops until the game is up or they win that prize. a person can win for this is £1-5 for a single line collected,£6-15 for 2 lines or £10-30 for a full house. If the jackpot mode is activated and a player gets all the star balls and a full house, they win the jackpot of £50(£100 on some machines). The odds of getting a line is roughly 5-1. Every 100th game or so a extra £5 ball is added. If this is potted, then the person automatically wins £5 into the collect fund.

Past games that are no longer available, except on older machines, include The Two Towers

The Two Towers

The Two Towers is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. It is preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring and followed by The Return of the King.-Title:...

, and Dungeons and Dragons.

Tournament games

In early 2006 a new style of game was introduced to itbox terminals. These tournament games pit players playing on different terminals around the country against each other for larger cash prizes than the stand-alone games. The national high score tables are reportedly updated in real time.

Prizes

In accordance with gambling legislation the standard payout percentage of itboxes is 30%, although operators can elect to set this at 40% or 50%. Many of the terminals are fixed minimum payout as with all fruit machines.
Each game has a prize structure which varies according to whether that game has recently paid out more than it should have according to the fixed payout percentage. Most games have a nominal jackpot of £20 although attaining this requires considerable skill

Skill

A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...

from the player and cooperation from the software. Occasionally the operator underestimates the dedication of quiz machine players, or the software on a particular game is defective. When this happens, fast-acting players can empty machines of the jackpot with minimum difficulty.

Sale to Danoptra Gaming Group

In June 2008, the Inspired Gaming Group (owners of all the original Leisure Link machines) sold all itbox terminals based in pubs to the Danoptra Gaming Group