Kronespillet

Background

Kronespill coin machines stood on ferries and in cafés all over Norway. On the ferries they were run by the Red Cross and the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue, until the new holed krone coin of 1997 made the machines obsolete.

Apps made Kronespillet for iPhone and iPad in 2010. The new version runs in the browser and is built as a 3D game, with the original board, rules, artwork and sounds from 2010.

How to play

You start with 60 kroner and flick coins across the top of the machine. The cups marked 3:00, 2:00 and 10:00 release that many coins from the stacks below. R sends the coin back down the side channel. Coins that reach the drawer are your winnings.

The game has three modes.

Classic is the original from the iPad in 2010. You have 60 kroner and play until they are gone.

Ferry moves the machine into the passenger lounge of a 1990s car ferry. You pick one of eight crossings and walk up to the machine on a rolling deck. The sea tilts the board, and the game ends when the ferry docks or the coins run out.

Party is for several players on the same board. The host shares a six-digit code or a QR code, friends join from their own phones, and the host picks the crossing and starts the round. Party rounds always use the original physics, and the places are shown on a podium with gold, silver and bronze.

Eight crossings, five sea states

Ferry mode has eight crossings run by four county ferry companies, ordered by sea state from calm to hurricane:

Sea state	Crossing	Ship
Calm	Molde – Vestnes	MF «Bolsøy»
Calm	Utne – Kvanndal	MF «Hardingen»
Some swell	Hareid – Sulesund	MF «Hareid»
Some swell	Lavik – Oppedal	MF «Gloppen»
Rough	Kristiansund – Bremsnes	MF «Kvernes»
Rough	Mortavika – Arsvågen	MF «Rennesøy»
Storm	Halhjem – Sandvikvåg	MF «Stord»
Hurricane	Aukan – Vinsternes	MF «Haram»

The FSF, HSD and Rogaland Trafikkselskap ships are documented on these crossings in the 1990s. The MRF ships are real vessels of the era, but their pairing with crossings, and the crossing times, are illustrative.

The last crossing is the New Year hurricane of 1 January 1992 across Imarsundet. The ship's roll and heave tilt and scale gravity inside the machine, so the coins sway and you have to time your shots with the swell. High scores are tagged with the mode and crossing.

How it is built

The lounge is modelled on photos of 1990s ferries from Møre og Romsdal: booths along the windows, a kiosk with a price board, a slatted ceiling with fluorescent tubes, a TV on a wall bracket and vinyl benches against nicotine-yellowed walls. The materials are photo-scanned textures under a free licence.

The outside is its own scene at real scale. You stand about 12 metres above the water, the crossing is 3.4 kilometres and the mountains rise to about 800 metres. The sea is a custom shader with swell, wind ripples, sun glint and whitecaps that build with the sea state. Rain runs down the window glass, the fluorescent tubes flicker as the ship heels over, and in a storm lightning strikes the fjord. The engine drone, waves, creaking hull and ferry horn are synthesised in the browser.

In Settings you can choose realistic physics, with faster gravity, more friction and coins that bounce off each other. It has its own high scores, and the server replays every score with the physics it was played with.

Status

Kronespillet is live at kronespillet.no. It runs in the browser on phones and computers and can be installed on the home screen as an app of its own. A result can be sent as a link to a friend, who then plays the same board with your target shown.

kronespillet.no