Kansas Supreme Court will decide what’s just an arcade game, and what’s a gambling device

Chad Thompson once won $1,500 from the game Dragon’s Ascent, and it only cost him 10 cents to play. 

The game looks like something from an arcade. Players work a joystick and a button to shoot at the dragons swarming the screen. The bigger the dragon, the bigger the payout for a kill. 

Thompson, from McPherson, has played the game since it came out five years ago. He has a strategy to win, but … 

“That’s for me to know,” he said, “and you to find out.” 

But it’s the opportunity to win big that’s concerned state officials, some of whom have implied the game is an illegal gambling device. The game’s manufacturer disagrees and has filed multiple lawsuits demanding clarity in state law as to what is gambling and what is a game of chance or a game of skill.  

Dragon’s Ascent ‘lost revenue’ because of Kansas officials 

Pace-O-Matic released Dragon’s Ascent in Kansas in 2019. In August 2020, a letter from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission said there is too much luck and chance required to win the game — that would make it an illegal gambling device. 

The letter was sent to the Kansas Sheriffs’ Association and the president of the Kansas District Attorneys Association with “the hope that you will disseminate this information to association members.”

That spooked local business owners who didn’t want problems with law enforcement

“We’ve lost revenue, lost business,” said attorney Tom Hamilton, arguing for Pace-O-Matic, “because we didn’t place the games (at businesses) because of that threat.”

The game manufacturer then sued Kansas.

Supreme Court fight

Attorneys for the state argued before the Kansas Supreme Court on Wednesday that Kansas hasn’t taken an official position on the game. 

Dwight Carswell, deputy solicitor general of Kansas, said the lawsuit against Kansas should be thrown out because the game company lacks legal standing. The game is still available in Kansas and police aren’t seizing anything from bars. 

That’s one issue for the Kansas Supreme Court to sort out. The court will also decide whether Dragon’s Ascent is a skill-based game and whether state law on gambling is too vague. 

State law defining gambling uses the word “chance” nine times. But what does that mean? 

“How much chance is chance?” Hamilton said. “That doesn’t inform game manufacturers.” 

Carswell defended the state’s gambling law. He said chance has been used in state law for a long time, and just because a law can be read multiple different ways doesn’t make it unconstitutional. 

Are players gambling or is it a skill-based game? 

For Thompson, the player who won $1,500, the game has some luck. All games do. Bigger dragons mean more money won, but the players can’t choose which dragon appears on the screen. That’s why he said luck has something to do with his big win. 

But if you read the rules and study the game, he said, you’ll see that it takes skill to win. Better players win more often and Thompson said the game doesn’t fit in casinos like other gambling machines. It’s a perfect game to put in a bar. 

A spokesperson from the game manufacturer further argued that the game is not a gambling device because players can win as much as their skill level allows. Gambling games, like slot machines, have retention ratios which determine how much money is retained from each bet. 

Casinos can adjust how much a specific slot machine pays out. Dragon’s Ascent has no limitation on winnings. 

The game also requires color matching and adjustments to shot power, which are more skills players can develop, the company said. 

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