Details: It’s “Whac-A-Mole”. It’s one of the earliest ticket games, and the one (along with Skee-Ball) everyone remembers. In case you’re too young to remember, these are based on carnival games and award tickets, later exchanged for prizes at the redemption counter. It’s POSSIBLE to spend less than what the prize cost, but only the most incredibly dedicated (or incredibly lucky) players ever beat the system. Basically, you had fun and maybe got a workout, and whatever prize you took home was just a bonus.
Whac-A-Mole could get strenuous in a hurry. You had to be fast to get even a decent score, and because of the amount of force required to smack those critters, eschewing the mallet wasn’t an option. Wacky Gator was probably the most forgiving variant; there were five closely-spaced gators which only required a little push to score on. I could regularly get the best possible result barehanded with no problem.