What Is the Batak Game? How It Works and Who Uses It

The Batak game is a reaction wall. A set of push-button targets sits on a tall frame, and they light up one at a time. Your job is to hit each lit target as fast as you can before the next one appears. A digital scoreboard on the machine keeps count. That is the whole idea, and it is why people queue for it.

It looks simple. It is not. Players soon find themselves watching the edges of the board, reaching across their body and trying not to guess where the next light will appear. That mix of speed, focus and a visible score is what makes a light up reaction game work so well at events.

How a Batak game works

Each target is an LED push button. When a target lights, the player hits it, the light goes out and another target lights somewhere else on the board. The machine records every hit and shows the result on its scoreboard when the round ends.

There are two machines in our hire range:

• Batak Pro has 12 targets on a frame about 6.5 ft high and 5.5 ft wide. It is the full-size version, suited to large stands, sports brands and competitions.
• Batak Lite has 8 targets on a smaller frame about 5.5 ft high and 4 ft wide. It suits smaller stands, offices, schools and family days.

Both are played by one person at a time, and both work for children and adults. You can read the full specification on the Batak Pro hire and Batak Lite hire pages.

The three game modes

The same machine can run three different challenges, which lets you match the game to the event.

The Accumulator. The player has 30 seconds. One target lights at a time and every hit adds to the score. It is short, easy to explain and ideal for an all-day leaderboard, because the queue keeps moving and every score is directly comparable.

50 Target Strike. Here the goal is time rather than hits. The player must hit 50 random targets as fast as possible, and the quickest time wins. There is a 100-second maximum, so even a slow round has a clear end.

Relay Race. Four players take turns, 30 seconds each, across 120 seconds. Their hits combine into one team score. This is the mode to use for team building or any event where groups want to compete against each other.

Why the Batak reaction test is used in sport

Batak is widely used by Formula 1 drivers and other athletes for reaction and hand-eye coordination training. That link with motorsport gives the machine an instant story at events. People recognise it, or they recognise the challenge, and they want to see how their own Batak reaction test compares.

You do not need to be an athlete to enjoy it, though. The real appeal is the scoreboard. Someone posts a score, someone else thinks they can beat it, and a crowd forms.

Who hires a Batak game?

Event organisers bring Batak to a wide range of occasions:

• exhibitions and trade shows, where a game draws visitors onto a stand
• brand activations and product launches
• conferences and corporate events
• team building days, office parties and Christmas parties
• sports days, schools and universities
• family fun days and fundraisers

Brands often add their own artwork to the backboard and button surrounds, so the machine looks like part of the stand rather than a hired extra. Branding is printed and fitted in-house, and temporary branding is removed after the event. See branded Batak hire for the options.

What comes with a hire

Every hire includes delivery by JM's own crew anywhere in the UK, full installation and on-site training. We supply the power cable, and the machine runs from a standard 13 A socket. Equipment is PAT tested, a risk assessment is provided on booking and public liability insurance is in place. If you would rather not run the game yourself, JM staff can manage the game, the queue and the leaderboard for you.

Batak Pro hire starts from £595 a day and Batak Lite from £495 a day, ex VAT.

Have an event date in mind? Send us the details through the quote form and we will come back with availability and a price.