We've already brought you one free title this week, in the form of the classic board game Stratego online. But we've received word in the newsroom that today is National Beer Day, and it being happy hour, what better way to celebrate than reliving perhaps the greatest arcade hit about barley and hops, 1983's "Tapper" from Bally Midway! Click below to play the game (sans its kitschy tap handles) through an in-browser emulation, for free!

National Beer Day celebrates the day when retailers were allowed to sell suds again following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Tapper debuted 50 years later. Several variations of the game were released, including a "Root Beer Tapper" clone that changed the beverage you served to a non-alcoholic variety in response to criticism the game was advertising alcohol to the minors wandering in to video arcades.

In "Tapper," you play a mustachioed barkeep trying to sate your seemingly unending customers' thirst and picking up tips as well as empty glasses. Each level of the game features different music and themed patrons, including punk rockers, athletes and even aliens. 

Though not technically a "tower defense" game, Tapper inspired future titles in the genre, including today's wildly popular 'Plants vs. Zombies."

Throw one back and enjoy gaming's yesteryear. And stay tuned Monday for a new free title here in the Tech Deck.

---

---