The state Supreme Court on Monday ruled that skill games, slots-like machines found by the thousands in taverns, convenience stores and other retail businesses, should be considered illegal — ending a yearslong stalemate over whether the devices are permissible under the state’s gaming and crime laws.

The justices remanded the case to Commonwealth Court for related proceedings and stayed their order for four months so that lawmakers can respond if they choose to do so.

“Today’s ruling is a significant victory for consumers, taxpayers and the rule of law in Pennsylvania,” Attorney General David Sunday said in a statement after the opinion was handed down. “The Supreme Court recognized what our office has argued from the beginning — these machines operate as gambling devices and cannot legally exist without the same oversight, regulation and accountability as other forms of legalized gaming in the Commonwealth. Pennsylvanians deserve protections that ensure games are fair, transparent and operated within the bounds of the law.”

The decision comes halfway through June with the state budget deadline looming. Lawmakers have repeatedly introduced bills to formally legalize, regulate and tax skill games. But none of those bills have gained traction in the General Assembly, leaving the games unregulated even as there are now about 80,000 skill games operating in Pennsylvania.

The dispute places the casino industry and the state Lottery on one side and bar owners and the distributor of skill games on the other. Lottery officials have maintained that competition from skill games has cut into Lottery sales and reduced the amount of revenue for Lottery-funded senior programs.

Debate over the legality of skill games largely focused over whether their play involved skill or whether players win through chance, as they do on conventional gambling devices. Senate Republican leaders in a statement after the ruling said they plan to begin moving legislation to respond to the decision and use the tax revenue to close some of the structural deficit in the state budget.

“The proliferation of skill games is a matter of public safety which must be addressed, and given the timing of this decision, we believe gaming reform is a critical piece of resolving this year’s budget. In addition, with the fiscal realities facing our Commonwealth, it stands to reason that new revenue from gaming reform should be directed to the general fund, as the Governor proposed in his 2026-27 budget,” they said. “Last year, Senate Republican Leadership introduced a gaming reform bill as a basis for discussion and with the Supreme Court ruling now in hand, we look forward to all parties swiftly engaging in meaningful conversations to resolve this issue.”

The justices pointedly rejected the argument that if skill games are illegal gambling devices, so are many arcade games that issue tickets that players can redeem for prizes.

“This is a ‘slippery slope’ argument that the Commonwealth calls the ‘Chuck E. Cheese defense,'” Justice David Wecht wrote in the majority opinion. “Despite its euphemistic name, the ‘Pennsylvania Skill Amusement Device’ plainly is not purely for entertainment. It is not a game for children to win prizes. Its raison d’etre is to take the money of those who risk it in the hope of winning more money.”

Wecht added that the skill game manufacturer, Pace-O-Matic, “may not wish to call that ‘gambling,’ but one cannot help but notice that its device is rather unlike those at Chuck E. Cheese.”

During oral arguments, attorneys noted that players do not always play the skill portion of the games and not all players may even understand how to access the skill portion of the game.

The initial round is a chance game, and if the player loses, he or she will immediately receive an opportunity to play again. If the player immediately begins another round, they won’t encounter the “Follow Me” game, in which the play includes an element of skill, she said.

If the player doesn’t play another round of the chance game, then a link leading to the “Follow Me” skill game appears. But the link to the “Follow Me” game doesn’t explicitly explain that it’s taking the player to the skill portion of the game, Affronti told the justices.

“​Truthfully, I don’t know why anyone would touch it. It’s not telling you, press this button to play the skill game. … There’s no suggestion, that’s a way to win your money back. The only way you discover that is if you, for some reason, touch there” and follow the link, Senior Deputy Attorney General Susan Affronti said during oral arguments.