Vending machines are one of the many ways that the player can restore their health. Interactive vending machines are found in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V. They come in two forms: Snack vending machines and drink vending machines. Getting a drink or a snack from a vending machine costs $1, similar to a street vendor. Like vendors, vending machines are not marked on the map as restaurants are.
GTA San Andreas
In GTA San Andreas, the player is able to walk up to any vending machines that sells snacks or drinks to refill roughly 50% of the player's base health. The player may use a vending machine after walking close to one, prompting the game to produce a message that informs if the player wants to buy a snack or drink for $1. Like street vendors, purchasing and consuming anything from a vending machine will fully satisfy the player character's hunger, allowing him to go without food or drinks for another three days.
After purchasing a snack from a snack machine, the player may see the player character perform an eating animation (although the player can't see what the player character is eating); for drink vending machines, the player character may be seen drinking from a Sprunk can, before discarding it onto the ground. Drinks sold in the vending machines are unlimited.
Locations
- Snacks
- The Las Venturas Planning Department building.
- In the back halls of Caligula's Palace.
- Linden Station.
- Inside the Jefferson Motel.
- Inside all the 24/7 stores.
- Drinks
- In front of a gas station in Idlewood, Los Santos.
- In front of the Ten Green Bottles bar in Ganton.
- In the train station in Doherty across from the Doherty Garage.
- Montgomery, round the road from the burnt building.
- Inside all the 24/7 stores.
- Unity Station.
- Outside the Blueberry Safehouse.
Grand Theft Auto IV
In GTA IV, the player can also restore portions of their health by feeding $1 into any Sprunk or eCola vending machine. Drinks sold in the vending machines are unlimited. The player character will pick up the can, drink it, and then throw it on the ground. Buying drinks from vending machine while dating with Michelle will cause the whole game to hang.
Players are still able to buy drinks from the vending machine no matter how badly damaged it is.
Although snack vending machines do appear in Grand Theft Auto IV, they are not interactive to the player. Similarly, coffee machines debut in the game, particularly appearing within the interiors of the Schottler Medical Center and Westdyke Memorial Hospital, but are once again non-interactive.
Locations
- Drinks
- Ground level entrances of the Lancet-Hospital Center in Lancet.
- The underground car park in Lancaster.
- Pier 45 in Fishmarket South.
- Golden Pier, close to its Memory Lanes bowling alley.
- At both platforms of the Skycar.
Grand Theft Auto V
Vending machines are also featured in GTA V. The player is able to purchase drinks from ECola and Sprunk vending machines to regenerate a small portion of health, while The Bean Machine, Rainé and the Candybox snack vending machines are non-interactive.
Locations
- Jetsam Terminal, Terminal
- Convenience Stores
Trivia
- In GTA V, while playing as Trevor, he might say "Just what I needed" after drinking up a soda. This is a reference to the Super Mario games, where Mario says that exact line when eating a mushroom and gaining an extra life and/or health.
- In GTA V, after "The Independence Day Special" update, the vending machines have been reported to be unusable, possibly due to a bug caused accidentally while Rockstar produced this update. When any protagonist walks up to a Sprunk or E-Cola machine, the standard message instructing the player to press left on the D-Pad no longer appears, and even if the player does press the button, nothing happens.
- The San Andreas Flight School Update addresses this bug, and thus after downloading, all vending machines will function as intended.
- In GTA Online, the vending machines on both eCola and Sprunk can only be bought if the cash is on hand and not banked.