Baffle Ball
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Baffle Ball is a pinball machine created on November 19, 1931, by David Gottlieb, founder of the Gottlieb amusement company. Unlike later pinball machines, Baffle Ball does not have flippers.
Gameplay
The gameplay is based on parlour bagatelle. For one US cent (equivalent to Expression error: Unexpected < operator cents in Template:Inflation/year[1]) players get ten balls. These balls are launched up onto the playfield and fall into pockets and holes. Some ball targets are worth more than others, and matching the colour of a ball to a pocket doubles that shot. The best target is the Baffle point at the top which doubles all other points. The game uses no electricity, and all scoring has to be done by hand.[2]
Description
While bagatelle-derived "marble games" had long existed previously, Baffle Ball was the first commercially successful game of its type, being affordable enough for store and tavern owners to quickly recoup the machine's cost. Unlike its predecessors the playfield was painted with vibrant colours to entice players. The game explained itself, with a gold painted box on the bottom right with brief instructions of how to operate the game, and on the bottom left another box with "rules and scores". The four cups each have a one-way tilting gate. The game uses a simple coin mechanism which had been introduced in a bagatelle game earlier the same year called Whiffle. The playfield was covered with a sheet of glass to prevent players tampering with the balls.[2]
The layout includes a baseball diamond in its iconography, but otherwise has no connection with baseball. Many games stated "a game of skill for amusement only" in the middle of the playfield.[3]
Up to 400 could be produced per day,[4] with over 50,000 machines manufactured in total. The game was also produced by Keeney & Sons, who were the first to advertise them.[5] Initial versions gave the player 10 balls, but some later variants were produced with 5 or 7 balls. A home version was also released, and a version with detachable legs, called Baffle Ball Senior, released in 1932.[6]
The game sat on top of bar counters and the bartender might award prizes for high scores.[7]
Electric Baffle Ball was released in October 1935,[8] and with novel uses for its signal light was operated in locations not usually associated with gaming.[9] This was named in tribute after Baffle Ball but has a completely different design.[10]
Digital version
The table was virtually recreated in the pinball simulation video game, Microsoft Pinball Arcade. Colored balls, that correspond to the colors of the targets, are used. Extra points are awarded if the player lands the ball in the target that matches the color of the ball.
See also
- Play-Boy - the follow-up game
References
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