''Baffle Ball'' is a
pinball machine created on November 19, 1931, by David Gottlieb, founder of the
Gottlieb
Gottlieb (formerly D. Gottlieb & Co.) was an American arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is best known for creating a vast line of pinball machines and arcade games (including ''Q*bert'') throughout much of the 20th century.
...
amusement company.
Gameplay
For one
US cent
The penny, officially known as the cent, is a coin in the United States representing one-hundredth of a United States dollar, dollar. It has been the lowest face-value physical unit of U.S. currency since the abolition of the Half cent (Unite ...
(equivalent to cents in ) players get ten balls. These balls are fired up onto the playfield and fall into pockets and holes. Some ball targets are worth more than others, and players try to fire the ball at just the right speed. Unlike later pinball machines, ''Baffle Ball'' does not have
flippers. The best target is the Baffle Ball at the top which doubles all points. The game uses no electricity, and all scoring has to be done by hand.
Description
While
bagatelle
Bagatelle (from the Château de Bagatelle) is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls (set at nine in the 19th century) past wooden pins (which act as obstacles) into holes that are guarded by wood ...
-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. Up to 400 could be produced per day,
with over 50,000 machines made in total, jump-starting the
arcade pinball field. The game was also produced by Keeney & Sons, who were the first to advertise them. A home version was also released, and a version with detachable legs, called ''Baffle Ball Senior'', released in 1932.
The game sat on top of bar counters and the bartender might award prizes for high scores.
''Electric Baffle Ball'' was released in October 1935, and with novel uses for its signal light was operated in locations not usually associated with gaming. This was named in tribute after ''Baffle Ball'' but has a completely different design.
Digital version
The table was virtually recreated in the pinball simulation video game, ''
Microsoft Pinball Arcade
''Microsoft Pinball Arcade'' is a pinball video game from Microsoft. It was released on December 15, 1998, for Microsoft Windows and in 2001 for the Game Boy Color. The game is a collection of seven real pinball tables licensed by Gottlieb. Thes ...
'', although adjustments were made to the game rules. Instead of the normal silver balls, colored balls, that correspond to the colors of the targets, are played. Extra points are awarded if the player lands the ball in the target that exactly matches the color of the ball.
See also
*''
Play-Boy'' - the follow-up game
References
External links
*
{{Microsoft Pinball Arcade
1931 pinball machines
Gottlieb pinball machines