When I sat down to think about what I wanted to throw into my version of bagatelle, nothing really came to mind at first. After a few days of pondering and thinking about what I liked and didn’t like, I eventually settled for the addition of terrain to the playing field.
Bunch of ramps populates the playing field, complicating where the ball will end up
The main inspiration that sparked this idea was Chutes & Ladders and Ghost Leg. The idea was to add variables to the playing field that would complicate the game through the addition of interactions done on the ball other than just launching it with the plunger.
I wanted the players to not just pull the plunger without a care in the world but to actually observe the results of their actions and think twice before just mindlessly pulling the plunger.
Overall, I wanted to keep the basics of bagatelle so it stays familiar while further reinforcing it with the complication of the playing field and really make the player make each shot count if they want to get good scores. Thus the fundamental gameplay remains the same but with a more difficult playing field.
My Game is called “Bar Games”. It is based on games that you could expect to see in a Bar such as Pool, Darts, and Cards. The idea was that while it could be anywhere it could show a bit of where it came from. The interesting thing is that while it has some representation of the past it also incorporates futuristic features such as bumpers and spinners.
I chose to theme this game since while the mechanics are simple, it can interact with the decorations in a more advanced way. For example I will place a target at the bullseye of a dartboard, and 6 targets at the locations of the holes on a pool table.
The original design was based on the picture above. With the orange dots being where the holes are, the stars being spinners, and the black dots being where pins will go. Based on the feedback I’m going to keep mostly this design with only slight modifications. The modifications that I am going to make are having more pins and turning some of the holes into pockets with pins. The Holes upon testing were harder to make well, so by replacing some holes with pockets it should be much faster to construct.
The scoring of the game is centered around the range of 250-2500 points. In one location to the top left, I have a times two hole. This means that in a game of 5 balls, if you land one in the times 2 hole, the point ranges will now be between 500 and 5000.
The biggest issue I may have with this game is the game flow. I am worried that the ball will just go around the top curve every single time, which will lead to a very repetitive game, but due to not having flippers I feel like it will be hard to modify that too much. So I will try to test this game to minimize that upon building. Another Issue I may have is with using the pins, as they are short, it will be hard to keep them in the board, so to fix that I plan on using hot glue to hold any pins that will be on any constant pressure. For the spinners I plan to use T-Pins and straws with cardboard flaps glued on. Based on minor testing it seems to work, but I am worried about friction causing issues with the spinning.
For my bagatelle design, I decided to go with a simple theme – Surfing and beach culture in the USA. I like this theme because it is lighthearted and easily recognizable by many people. It is also somewhat historic, nodding to mid-20th century beach culture, though not quite as historic as the bagatelle.
I also want to play around with smoother mechanics – semicircles and curved lines that the ball can “roll” off of, as opposed to the traditional approach of the ball bouncing off various elements on the playfield. Upon starting my design, I found that it is best to make the curves with tightly-positioned thumbtacks/pins in the absence of plastic, and they still give a bit of that “rolling” feel to mimic waves in the ocean.
The player’s goal is to get balls stuck between pins with point values to increase their score. Although the player can’t use flippers to maneuver the ball, they can control how hard to hit the ball initially – which can land them in a hard-to-reach location and earn them a lot of points.
Observations and Next Steps
The only way to really know if the playfield “flows” in a smooth way is to test it many times, since adjusting any one of the pins making up a “wave” can drastically alter the outcome and path of the ball. I’ll also want to adjust the scoring and rules pertaining around the maximum number of balls allowed on the playfield (since my concept started with three, but I think five would be more fair and fun). I’ve made a few changes to my design since starting it, mostly pertaining to the placement of pins not part of a semicircle and the scoring. The bottom of the playfield isn’t flat like depicted in my layout drawing, so I’ve moved the pins along the bottom to follow the slope. This makes them harder to hit (but still possible), so I’ll want to increase those 50-point values specifically.
Although I didn’t get many comments in class regarding my initial concept, I think I will get good feedback when testing my design.
No One is Foolish Enough to Build a Theme Based on a Coincidence Right?
Sometimes coincidences can lead to good things, like happening to be in a town at the same time as your favorite musician is performing a free concert. Other times, you look at the design you slammed down in the middle of your original concept sketch because it was common on many of the classical bagatelles and then realize that it looks familiar despite never having seen a bagatelle earlier than this September.
I fall into the second of these very specific categories. I had fallen into a slump trying to figure out a theme and a design for the bagatelle that didn’t feel like a crude copy of an existing bagatelle, especially since historical examples rarely had a theme. One coincidence later, I decided that I’d theme my playfield with Revue Starlight because I had no other ideas, and I felt like it would be fun. I can say it was fun to make, though I suppose time will tell if it is any fun to play.
Solid black lines are rows of pins, large black circles are holes.
Getting onto the topic of designing this playfield, I ended up throwing out most of the original sketch. That sketch was based on historical examples and contemporary reproductions of bagatelles, though I wanted to try leaning on the theme more than traditional bagatelles.
As a brief aside for those not familiar with Revue Starlight, it is an anime about 9 actresses in a theater school who duel each other in supernatural auditions for the title of “Top Star.” Outside of these auditions they’re rehearsing to perform a play titled “Starlight.” Pink and magenta are the colors commonly associated with the play, as well as the protagonist, Karen.
So getting back to the bagatelle, I started with the background. Most of the playfield is designed to look like a backdrop in a theater, while the bottom has a stage, and there is a curtain bordering the playfield’s upper and lower bounds. I picked recognizable symbols from the show, such as the central insignia of “Starlight” as well as the two stars featured as the Magical McGuffins of the play. The play revolves around ascending the tower (and truthfully the idea of ‘ascension’ pervades the whole show), and claiming those stars for your own, so naturally I decided to make the center of the emblem, which represents the tower, worth 99 points, and the two main stars 100 points. That way, the player wants to reach for those elements as well. Instead of normal stars, I placed holes in the playfield with a small bit of score. Additionally, I made the spotlights on the bottom worth extra points, as well as the round pool near the bottom worth a little more as well just because I thought they’d be difficult to get to, so the player should have some reward for getting a ball into those targets.
Past those design decisions, I found some difficulties as well. The biggest difficulty I had designing this is the lack of flippers. I have had a lot more exposure to pinball as it is known today, where flippers are a defining trait of the game. It was difficult to say the least to switch to a much simpler game, where the ball will always be travelling in a generally downwards trajectory.
Another difficulty was trying to figure out what I can do to take it beyond traditional bagatelle. This was partially due to the lack of flippers mentioned above, but also there’s the difficulties from not having experience actually playing bagatelle. I have no gauge for what actually plays well at this point in time, so I will be largely flying in the dark with nothing but my own senses until a few playtests have happened.
As for feedback from class, all I got was a single comment that I had a great theme. But looking at the playfield again, I will be looking into replacing some if not all of the holes for stars with literal bells. Other than that, I may add a small bit of pinball tech in the form of a toy or two onto the playfield to add more decoration. They’ll be of prominent figures in the show, so one of the 9 Stage Girls, or the Giraffe running the auditions.
But for now, that’s all the time I have for now (and as much bagatelle as I have designed) so I will call it here. There’ll be plenty of updates and changes to the design once initial playtests happen I presume, so stay tuned for those as part of the next post on my game, when I have a finished product.-?
My Bagatelle, “Target Practice”, is designed to resemble a set of shooting targets. My intention was for players to feel as though they are engaged in target practice as they launch the balls around the play field. The targets themselves will be made using paper art that the ball can roll over, while push pins (brown dots) will aid in the experience of hitting the targets. I have also added walls to the side of the ball launch and the top to aid in guiding the ball around the play field during launch.
Each target is designed so that point values increase as the ball gets closer to the center. This can be noticed with the larger target, which has lower valued ball catches near its outer rings and higher valued ones near the bullseye area. Inside each target’s bullseye area, there will be a small bell (green dot) to indicate to the player that they have hit a bullseye. These areas have the highest score value because they should be the hardest to reach.
The lower targets on the play field are identical in size and orientation. Each of their ball catches has a higher score because they should be harder to reach than the ones in the center of the play field. Between the lower targets is a backup ball catch, meant for players who didn’t score on the targets themselves. I have also decided to build a ramp to block off the flipper area, allowing the ball to drain if no points are established.
After presenting in class, I got a limited amount of feedback in terms of suggested changes/comments. One of those, however, was to add multipliers or combos to make my scoring more unique. Since I was aiming for a more simple Bagatelle, I might only add this if I have extra time or feel the play field is empty. I do, however, want to add some more art to make the theme more present. For example, adding bullet holes to represent scores and a backdrop for visual appeal. Regardless, I am excited to start building my design.
Pinball, as we know it today, has gone through several different revisions to its mechanics over the decades. The first step towards the modern version of pinball roughly starts with bagatelle.
Bagatelle used to be played with pool balls and cue sticks, where players would try and hit the ball into pins. But around the 1870s, the game had been “improved” with the inclusion of the coiled spring plunger for shooting balls onto the now inclined playing field. This allowed the game to become scaled-down from its previous version and start its progress towards the pinball we know today.
The next step from there was the replacing of the pins with bumpers.
Bally’s Bumper – 1936
It wasn’t too much of a change, but it was enough to nudge how the game originally played out and turned it into a more lively game to play.
These initial changes were interesting to me as one could argue if these didn’t happen, pinball would probably not exist today as we know it. Not only that, it became the initial standards for future machines that would, in turn, pave the way to modern pinball machines.
Flippers
After technological advances, and the necessary upgrades being introduced to pinball machines, the next improvement made to the game was the inclusion of flippers; first seen with Gottlieb’s Humpty Dumpty.
Gottlieb’s Humpty Dumpty – 1947
This is when pinball machines start to look a lot more familiar with their modern counterparts rather than their older ones. The addition of flippers allowed the game to last longer and players to rack up more points and aim for higher high scores than previous revisions of pinball.
As someone who appreciates games that require skill to play, including but not limited to pinball, the older pinball machines, such as Humpty Dumpty, were something of a retro treat. Modern pinball machines require skill in their own right, but older pinball machines are difficult in a different sense.
Compared to their modern counterparts, the older machines were very simplistic at heart. But the simplicity didn’t take away from its inherent difficulty or mastery over the game that was required. Perhaps it’s difficult precisely due to its simplicity.
And simple but difficult games are something I really appreciate as having grown up on mostly digital games as opposed to analog games.
Modern “Mechanics”
After the addition of flippers, pinball was pretty much a completed product. After that, it was a matter of how manufacturers/developers wanted to implement additional mechanics of their choices.
Jersey Jack’s Wizard of Oz – 2013
They could throw in crazy trick shots that required immense precision, hidden puzzles that can only be activated after certain steps had been fulfilled, or the multiball mechanic that brought chaos to the playing field.
William’s Black Knight – 1980
Manufacturers also started making the playing field multi-layered with ramps leading up to the second level with additional features and sometimes even another set of flippers.
Modern pinball machines definitely have several additional layers of complicated features when compared to older machines, but that’s just what adds to the charm to pinball machines.
Sometimes I feel like being overwhelmed by all the implicit rules that are in place, but it definitely feels good to learn them one by one and get better at a specific machine.
In the end. . .
Pinball has come a long way since the 19th Century and it has more or less stayed on the path to turning out to become what it is today instead of anything else.
I for one appreciate how Pinball has turned out over time and I’m pretty sure others do too.
Oh boy oh boy, do y’all love pinball? I sure hope so because I’m gonna give you some spicy extra information on some of the material we covered this week and I hope you’re ready for it.
Steve Ritchie
Steve frickin’ Ritchie
We briefly mentioned the designer in class, but the “master of flow” Steve Ritchie deserves our full attention. As the best selling pinball game designer who ever lived, Ritchie defines the medium. His work laid the ground for many of the modern era pinball machines. Throughout the late 80s and early 90s Ritichie proved himself a master of design during his time at Midway Bally. With games like High Speed, Terminator II, and Star Trek: The Next Generation his level design and method of communicating a story through the machine were immaculate and done on a level never seen before. Since the downfall of Midway, he’s continued making pinball machines for Stern. All in all, he’s a noteworthy designer and I hope we discuss him more in class.
New York I Love You, But You Don’t (Didn’t) Love Pinball
The famous photo of NYC pinball destruction.
As we discussed in class, New York, and many other states following the example, banned pinball in the mid-20th century. Pictured above is Police Commissioner William O’Brien smashing an illegal pinball machine. While this image is very striking, I don’t think it does the whole ordeal justice. When they rounded up these machines in the early 40s they didn’t mess around. NYC Mayor LaGuardia issued a mandate for the NYPD to round up pinball machines and arrest their owners. Thousands of machines were rounded up in a matter of days. Then they were smashed them with sledgehammers. Then the machines were dumped in the rivers. This moved pinball to its underground days, where you would have to go to backalleys and questionable stores to get your “fix” if you were in an illegal state.
Collector Pinball
Look at those bad boys
We discussed very briefly the rise of pinball of a collector’s market rather than an arcade market. To recap, we essentially discussed that collectors arose in 70s and were a market of necessity as Pinball was banned in arcades, making selling to a large portion of that market untenable. Manufacturers identified an opportunity with collectors who played pinball privately.
When I first entered the pinball room at the strong, the first machine to catch my eye was Atari’s Hercules machine. The sheer size of the machine caught my eye. So when Jeremy told us that Atari machines were prone to catch fire, I was incredibly curious.
Atari entered the pinball industry in 1975. They had been regarded as very influential in the video game industry at this point, but video games were still much less profitable than analog games. Atari intended to highball traditional pricing for machines by being more technologically advanced than their competition. However, their innovation often came with problems.
The biggest problem with Atari’s pinball efforts was there inexperience in the field. Infamously, Atari placed their circuit boards below the play field in their first generation of pinball machines. This often led to screws and misc pieces falling off and catching fire on the circuit board. This made these games far less popular with vendors. Atari was also very inexperienced in manufacturing. They often faced issues with their machines. Former Atari vice president Don Osborne said it took Atari four months to do what Bally could in two weeks. This combined with the company’s insistence on being innovative and changing the industry led to a crop of technical issues.
First generation Atari pinball machines also displayed the score of games on the apron (the corner of the play field). This was a huge mistake because, as Steve Ritchie (Former designer at Atari) put it “A player’s score needs to be displayed and celebrated.” This made these games much less popular with players.
With the less than anticipated sales number due to the above factors, the decision was made to close the pinball decision in 1979 after producing only 7 machines. While they certainly faced their problems, many pinball enthusiasts have
Pepper’s Ghost
While watching the documentary, I was fascinated by the illusion technique used for pinball 2000. After some research I learned all about Pepper’s Ghost. The effect essentially works by using a glass to reflect someone(or something) from a hidden area to the area where the viewer/audience can see only the reflection. This leaves the reflected with a hologram like appearance.
In 1862. Henry Dircks used the technique to develop a machine called the Dircksian Phantasmagoria. When John Pepper saw this device, he knew that with modifications it could be used to display a ghost on a stage. This was done successfully in a showing of Charles Dickens’s The Haunted Man. Upon great reception, the technique was named after Pepper, despite his wish to give Dircks credit. The technique has had many modern implementations since it’s inception. It’s used with live actors by Disney Land’s Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor attractions to give the appearance of ghosts in the attractions.
The technique was also famously used at the Coachella music festival in 2012 to have Tupac Shakur perform “live” with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg more than 15 years after his death. The way this implementation worked was a very high quality CG animated video of Tupac was created which was then projected onto a glass which reflected it onto the stage. Despite all the press referring to it as the “Tupac Hologram” it actually wasn’t actually a hologram at all! Although it was the most famous example, this isn’t actually the first time the technique was used for a live concert. That accolade actually goes to the Gorillaz. In 2006, the virtual band performed live at the Grammy Awards. A CGI animation of the band’s performance was created and then spliced with live-action footage of Madonna performing. This was then reflected from a projector onto the stage. This gave the illusion of Madonna actually playing live on stage with the cartoon band. The Gorillaz have gone on to use the technique on many of their live tours. It’s often done to have the animated band members appear live on stage with the actual musicians performing live versions of their songs.
Bumper Controversy
I had never really thought before as to how bumpers worked in pinball, but after Martin’s demonstration of the inner mechanisms of a pinball machine, I was fascinated. From martin, we learned that when the ball touches the bumper, it depresses a small ring which then activates a solenoid that then quickly pulls down a metal cone. The conic shape ensures that no matter how it interacts with the ball, it will push it away from the bumper (and quickly, too).
Although the debut of the bumper is often credited to Bally’s 1936 game aptly titled Bumper, the game Bolo‘s use of the bumper actually predates this by 5 months. The game was designed Raymond Kay and the bumper for that game was developed by W. Vonstoeser. This early version of the bumper was a pin that was mounted on a spring that could move the ball in any direction.
In the 80’s a New York pinball operator stated in an interview that in the 30’s, Bally president Ray Maloney had stolen the idea for the bumper from Bolo and then patented it after improving upon it. This caused the manufacturer of Bolo, Pacent Novelty Manufacturing Co. to file for bankruptcy in 1937.
However, the controversy regarding the bumper does not stop there. In 1960, pinball designer Harry Mabs claimed he invented the bumper in his game Washington made in 1934 in Miami Florida. This however has yet to be proven. Mabs has not publicly stated what company manufactured Washington. There has also been little information found online about the game. On IPDB, it’s speculated that only a few copies of the game were made to the local Miami area. Although some are hesitant to believe Mabs claims due to the lack of evidence, some do believe his claims based on his reputation. Mabs was the designer of Humpty Dumpty, and is subsequently credited with introducing the flipper to pinball. Personally, I think I believe that Raymond Kay and W. Vonstoeser are the true creators of the bumper, but I don’t think I can say that with certainty
Bagatelle is where we first start seeing a game resembling pinball start to form. It was a game where the object was to launch a ball into a board full of pins in an attempt to land the ball in various holes or pockets. The goals and layouts all varied but the mode of play was all the same. The problem with this is that there is very little input the player has on the ball, meaning it is more of a game of chance than it is a game of skill which after a while left players desiring more, which is where flippers came into play. What I find particularly interesting about Bagatelle is that it’s the genesis of what modern pin related games would later become. After Bagatelle we see a split into different games such as pinball and pachinko, two very different games that share a common ancestor.
Aftermath of the Pinball Ban
Pinball related games may have started out as games of chance early on, but as soon as flippers were introduced and perfected, it quickly became a game of skill. However many did not see it this way and considered it gambling which had disastrous repercussions for the industry. Many games had to have variations where a player being rewarded a “free game” is replaced with the “add a ball” feature which functionally acts very similar but without the risk of being called gambling. In some locations, pinball was outright banned with many famous images of police going out and smashing pinball machines in the street. It wasn’t until 1974 that the ban of pinball machines was finally lifted following a court case where the California Supreme Court ruled that pinball was a game of skill as opposed to a game of chance. This was done due to the contribution of Roger Sharpe playing in the courtroom to demonstrate how much control he had over the game. I found this interesting just because it’s always ironic to see how the next big thing will always be surrounded with the controversy of “corrupting the youth” etc. and how things got so bad that many images of police smashing pinball machines exist from that time. I also find the fact that the case was solved by someone bringing a pinball machine into court and playing it very humorous.
Revenge From Mars
The last thing I want to write about was the Pinball 2000 fiasco that both saved and killed pinball at the same time. In the late 90’s pinball sales where at an all-time low due to the popularity and convenience of other media like video games at the time. This left many companies to dropping out of the business completely, leaving only two companies left, Williams and Sega. Williams was definitely the innovator of the two and management decided that something big needed to change or else they would drop out too. That’s where the idea of Pinball 2000 came from; looking at the success of video games, the designers at Williams deciding that pinball needed to evolve to remains competitive, and this involved merging the two media together. The original design just involved having the backboard replaced with a monitor, but this was destined to fail and the senior designers knew this. They refined the design to use the reflection of the glass to reflect images onto the playfield itself in order to truly merge the two media into one cohesive experience. The first game to do this was Revenge From Mars, a sequel to an earlier successful pinball machine. This was considered a great success, allowing Williams to make a profit for the first time in several years, and work was immediately started on the second in the series: Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.
The second in the Pinball 2000 line
This is where troubles start to arise. Due to the movie being in production at the same time, the designers had to sign a strict NDA which meant that consulting with the other designers and playtesting were difficult if not impossible. This led to an average to borderline boring experience which on top of the increased price causing many retailers to cancel their orders, as well as the movie itself performing subparly, caused a loss for Williams. This was the final straw for Williams as the pinball division was shutdown entirely after this. I found this interesting because the Pinball 2000 concept was shown to be a successful model, but the failure of only the second machine caused Williams to panic and jump ship which is unfortunate. However maybe it was for their best interest since they jumped over to the slot industry where they found much more success with far less risk. I’d find it interesting if the Pinball 2000 model gets resurrected with the resurgence of pinball interest in recent years. For such a unique concept, it’s a shame that only two machines were ever completed.
Thus far in class, we’ve made a couple visits to the Strong, had class lectures on pinball machines, and watched Tilt: The Battle to Save Pinball – a documentary illustrating the dying days of the pinball industry. Particular topics that I find interesting regarding pinball’s legacy include the historical impact of earlier prototypes during the Great Depression, the rise and resurgence of competitive pinball, and the invention of bumpers on the playfield.
During the Great Depression
Pinball’s journey during the Great Depression began with the founding of D. Gottlieb & Co. in 1927 in Chicago, IL under David Gottlieb. The company began mass-marketing early pinball/bagatelle machines during the Great Depression (The Los Angeles Times). Some of the games they released within this historical time are Baffle Ball (1931), Speedway (1933), and Merry-Go-Round (1934), among many others (ipdb – list of Gottlieb games).
It is important to note that none of these early pinball machines had flippers, not until 1947 – they were primarily luck-based games. Players could nudge and tip the machines to influence the ball, but couldn’t change the game’s fate directly. This eventually led to its illegalization in 1947 (History). These games, especially Baffle Ball, were very popular. Assembly-line production of these machines commenced and over 75,000 units were sold, according to the notes we took in class. Prior to 1932, these machines were flat and put on top of tables. Battery-operated machines started to appear in 1933, and by 1934, some could plug into electrical outlets for sound, lighting, and other features (ThoughtCo).
Pinball was highly profitable during the Great Depression because many people were out of work and spent a lot of time in bars and lounges, where these machines were located. It was fairly cheap to play and entertaining for many, especially in a time where stress and hopelessness among the population was high.
Competitive Pinball
Although we didn’t talk much about it in class, I was interested in looking into the history of pinball competitions and how it is still alive and well in the present day, long after the golden years of pinball. When the topic of pinball tournaments is mentioned, there are two key companies that play a large role – The International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA) and The Professional & Amateur Pinball Association (PAPA).
The IFPA began in the early 1990s and hosted four pinball competitions before falling inactive in 1995. The organization created the World Pinball Player Rankings to establish an official ranking system for pinball. In 2008 (judging by the player rankings recorded), they had a resurgence. Now, they organize championships at State, National, and International levels every year (About the IFPA).
Similarly, another famous organization responsible for hosting pinball competitions, PAPA, was founded in the mid 1980s by Roger Sharpe and Steve Epstein in New York City. They ran six world championship tournaments before retiring and passing the company to Kevin Martin. According to Epstein, the concept for PAPA began in the late 1970s. They developed a league scoring system that was used for the first time around 1985/1986, and the tournaments started in the 1990s. Unfortunately for PAPA, a severe flood rolled in to the facility in 2004 and destroyed two hundred and thirty-two pinball machines. The facility was rebuilt and championships were held again in August 2005. Since then, the company has now turned to a non-profit organization after donating to the Replay Foundation, which continues to operate the machines and tournaments under PAPA’s brand name (About PAPA).
The first six World Pinball Championships tournaments were held annually in February starting in 1991, with a three-year gap between 1995 and 1998 (PAPA 1-6 World Championships). PAPA’s most recent competition, Pinburgh 2018, featured more than 300 pinball machines and 840 players over the span of three days (Pinburgh 2018). It seems that competitive pinball has been on the rise in the past decade.
Bumpers on the Playfield
Bumpers, which became an integral part of pinball in later years, were invented in 1936. They are round-shaped targets that can add points to a player’s score or set the stage for other kinds of actions when hit by the ball. The invention of bumpers replaced pins and pockets, better serving the purpose of being more fashionable and interactive than the former. There are two distinct categories of bumpers – active and passive.
Active bumpers are the most common kind of bumper; they push away the pinball when struck. The active bumper has donned many names over the years, including thumper bumper, by Williams Electronics on their game Saratoga released in 1947. Eventually, Williams decided on calling them jet bumpers instead, but other companies such as Gottlieb and Bally called them pop bumpers and thumper bumpers respectively. There is also the disappearing bumper, which is a type of active bumper that can move below the playfield under certain conditions, or “disappear”, and the top becomes part of the playfield (ipdb – bumpers). A list of pinball games that use the disappearing bumper includes Sea Wolf (1957 and 1959 versions) and Metro (1961) by Williams, and Cirqus Voltaire (1997) by Midway (Games with Disappearing Bumpers).
Passive bumpers look a lot like active bumpers, but they do not push the ball away on contact. A prime example of a passive bumper is the mushroom bumper, popularized by Bally in the 1960s/1970s. The mushroom bumper lifts a disk on top of the bumper when it is hit and activates a switch that registers the impact (ipdb – bumpers).
