Gold Rush was a resounding success. I hit all of the goals I had set out to do with the machine. Firstly, the advance element of the external ramps, while not entirely reliable in action, did work most of the time. Second, this was by far my most aesthetically put together machine. I think it captured all the aesthetic nods I wanted to hit and felt relatively cohesive and themed as a machine.
On the theme of the board I got high praise, the board captures the Americana aesthetic. The features of the ramps as mineshafts and the silver ball as a minecart mesh with the aesthetic, and I got verbal praise for that as well. The main complaint was that the ball would fly off the ramps on occasion, but every player, save for one, was able to successfully get it up the ramp and through the middle hole at least once. Which was the win condition I had set for the board. If I were to do this again, I’d make my ramps out of cereal box cardboard, which is a bit sturdier and I can easily add walls to prevent the ball from flying off.
Overall, the board was a lot of fun to make and it seemed like people enjoyed playing it despite some minor hiccups.
Sources (modified by myself in most cases using Photoshop):
Minecart Track: http://www.clker.com/cliparts/2/3/8/9/1516823793699516836free-train-track-clipart.med.png
Gravel / Gold:
https://media.freestocktextures.com/cache/93/37/933714c1cab295948dce22e82002dcde.jpg
Pickaxes:
http://clipart-library.com/clipart/68307.htm
Dynamite:
https://www.goodfreephotos.com/albums/vector-images/tnt-with-short-fuse-vector-clipart.png
Gold Rush Logo:
https://www.playnow.com/resources/images/casino/scratch-cards/gold-rush-scratch/gold-rush-scratch-logo.png?v=1428798256
Playfield Art:
Made myself
