View Full Version : Examples of Purely Mechanical Arcade Games
What are some good examples of mechanical arcade games? Proper names are preferred, but even general descriptions are good. I'll start.
A common example of a purely mechanical arcade game (no electrical current used) is the coin-flipping game. You enter a coin (usually a quarter) which then enters the game itself. Using spring-loaded levers, your goal is to flip the coin past pits. If the coin lands in a pit, then the quarter is lost and the game is over. If your quarter makes it past all of the obstacles to the end of the game, then one of the last pits is the winning pit. If you can land the quarter into the winning pit, then you win a prize.
gbpxl
11-09-2019, 11:16 AM
great topic!
When I was a kid there was this game at the arcade where you slide a quarter down this slot into a clown. the mechanism twitled around and tou had to time it just right to get into the slot that paid the most tickets. i became an expert at this game and eventually won this 6 foot long stuffed animal snake with my tickets. Man I loved that game
another one I like is the coin pusher game you see at county fairs in the Midwest (probably beyond as well Im sure.) drop the token in the right spot to maximize your return! lame prizes usually but gotta love that endorphin rush when you drop in a token and 5 or 6 more spill out.
Ive been wanting to try a pachinko machine ever since I first saw them in Shenmue 2 but have never seen them in person. i dont know if that counts. its basically pinball upright
Aussie2B
11-09-2019, 11:37 AM
I dunno about games using no electricity at all, but I was great at crane games as a kid. Eventually had a whole mountain of stuffed animals. I'm also really good at that fair game where you shoot water at a target and fill something up before any other players can. As a little kid, I was always envious of the people walking around the fair with a huge stuffed animal. Once I got good at that water game, I'd wait for a full crowd to be playing, and then I'd win the largest stuffed animal myself.
Ze_ro
11-09-2019, 10:30 PM
Bubble Hockey (https://www.thepinballcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Canada-2.jpg) tables were a fixture of every arcade around here... probably across all of Canada. The only thing close to an arcade that we still have still has those arcade basketball (http://globalamusements.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ICE-nba-game-time-custom-nba-team-arcade-basketball.png) games too.
--Zero
gbpxl
11-10-2019, 09:11 AM
Bubble Hockey (https://www.thepinballcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Canada-2.jpg) tables were a fixture of every arcade around here... probably across all of Canada. The only thing close to an arcade that we still have still has those arcade basketball (http://globalamusements.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ICE-nba-game-time-custom-nba-team-arcade-basketball.png) games too.
--Zero
ive seen those but never played them. ive always played air hockey instead since the person id be with knew how to play it.
Ze_ro
11-10-2019, 08:16 PM
They're really not that complicated... plus, home table hockey (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51jUHtVvQHL._SL1001_.jpg) games were very common and played basically the same.
The arcade versions were much bigger and better made, and had electronic scoring... but the best part was that they had a "boo button" you could press to trigger some booing crowd sound effects.
--Zero
jb143
11-10-2019, 11:16 PM
Outside of stuff like the hockey tables and midway/carnival style games I can't think of much that's not electronic in some way. I mean, you have to go back to like the 1930's to find purely mechanical pinball machines.
Most of the stuff mentioned so far has some electronic features.