INSIDE A PINBALL MACHINE

Plunge into the engineering of a popular arcade classic.

- AILSA HARVEY

PINBALL IS SMALLER THAN YOUR AVERAGE BALL GAME, INVOLVING THE MANIPULATION OF MARBLE-sized steel balls inside a glass cabinet. Pinball grew in popularity after World War II, incorporating increasingly complex obstacles, mesmerising lights, and, later, graphics, and it's still an arcade hit today. In fact, the International Pinball Flipper Association has around 65 000 ranked players in competitive pinball.

The main elements of the game are the flippers and the ball, which is under three centimetres in diameter. The game begins when you release the ball into the sealed cabinet. You need to press the buttons that control the flippers on either side of the cabinet to keep the ball in the play zone for as long as possible. At the centre of the machine are a series of bumpers and ramps. To achieve a higher score, the aim is to fling the ball towards these mechanisms for bonus points. Usually, you're provided with three balls per play. When all these balls have fallen into the drain at the bottom of the board, the game is over, and your final score is displayed.

Whether it is played competitively, stumbled upon in the corner of a cafe or enjoyed periodically at amusement arcades, pinball still captures people's attention almost a century after it first hooked them in the 1930s. 

1 DISPLAY PANEL

This displays the score of the player after the ball comes into contact with the machine's target areas.

2 BALL LAUNCHER