The object of skee ball is to collect as many points as possible by rolling balls up an incline and into the designated point value holes. Modern skee ball machines include the holes seen in this photograph, as well as two additional "100 points" holes, which are located on the uppermost corners of the machine, on either side of the "50 points" hole.

Skee ball (also spelled skeeball or skee-ball) is a common game found in arcades and one of the first redemption games. It is similar to bowling except it is played on an incline lane and the player aims to get the ball to fall into a hole rather than knock down pins. Download high resolution version (600x900, 261 KB) Taken at the State Fair of Texas by Joyous, October 11, 2004. ... Download high resolution version (600x900, 261 KB) Taken at the State Fair of Texas by Joyous, October 11, 2004. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... A video arcade (known as an amusement arcade in the United Kingdom) is a place where people play arcade video games. ... Redemption games are typically arcade games of skill that reward the player proportionally to their score in the game. ... Bowling ball and two pins Ten-pin bowling lane Bowling is a game in which players attempt to score points by rolling a ball along a flat surface to knock down objects called pins. ... Duquesne Incline, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with full length parallel tracks A funicular, also called funicular railway or inclined railway, inclined plane, or in England a cliff railway, consists of a system of transportation in which cables attach to a tram-like vehicle on rails to move it up and down a... computed tomography of a soccer ball (Video) A ball is a guys testicles. ...

Gameplay

Gameplay varies depending on the skee ball machine, but is generally similar across almost all variations. The player, after inserting some quarters (on modern machines, usually 50 cents) into the coin slot, is given (on average) nine baseball-sized wooden or plastic balls to use. The machine has a long ramp which the player must roll the balls up. At the top of the ramp (the ball-hop), there are several holes (usually separated by circular borders) that the player must try to get the balls to go into. Each hole gives the player a certain number of points based on which hole the ball rolls into, the harder to reach holes usually giving the most points. When finished playing, the player is given tickets dispensed by the machine based on how many points were earned. These tickets can be traded in at the arcade for prizes. The more tickets the player earns, the more valuable the prizes they can get. A view of the playing field at Busch Stadium II St. ... Ticket (unseperated) of the Kurkino in Berchtesgaden CeBIT Home 1998 student day ticket with barcode A Parisians transport ticket Ticket can mean one of several things: // Permission A ticket is a voucher to indicate that one has paid for admission to a theatre, movie theater, amusement park, zoo, museum... A prize is an award given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. ...

In some arcades, prize-winning is achieved by scoring a certain minimum number of points within one game. As this requires an attendant to hand out prizes immediately at the end of games, it is not common. Usually small prizes can be traded up for medium prizes and mediums for large. Perfect or nearly perfect scores earn the largest prize available. On the other hand, low-scoring games earn nothing, not even tickets.

Most machines provide the player with nine balls per game, either made from smooth polished wood or heavy plastic; this can vary from machine to machine, however.

Good players could regularly score perfect games by banking the ball against the side of the ramp/alley. Modern machines have pieces of molding affixed to the sides to make this technique unreliable.

Variations

Mega skee ball is a version of skee ball in which the machine is much larger than the standard size. Skee-daddle or Mini Skee-Ball is a version in which the machine is smaller, thus allowing young children to have an easier time at playing the game.

History

The game was invented in 1909 by J.D. Estes in the city of Philadelphia. In 1935 the rights to Skee-Ball were purchased by the Wurlitzer Corporation, which in 1945 sold them to the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, an amusement park ride manufacturer. In 1977 the Philadelphia Toboggan Company set up Skee-Ball, Inc. to market the game. 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ... The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, is an American company, formerly a producer of Stringed instruments, Woodwind, Brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs (orchestrions) and jukeboxes. ... The Philadelphia Toboggan Company is the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing company in the world. ...

When Skee-Ball alleys were first sold in 1914 to the outdoor amusement park industry by Maurice Piesen, the game had a 36-foot lane. This was much too big for most arcades, and made it so that only people who were quite strong could play it well. As a result it was later changed to 14 feet, but was eventually changed again to the modern length of 10 feet. Soon after these changes, skee ball became very common in arcades around the United States. Due to the fact that prizes were given to the players, the game was considered a form of gambling in some parts of the country. This led to restrictions on the number of machines allowed in an arcade in some places, and banning of the game in other places. These laws, however, did not last long, and thus skee ball is now found in almost all arcades in the country. It is also a staple of the restaurant/arcade chain Chuck E. Cheese's. Slot machines in Las Vegas, Nevada. ... This article or section seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ...

In 1935, the first ever skee ball tournament was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Flag Seal Location Map of Atlantic City in Atlantic County Coordinates , Government Country  State   County United States  New Jersey   Atlantic Incorporated March 1854 Mayor Bob Levy Geographical characteristics Area     City 44. ...

Coney Island inventor Morris Goldberg also claims to have invented the game of Skeeball. While this claim can't be verified by a patent, there are records of his manufacturing plant at Coney Island as early as 1927. Most of the Skeeball games at Coney Island for at least the following 20 years came from his company, leading some to wonder who really invented the arcade game.

Skee ball in popular culture

In an episode of The Simpsons, the character Nelson Muntz is seen cheating at skee ball by standing at the head of the machine and simply dropping his balls into the high point circles. In another episode, Lisa practices the "Maggie-oop" which is scoring extra points by launching the balls up the skee-ball slide and having Maggie Simpson place the balls in the higher point value cylinders. Nelson says that she's cheating, then rips open the coin slot and takes all the tickets. This kind of cheating is also seen on several other shows, many of them for children. The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox network. ... Nelson Muntz (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) is a character from The Simpsons. ...

Skee ball figured prominently into the Kevin Smith films Chasing Amy and Dogma, as it was a staple of arcades dotting the boardwalk of Asbury Park, New Jersey, located close to Smith's former home. Kevin Smith as Silent Bob in Clerks Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director, and the founder of View Askew Productions. ... Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic comedy about two comic book artists: Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck), a predominantly heterosexual male, and Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), a self-identified lesbian. ... Dogma is a 1999 comedy film, written and directed by Kevin Smith, who stars in the film along with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, George Carlin, Janeane Garofalo, and Alanis Morissette. ... Photograph of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ, USA, taken August 2003. ... Map of Asbury Park in Monmouth County Asbury Park is a City located in Monmouth County, New Jersey. ...

In one episode of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoon on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, the Mooninites are seen cheating at a skee-ball-like game. They then trade the ill-gotten tickets for the Foreigner Belt. Aqua Teen Hunger Force (also known as ATHF or simply Aqua Teen) is an American animated television series shown on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim late-night programming block. ... Cartoon Network is a cable television network created by Turner Broadcasting which primarily shows animated programming. ... The Adult Swim logo Adult Swim, usually rendered [adult swim] on bumps, is the name for the adult-oriented television programming block on Cartoon Network. ... Aqua Teen Hunger Force is an American animated comedy shown on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim late-night programming block. ...

A retired pricing game on The Price is Right called Super Ball!! is based on skee ball. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Super Ball!! setup Super Ball!! was a pricing game on the American television game show, The Price Is Right. ...

External links

• Skeeball.com, web page of Skee-Ball, Inc