Carlie and I are playing non-stop skee-ball on our iPhones, so this week’s Old Game That Doesn’t Suck Thursday is Skee-Ball, both digital and physical!
Man, I wish I could have a real Skee-Ball machine. Although I would probably get really good at it and never play it again it’s such a novelty to play one of these things. Fist-sized wooden balls are rolled up the long ramp and are bounced into the cups. Each cup scores different points. After 9 balls the game is over.
For your score you recieve tickets. The higher the score the better the ticket count. In the United States these tickets could be redeemed for little prizes such as plastic frogs or candy (not sure how tickets are handled elsewhere, amuse me foreigners).
I wish I knew more about this game in terms of gameplay. There are so many variation and knock off machines that its hard to tell what is the true game. But the one aspect that all these games have is a fun, ball rolling 25-cent experience.
Carlie noted there’s no 100 point cup on this board. Oh well. Just another variation.
Anyway, if you have a chance to play a machine enjoy! It’s a fun experience if you can find an arcade that still has them (or an arcade in-general).
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 pm
i dont think foreigners are gonna surprise u much ( mostly coz i am one and its exactly the same …)
December 4th, 2009 at 2:03 am
In Australia, Tickets can be exchanged for things like pet kangaroos and vast areas of bushland.
Too bad the only game machines that produced tickets here in Aus was the imported American Skee-ball machines. The government has since banned using such machines and seized all skee-ball machines in the country, barring any further imports of the machine.
December 4th, 2009 at 11:34 am
UK tickets can be exchanged of the same stuff, except you need about 10 perfect games to win the lowest prize.
They’re all taken as rip-offs these days.
December 4th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
… u guys have amazing stories….guess even wen ur in an arabe countrie things can be ABOUT normal !
December 4th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
It’s exactly the same in Argentina…
December 4th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
its the same in Q8 (kuwait 4 those who dont know )
December 4th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
dicko lies
we have skee ball machines over here…or at least we used to. dunno where they went
December 5th, 2009 at 3:42 am
well maybe that explanes wat he said !
December 5th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
SkeeBall is one of my favourite games to play in arcades…
December 5th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
SkeeBall and House of the Dead…the best
December 5th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Skeeball is awesome! I’m sort of good at it…
December 6th, 2009 at 7:10 am
Oh, well, most of the skee balls up here in new england
(that’s northeastern USA) have two 100 point cups at the top on each edge.
July 26th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Im not sure of the exact date of these lanes, but judging by the picture these would have been the “Skee Ball” of the 50s, hence the NO 100 Point action hole. These also had the metal Slider that when inserted a coin, pull the handle, and the score would re-set which were actual aluminum cards that revolved like a “Roledex”. These were the best ones made. Later the score wheels were replaced by digial, and the metal handle was replaced by a button. These were built Solid and were heavy duty. (Still are, but they don’t make anything like they use too….I am a big fan of SKee Ball!