Mechanical Memories Magazine

Once the ball is in play, the player has to steer the ball through a series of roadways to the
'home' hole, where his coin will be returned. One route will take the ball directly to the
'lose' hole, but with care, the ball can be directed to the last roadway at the bottom of the
playfield, and once on this last leg, the first hole encountered is the home, past which is
the lose. This appears an easy proposition, and just as the player steers the ball with ever
growing confidence toward the home hole, it generally goes whizzing past into the lose.
Players are baffled by this, and are sure to have another go, or several!
So why does the ball seem to have a natural tendency to bypass the home hole? 1n
addition to the forward slope of the playfield, it is also convex from left to right. At a
point just before the home hole, the curvature is accelerated, so as the player carefully
guides the ball toward home, it too accelerates. Once the ball has passed home, due to the
curvature of the playfield, the player cannot steer the ball back; it's lost! The trick is to
steer the ball away from the home hole at the point it starts to accelerate. Because of the
curvature of the playfield, the ball will continue to roll toward home but at a much slower
speed, even though it's been steered in the wrong direction. Like many skill games, once
you know how to do it, it's quite easy.
As a measure of Steer-a-Ball's player appeal, the machine I have in the museum is
one of about five that take the most money; a truly addictive game!
Above and opposite page, A finely restored Stevenson and Lovett Steer-a-Ball
(Photos courtesy Charlie Booth)
Page 21