Mechanical Memories Magazine

how Payramid works. This will be no mean feat, but now that I' ve been foolish enough
put it in print, I' m sure there will be plenty of you out there who will develop the
memories of elephants! So I'm sort of committed now. However, for the time being, lets
take a closer look at the machine's cycle.
First, note that there are just two controls on the machine. At the bottom right of the
playfield is situated the knob which the player uses to move the fingers from left to right.
This knob does no more; it just moves the fingers. However, on the bottom left of the
playfield is one of William Bryan's greatest achievements. The player turns the crank
handle to raise the balls to the top of the playfield, and as far as he is concerned, this is
it's sole purpose. But this crank controls the entire game. With the exception of the initial
ball release, every action in the machine's cycle is actuated by this one control, and the
way in which many movements are achieved is quite remarkable.
Before a game commences, the eight balls will be held captive in up to four stacks
situated symmetrically on the playfield: the first win stack, holding the first four caught
balls; the secondary win stack, holding subsequent caught balls; and the two lost stacks
Payramid's symmetrically arranged playfield, showing the first win stack directly below
the fingers; the seconda,y win stack below (empty) and the two lost stacks either side.
Note too, the symmetrically placed instructions on the left ancljackpol on the right.
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