Hot Shot

Hot Shot, designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison, was released by D. Gottlieb & Company in September 1973. This four-player, billiards-themed electro-mechanical game was a major success for Gottlieb, with a confirmed production run of 9,000 units - one of the larger runs of the EM era. The game spawned a small family of variants: the 2-player version is Gottlieb's 1974 'Big Shot,' and the 1-player add-a-ball version is Gottlieb's 1973 'Pro Pool' (made for Italy as 1972's 'Play Pool').

Hot Shot offers a layout of two flippers, one pop bumper, two slingshots, two 7-bank drop target sets, two standup targets, a kick-out hole, and a right outlane ball return gate. Its scoring is built around the billiards theme: completing the numbered sequence 1 through 8 or 8 through 15 lights the special targets alternately, and the end-of-ball bonus scores 1,000 points for each ball lit in the center playfield rack - doubled or tripled on the last two balls in play. The game could be set for 3- or 5-ball play.

With its pool-rack bonus display and drop-target-driven billiards gameplay, Hot Shot is a strong example of Krynski and Morison's work at the peak of Gottlieb's EM years, and its large production run has helped keep it a familiar and well-loved title among collectors.