Ku-Ku

Ku-Ku, manufactured by Universal Novelty Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois in October 1932, is a Pure Mechanical (PM) table-top/counter game from the earliest days of pinball history, predating the introduction of electromechanical components that would eventually revolutionize the game.

What sets Ku-Ku apart from its contemporaries is its graduated skill shot on the right side of the playfield, giving players a clear way to increase their score with a well-aimed shot. The machine's gameplay mechanics are otherwise straightforward, typical of small counter-top pin games of the period. It was also sold as a replacement playfield for operators' existing machines, a common practice at the time.

Very little else is documented about Ku-Ku's design, art, or theme. Nonetheless, as an early-1930s counter game, it remains a piece of interest for historians tracing pinball's development from simple mechanical novelties.