Multi-Free-Races

Multi-Free-Races is an electro-mechanical pinball machine from June 1938, manufactured by J.H. Keeney and Company Incorporated of Chicago, Illinois. It's a payout-style replay game built around a racing theme, with a scoring system tied directly to how many coins a player inserts.

The gameplay features 5 balls per play, 16 trap holes, and 2 spring bumpers. Players can insert 1 to 3 coins per play: one coin scores 'Third' position points, two coins score 'Second' position points, and three coins score 'First' position points, a system that let multiple participants pool coins and effectively compete against one another in a single game.

Interestingly, surviving examples of this machine show two different theme treatments: contemporary advertising depicts a horse-racing theme with 'DAILY DOUBLE' lettering and horseshoe art, while at least one known example instead uses a bicycle-racing theme with 'DOUBLE DISTANCE' lettering and cyclists depicted on the playfield. The reason for this variation isn't documented, though it may reflect an effort to distinguish the game from horserace-themed payout machines. This ambiguity adds to Multi-Free-Races' appeal as a curiosity for collectors interested in the early, experimental years of coin-op pinball.