Tropic Queens

The Tropic Queens is an intriguing electro-mechanical pinball machine from Bally Manufacturing Corporation. This pageantry-themed, flipperless, one-ball novelty machine doesn't award replays; instead, players aim to achieve "skill points" by lighting up all eleven girls depicted on the backglass, adding a distinct twist to traditional pinball scoring.

Notable features include a powerful slingshot kicker that propels the ball to the upper playfield, in place of flippers, and a single pop bumper. Hitting a numbered bumper (1 through 9) lights the corresponding numbered girl on the backglass, while the kick-out hole -- whose lit value varies between 2, 3, or 4 numbers at a time -- lights those numbers onto the backglass before delivering the ball to the outhole, ending that ball. Numbers 10 and 11 are always lit together and can only be scored via the kick-out hole. The maximum displayed point score of 94,000 points reflects a technical limitation: the game's internal stepper has only 94 steps, even though the backglass display could in theory show up to 99,000.

The Tropic Queens' design and art are characterized by a vibrant, tropical pageantry aesthetic. Two replay versions of the game were also released: Island Queens (allowing more than one ball per play) and Beach Queens (also limited to one ball per play). As one of a small number of Bally novelty machines built around skill points rather than replays, the Tropic Queens offers a distinctive glimpse into the experimental side of early pinball design.