Folies Bergeres

The Folies Bergeres pinball machine, designed by Don Hooker and manufactured by Bally, is a fascinating example of an electro-mechanical (EM) bingo machine. Bally's bingo-style games used trap holes and card-matching mechanics rather than flippers, and Folies Bergeres is a colorful entry in that line, its name and theme drawn from the famous Paris cabaret music hall established in 1869.

Gameplay is built around 20 trap holes on the playfield feeding into scoring features such as Mystic Lines, Double/Triple Scores, and a Red Letter Game. Players who purchased the optional features could press buttons at set points in the game (before the 4th ball, before the 5th ball, or after the 5th ball) to rearrange the colored sections on a card displayed in the backglass, adding a strategic, card-game-like layer typical of Bally's bingo machines of the era.

Folies Bergeres is notable for its art and theme as much as its mechanics, with backglass artwork depicting women singing and dancing in a lively nightlife setting that evokes the cabaret it's named for. As with many Bally bingo titles, detailed production and sales information is scarce, which adds to its appeal for collectors interested in this specialized branch of pinball history.