One-Two-Three

One-Two-Three, manufactured by Peo Manufacturing Corporation in October 1935, is a five-ball electro-mechanical machine with an inventive captive-ball scoring system. Its lower playfield is dominated by a captive-ball area with a ball kicker, an early precursor to the mechanical backbox animations that would later appear on flipper games like Gottlieb's 1962 'Rack-A-Ball' — though on this earlier Peo game, the captive balls reset only at the start of a new game rather than continuously during play.

The playfield includes 12 trap holes, 10 captive balls, 3 ball kickers, and 5 free play holes: three labeled "One," one labeled "Two," and one labeled "Three." Landing a ball in one of these holes returns it to the player for another shot while also kicking the corresponding number of captive balls into action, adding a layer of strategy as players manage which holes to target.

The machine's design and theme are not well documented; surviving references suggest simple cabinet side art featuring a curved arrow with the words "ONE TWO THREE." The earliest known reference to the game dates to October 1935, sometimes advertised under the numeral "1-2-3" rather than its spelled-out name. Its distinctive captive-ball mechanism makes it a notable example of mid-1930s EM design.