New Roll-A-Ball/Hit The Goal

The New Roll-A-Ball/Hit The Goal, manufactured by the Hercules Novelty Company of Chicago in November 1931, is an example of the small tabletop and counter-top mechanical games that were popular in the early 1930s pinball boom. As a purely mechanical (PM) game, it belongs to the earliest generation of coin-operated pinball, predating flippers, electricity, and the elaborate scoring systems of later decades.

Being a tabletop/counter game, the New Roll-A-Ball/Hit The Goal was designed for compact placement on counters in stores, arcades, and other public venues rather than as a floor-standing cabinet. Details of its specific gameplay mechanics are not well documented, but like other Hercules Novelty games of the period, it likely involved rolling or shooting a ball across a simple playfield toward scoring targets.

Little specific information survives about this game's designer or original artwork. As a product of the crowded, competitive tabletop pinball market of 1931 Chicago — an era when numerous small manufacturers churned out similar counter games — the New Roll-A-Ball/Hit The Goal offers a small but interesting window into the earliest days of coin-operated pinball.