Gold Rush

Gold Rush is a solid-state electronic (SS) whitewood prototype designed by John Trudeau for D. Gottlieb & Company in the late 1970s, built around a historical Wild West theme. It was never placed into production, and the playfield was later stripped and no longer exists.

The widebody layout featured four flippers feeding from both the left and right sides, three pop bumpers, two slingshots, five kick-out holes, two 4-bank drop targets, two stand-up targets, and 3-ball multiball play. Trudeau described the design as offering little that was especially novel, but noted it allowed for plenty of combination shots. Notably, the prototype cabinet used for this game's photograph was actually recycled from an engineering sample of Rocky (game 672) and still carried Rocky's artwork, as the team reused functioning hardware wherever possible.

While Gold Rush never reached the market, its combination-heavy layout and repurposed cabinet offer a glimpse into the practical, resourceful way Gottlieb's design team iterated on prototypes during this era.