Hill Climb

Hill Climb is a motorcycle-themed, solid-state electronic (SS) whitewood prototype designed by John Trudeau for Mylstar Electronics, Incorporated (operating under the Gottlieb trade name from 1983-1984). It was never placed into production, and the playfield was later stripped and no longer exists.

Trudeau, who also designed the classic Gottlieb title Black Knight, described Hill Climb as a deliberately bare-bones layout themed around motorcycle hill climbing -- by his own account, a product of one of the industry's periodic creative "dry periods," built simply to have something ready for production if needed. The game featured two flippers, three pop bumpers, two slingshots, a 4-bank drop target, three stand-up targets, a kick-out hole, a spinning target, and lower-left and lower-right kickback lanes.

While no artwork or further design details survive, Hill Climb offers a candid look at how Gottlieb's design team sometimes produced straightforward, functional prototypes during slower creative periods rather than every game being a fully realized concept.