Criss Cross Hockey

Criss Cross Hockey was announced by the Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company in September 1958. Despite its electro-mechanical construction, it is explicitly not a pinball machine -- it is a two-goal arcade hockey game in which the player controls a goalie at the near end of the playfield, firing metal balls (released intermittently) past a continuously swinging goalie at the far end to score.

Play cost 10 cents for either 10 or 15 balls, an operator-adjustable option. Beyond scoring goals directly, players could earn bonus points by completing all nine numbers on a backglass card, completing a row of three numbers horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, or filling all four corners of the card; bonus points were collected via a button press at game's end. The maximum displayed score was 890,000 points. The game was offered in a Regular (novelty play) version and a Replay version, the latter adding match play and a light-a-name carryover feature, distinguishable by a square replay window on the backglass.

While little is documented about the game's designer, its inventive dual-goalie mechanic and layered bonus-scoring system make Criss Cross Hockey a distinctive example of Chicago Coin's sports-themed electro-mechanical amusements from the late 1950s.