Cirqus Voltaire

Cirqus Voltaire is a circus-themed solid-state pinball machine designed by John Popadiuk and released by Williams Electronics Games under the Bally label in October 1997. The main objective of the game is to perform nine unique Marvels to officially "Join the Cirqus" and qualify for the wizard mode.

Operating on the Williams WPC-95 generation system, it is widely considered an all-time classic. It stands out for its vibrant, surreal visual design, unique audio callouts, and innovative mechanical toys, such as the Ringmaster - an animated head that elevates from the underside of the playfield and makes wise cracks at the player, who tries to defeat him by hitting him with the pinball in various modes. A stop magnet is on the top of the Ringmaster's head, holding the ball there when the head rises up.

The backbox animation simulates a cannonball fired to ring a bell, although the bell is really just a piece of plastic with a bell drawn on it. This animation is mostly activated automatically by the game, but one feature allows the player to continuously fire the cannonball using the flipper buttons in a timed mini-game.

Unlike most machines that mount the Dot Matrix Display on the backbox, Cirqus Voltaire was the second machine (after Capcom's Flipper Football. released in 1996) to embed it directly into the lower playfield panel under the glass. This keeps game info right in the player’s line of sight, in order not to distract the player from gameplay when watching the DMD.

Only 2,704 units were manufactured. It initially underperformed in sales due to a major late-90s decline in the pinball market. Due to its rarity and striking aesthetic, its value has skyrocketed over time, making it highly prized by collectors.

Cirqus Voltaire was released as a licensed table for The Pinball Arcade on several platforms from 2012, and was available until the WMS licence expired on June 30, 2018. The license was then obtained by Zen Studios, who released the table as DLC for Pinball FX3. A remastered version was released for Pinball FX on May 26, 2022. Unlicensed recreations of the game are available for Visual Pinball 9, Visual Pinball X and Future Pinball.