Overview
4 Queens is a single-player, electro-mechanical pinball machine developed by Bally, and released in December 1970. Marking the very first design credit for Jim Patla, this rare cabinet saw a limited production run of just 1,256 confirmed units. The game features a classic card and casino theme, brought to life by Christian Marche's signature art style across the backglass and playfield.
The gameplay of 4 Queens centers around a challenging sequence-based ruleset. To maximize their score reels, players must complete an A-B-C-D bumper sequence scattered across the playfield. Lighting the first three letters enables a high-value Skill Shot Special at the top-center rollover. Successfully striking the lit "D" bumper illuminates one of the four playing-card queens. Lighting all four queens rewards the player with the lucrative Sudden Special, though achieving this requires precision and control.
A highlight of the table is the use of Bally’s famous Zipper Flippers. When players successfully land a shot into the central kick-out saucer, the mechanical flippers physically shift inward to close the gap between them, preventing the ball from draining down the middle.
