Here's something to think about.......

All manufacturers?
50's?
60's?
70's?
2" flipper games?
3" flipper games?
Do you like certain features such as drop targets, etc.?

Do you have any preferences?

1976 Gottlieb Spirit of 76 is a good one.
The game begins with a focus on drop targets (Located on lower PF) to light bonus hole features. Once targets are down then you attempt the risky bonus hole shot. When you make the shot (and don't drain) then the focus is star roll-over on the upper PF to build your bonus back up for another risky hole shot.

Then there's the famous 4x bonus available for every last ball for a not anticipated come from behind win.
Both the electronic ruleset and layout work very well together.

They got a lot more advanced near the end of EM's. Bronco/Mustang has similar rules to Spirit of 76.

They did- but not all complexity was used to enhance depth of rules-

Your almost not going to get anywhere with this question, its been asked and answered so many ways by so many people (in slightly differently worded question/answers) that you would basically reconstruct the top 100 list plus a good many more.

You need to decide if your a drop target person, a toy person (EM's have great toys- Roto Targets, swinging targets, VariTargets etc etc), a spinner person, someone who needs an in game special, if you like long shots, open play fields, or tighter games with more varied objectives that maybe combine a bunch of elements. Would you enjoy a back box animation?

There are just sooooooooo many good games- and in my mind, with EM especially, the art work influences the game a bit more than even for a modern game- there is just more art and less game to look at.

I love the EM's I own, and I am very picky about what I buy, so check out my game list for what I like- I am not selling any of these (never say never).

I will say that of the games I don't own- you should check out Gottlieb Soccer

Gottlieb Neptune has a simple, yet frustratingly difficult, rule set.

Simply roll over the switches that control the card lights. Once you have completed the red or black set, their respective roll overs become "WOW" targets. You can light all roll overs to award "WOW".

Now the beauty of Neptune is that you can have it set as an add-a-ball game or as a novelty. In the add a ball case, the "WOW" targets will add a ball to your game. In the novelty mode, the targets become worth 50,000 points and they trigger a knocker that fires three times.

In novelty mode, the game is intense when you set it to three ball. Because the entire objective is to get the "WOW" lit so that you can start racking up points.

The thrill of victory is lighting the "WOW" lanes and cracking 1 million+ points.
The agony of defeat is lighting all but one or two cards and then draining ball three.

It's this mode that generates the sensation known as "pinball crack". You always want to take another taste!

Marcus

I have really been taking a shine to AAB games lately. There is something elegant about winning another ball to give yourself a better game. And most of them keep it difficult enough to be fun.

Jacks Open has a great rule set. Attempting to fill card hands (2 of a kind, 3 of a kind, full house, straight flush) and having resets after each completion, along with ensuring the roll overs on top are maxed (3 out of 4) for maximum drop target values (getting 4 out of 4 roll overs will cause a reset and lower the values). If you're having a good game you'll have a chance at the end for the Royal Flush and replays. Replays for high score and matches too of course. Open in-lanes are a killer for those not accustomed.

Atlantis and Volley are a couple more.

Williams GrandPrix is good if you like spinners, and has a decent ruleset for an EM. I owned one for awhile and loved it. Only thing I didn't like about it was the style of chimes they used. Clanky clunky sound....

Gottlieb Snow Queen/Snow Derby/Bristol Hills

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2229

Ripping either of the two spinners advances your snowmobile driver around the track and increases your bonus for every lap achieved. Bonuses count down at the end of each ball. Rule sets tend to be a little shallower for multi-player games but still a fun game. Kinda hard to find this one. A few in the Midwest/Northeast. I have Snow Derby but it's in the restore que right now. This is the 1st game produced by Gottlieb with the bonus ladder (countdown).

A few other good 2" flipper games with good rule sets:

Dimension/2001
Pop a Card/Drop a Card
Target Pool

3" flipper games with good rule sets:

Atlantis
Jacks Open/Lucky Hand
Abra Ca Dabra/Team One
El Dorado
Captain Card
Volley

If you want a game with three inch flippers, a rippable spinner, and good rule set Bally's Bon Voyage is one that comes to mind as it is a single player game with a unique layout and the playfield does not reset after each ball. I had one for quite a while but decided I prefer older games with two inch flippers so sold it a while back.

Grand Prix as mentioned is a great multiplayer with a couple of the best spinners in pinball and has very good rules for a multiplayer machine and that is one I still have.

Tough question!

Seems to me all EM's were built to cycle through their games quickly, so none will be very deep, unlike games from the '90's and newer, (capable of 30+ minute marathons). I would say to begin, replay game multiple-ball objectives, awarding full replays for achieving them are obviously deeper. Since the reward is much less on an AAB Game, and the manufacturers' intention of the player accomplishing them more often, their objectives aren't nearly as deep.

I think the early '50's games, ('51-'57), offering 4-5 sequences to complete, compared to later EM Games is about as "Deep" as you can have it for the mere idea of being close to completion on 1 or 2 of it's features, but far away on a few others. You almost have to re-assess your game before shooting each ball. Then, towards the end of a well played game, there is usually a single-shot target or drop-hole offering multiple replays if you happen to collect it, yet another level of "Depth" (that came to an end by the mid '60's).

I do like the Jacks Open suggestion in that it's sequence is progressive, resetting the drops several times before offering it's ultimate reward, but it is only 1 sequence and the same bank of targets.

Amazing how many "Flavors" of EM Pinball there is! The idea of "Depth" in Pinball could differ quite a bit from one guy to another.....

Jacks Open to me is a great one. Still looking for one.

Grand Prix is another and that one I have.

I think Boatcat is spot on - you won't find any deeper rules than buried in the 50's Wood rail games. But unfortunately, it was all about ways to earn multiple replays so it may not be all that great for today's home collector (if earning a Replay means nothing to you). Like he mentioned, there was often dual scoring systems (points and 100,000's) as well as Sequence Features which near the end of your game, required you to decide which feature you were closer to attaining.

King Kool/Rock offers similar spinner scoring to Snow Derby with the addition of the K-I-N-G sequence feature providing Double Bonus or even Triple on last ball. Additionally, there is an Extra Ball (Same Player Shoots again) and Special target that run off the bonus position. But they are made more difficult by also running off the 3 possible score motor stopping positions. A tempting as well as frustrating feature.

Dealer's Choice (Lucky Ace for AAB) is one I always mention in this discussion. It provides 2 sequence features (not often found on later EMs). One (5 target Royal Flush) provides the lighting of Extra Ball and then Special, while the other (1-9 roll over buttons) provides double and triple bonus as well as awarding its own special. Good Fast DC bumpers to boot.

And yes, Jacks Open if certainly tops on my list. The only other game I know of with Drop Targets with the knock-down-after-reset feature is Fast/Quick Draw.

Definition of deep rules can vary from game to game depending on how the playfield is set up. For example some games from the 50s rely on you basically hitting the same four targets repeatedly but depending on in what order or how many times you hit each one you can win multiple free games. But on other machines there are many more targets to hit and winning free games is dependant on completing all or sets of them to light specials. On either there can be more than one way to complete those letters or numbers or cards or what have you.

I enjoyed my Fun Land - first, you have to knock out the 10 ducks in the shooting gallery by hitting all the targets. Then, one target lights for Special, but it would move with every pop bumper hit, so you're always chasing after a different target. 2" flippers with a wide gap make it more of a challenge. Wedgeheads seem to feature more of these challenges, as opposed to score-based multi-players.

I'm also looking forward to getting my Flying Carpet up and running - spell "FLYING" and/or "CARPET" with standups and rollovers to light the specials.

Good luck with the Grand Prix - that one looks like a fun and intricate ruleset to master. I'd bet the schematic is about 10' long.

If you have a Grand Prix already then you've got the spinner and long flipper thing covered. I would then recommend finding a quality game from the 60s with two inch flippers to compliment it.

Slick Chick is one of the deeper rule games from Gottlieb of this era that has several features like bumpers and rollover lanes that must be completed in order to advance in the game. Or maybe something like Williams Teachers Pet that requires hitting all shots on the playfield to light all the letters on the backglass but is none too easy to do.

I had one for a while and it does have a great rule set but using the bumpers as targets turned out to be not my cup of tea after a while. Same with others that came over so I sold it. To me the deep rules are not as important as having to hit targets that are very difficult or games that are very hard to keep the ball in play. Those are the ones I keep going back to.

Grand Prix's ruleset isn't difficult to figure at all. It has two bonus ladders that are advanced by the spinners, the upper kickout hole or switches by the lower kickout hole. The ladders to be scored by drain alternate by ball. The drop targets will, by dropping either A and B or C and D, first light double bonus, second time down, extra ball on the inlanes, and third or fourth ball (adjustable) lights the alternating special (outlanes). But you have to do it on the same ball, it all resets when you lose the ball.

What you want to do is run up both bonuses but collect the bonus on the side that is not lit by going into the kickout hole on that side. You're going to get the lit bonus side on ball drain, so if you collect that one and then lose the ball quickly, you've not only lost all the bonus on the unlit side, but you have little bonus left to collect on drain. Getting that double bonus lit is key.

The spinners on it are just fantastic, you hit them solidly and they'll spin for days. Run them up to 50k and they light for 1000 points per spin. It's a game that is great on three balls and really, really fun to play. Powerful pop bumpers with DC power.

Williams Trade Winds is an amazing game designed be Steve Kordek with a good set of rules and takes real flipper and nudging skills to win on or even keep the ball in play. Not only are games awarded for point thresholds but there are other ways to light specials depending on compass rollovers hit or advancing on the map.

But the real treat in this game is a playfield map where the object is to sail to Tahiti from either Hawaii or San Francisco depending on setting it for three ball or five ball play with stops at Wake, Fuji, and Samoa along the way. A special will lite as you land on each of these islands but the goal is to get to Tahiti with only three ways on the playfield to advance. Either the center hole that advances three spots, or the rollover button or the lit top bumper that advances one spot. I've seen several people stand there for hours trying, but not often does anybody complete the voyage. See you in Tahiti!

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2621

What a great sounding, great looking pin!

It fits in well around here and it falls into the never leaving catagory. They are hard to find.

Super spin is a cool game- (Jet spin = 4 player).

Center roto target is always 10X (up to 5 K per hit plus equal to bonus)- so thats a focus (also, capture hole right side is same as hitting center drop target but tougher shot)... but the roto moves during play by hitting a vari target (or lit lanes above pop or side lanes). If you hit vari hard enough to full stop- it lites special plus 5K target on far left (difficult shot) which is also 5K score plus 5K bonus + free game. Bonus ladder accumulates to 15K and at even bonus multipliers you light a free ball target which alternates play field sides... and if your maxed at 15K bonus AND THEN move roto to the star, you get a special every time you hit the star- just a great rule set- diverse scoring, toys- bonus, free balls, etc etc etc... but not an easy game. Never gets boring. You have to make shots top to bottom of play field

Concur with Grand Prix- ripping the spinners is simply amazing, the light and sound show it puts on for an EM is amazing. A little clankly like a Williams should be- and not nearly as deep as super spin but its like playing the slots at vegas- only if they had penny slots and your could win all the time, and just hear the coins dropping into the bin... its addictive.

Gottlieb Soccer is awesome with its backglass animation- and the rules are cool- love the progressive nature of the game, plays awesome as a 5 ball game- spinners, targets, pops, special, ball gate, very good game. I have a buddy with one of these and I can play it all night and leave wanting more.

Not at all! It is actually a shooter's game as you'll find yourself constantly shooting for the left and right bullseye targets to spell "Slick" and "Chick." Spelling Slick Chick 5X and thereafter is a replay and will light the center drop hole special for 1 replay per side rollover 1-4 collected, (there's that single shot-multiple replay award again). The top center bullseye target is as you mentioned, a pop bumper hope-for-the-best shot.

Fireball, Surf Champ and Atlantis

Great thread and discussion, Thanks!

Funny you mention........ I probably ran into 3-4 Slick Chicks in my travels, selling/trading every one of them since space is of the essence, and wasn't a game that carried any pleasant memories of the past, but, I gave the last one I found a chance.

Like you said, there really is not much to do, only the left and right bullseye targets to shoot for, but what a challenge it is to set up for clear shots at them! There are the 1-4 rollovers to collect as well, and once they're cancelled, each rollover is a replay, but you really can't shoot for rollovers......Well, you can, but for me, the rate of success is too small. The drop hole spots a rollover, and you really need that as the upper #2 and #3 are a tough reach.

I know the gap between the flippers is kind of alarming, but noticing the lack of any side drains really does compensate. The center playfield drop hole is not nearly as intrusive as it looks in the pictures either. I never get the feeling I'm trying to avoid it. In fact, when lit for special, as you would imagine, the damn thing seems impossible to achieve! All in all, great game, perfect way to kill a few minutes waiting for dinner......

Yeah I don't get the love for Slick Chica at all. Love me some Grand Prix.

Slick Chick is a nudgefest but like I mentioned earlier after a while people stopped playing it at my house so I moved it on. Different players like different styles of gameplay is all I can figure. But it was very fun for a while.

I've played it a bunch but never been excited. Maybe I'll sit down and give it some solid playtime to see if I'm missing something.

Try it standing up.

I'm going to 2nd Dealers Choice.

First 1-9 Rollover=Double Bonus
Second 1-9 Rollover=Triple Bonus
Third 1-9 Rollover = Special

First 10-Ace Targets =Lights on playfield extra ball.
Second 10-Ace Lights on playfield special.

These are fairly long sequences for a multiplayer EM. In terms of complexity, I think Williams OXO also deserves mentioning.