Tilt-A-Ball Game

A digital recreation of an article published in Modern Mechanix, January 1933

Here’s a gift that will appeal to adults as well as youngsters. It’s called Tilt-A-Ball and it will keep a gathering amused for hours. It is a circular board of twenty inches diameter with a “pen” in the centre to hold five marbles, and a number of holes scattered over the remainder. The board is held on the lap or placed on a table, the object being to tilt it and roll one of the marbles from the “pen” into a hole with a high number.

This would be easy except for the fact that holes with high numbers are shallow, while the holes of less value are deep. Unless the player is especially patient and skilful he will find, when all five marbles are placed, that they rest in the holes of smallest value.

Make the board with heavy plywood cut out on the scroll or band saw. The holes are best cut with a router bit, of half-inch diameter; those that are to be numbered from 700 to 4,000 must be made very shallow, according to value, so that not much tilting is required to make them roll out. The other holes may be deep so that once a ball enters it will stay. A suitable arrangement of numbered holes is shown.