-
- description
- A playfield shaker is a player-operated control that jolts or shifts the [[gameplay-feature:playfields]] to influence a ball already in play.
It's a rare mechanism, existing only on a handful of machines. And the shakes are often rationed: [[manufacturer:bally]]'s *[[title:hi-fi]]* (1954) puts buttons where the flipper buttons would be and "allows the player to 'bump' the playfield up to ten times per game",[1] while [[manufacturer:sega]]'s *[[title:skill-ball-4]]* jolts "the playfield forward about an inch"[2] a number of times bought with the tokens that started the game.
## The tilt circuit
Playfield shakers often interact with the tilt circuit. Hi-Fi suppresses the tilt so the bump is safe — "There is a delay feature on the tilt circuit to prevent tilting during a 'bump'."[3] [[manufacturer:allied-leisure]]'s *[[title:sea-hunt]]* (1972) and *[[title:spooksville]]* (1973) leave it armed, so the shake carries risk: "Pushing too sharply will tilt the ball in play."[4] That tension is what the mechanism is: the sanctioned form of a thing every other machine punishes.
## Not a shaker motor
[[gameplay-feature:shaker-motors]] are activated by the game itself, shaking during specific gameplay moments,[5] whereas playfield shakers are player-controlled.
## Not a tilting playfield
[[gameplay-feature:tilting-playfields]] are playfields that the player holds at an angle to aim to ball, whereas playfield shakers deliver a jolt or thump.
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- name
- Playfield Shakers
- slug
- playfield-shakers
- status
- active