Humpty Dumpty
EM Era Pinball
Class of 2025 Inductee
Humpty Dumpty, a groundbreaking electro-mechanical pinball machine, deserves a place in the International Video Game Hall of Fame not just as a historical artifact, but as a foundational pillar of modern interactive entertainment. Its revolutionary innovation single-handedly transformed an entire genre and laid the groundwork for every pinball machine that has followed.
Released by D. Gottlieb & Co. in 1947, and designed by the visionary Harry Mabs, Humpty Dumpty was the first game to introduce player-controlled flippers. Before this moment, pinball was largely a game of chance, where players would launch a ball and watch it ricochet down a sloped playfield. Mabs’ ingenious addition of six small, outward-facing flippers—which Gottlieb marketed as “flipper bumpers”—put control directly in the player’s hands. This shifted the entire experience from a passive observation to an active engagement, introducing a crucial element of skill that is now synonymous with the game.
The legacy of Humpty Dumpty is immeasurable. While its flipper design was soon refined with the now-standard inward-facing flippers at the bottom of the table, the core concept it introduced—the ability for a player to send the ball back up the playfield—became the central principle of pinball. It meant that a game could be extended indefinitely by a skilled player, creating a deeper, more rewarding challenge.
Every multi-ball frenzy, every high-scoring combo, and every epic comeback on a modern pinball machine owes its existence to the simple, yet profound, innovation of Humpty Dumpty. For giving the game its heart and soul, it is unequivocally deserving of this prestigious honor.
Wikipedia Link:
Credits:
Concept, Game Design, Engineering/Mechanics, Animation: Harry Mabs
Artwork: Roy Parker
Internet Pinball Database:
https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1254
Average User Rating:
7.20 / 10
Art: 7.44 / 10
Audio: 6.56 / 10
Playfield: 8.00 / 10
Game Play: 7.00 / 10
Pinside:
https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/humpty-dumpty
Overall Rating: 7.412
Game Design: 7.358
Artwork: 7.369
Sounds/Music: 2.458
Other Aspects: 7.52