Strike it rich — Black Gold is an electromechanical single-player from Genco, one of the pioneering names of the earliest coin-op amusement industry, wrapped in an energy-and-oil-exploration theme, designed by Harvey Heiss. With light-based scoring and a confirmed run of 1,765, it’s a genuine antique from the formative decades of the modern game, evoking the wildcatter’s dream of striking oil.
The layout is elegantly focused in the classic early-EM tradition: two flippers, two pop bumpers, and two kick-out holes. There are no drop banks or spinners here, just the honest, chiming pleasures of keeping the ball alive, working the bumpers, and chasing the captured-ball awards of those kick-out holes. It’s the kind of clean, approachable design that defined pinball’s formative years, when the fundamentals of the flipper game were still being refined, and it rewards a player who keeps the ball moving and plays the bumpers and holes with care, all in service of its oil-boom theme.
Black Gold is a piece of history for the collector who cherishes the earliest chapters of the hobby and the pioneering companies that built it. Genco was one of the industry’s true foundational manufacturers, and machines bearing its name connect the hobby to its deepest roots. The oil-exploration theme was a colorful bit of Americana, evoking the boom-town excitement of the gusher and the fortune-seeker’s gamble. For anyone who reveres the roots of the game, it’s a worthy find — a relic from an age when the whole industry was young. Drop your coin, ride those bumpers, work the kick-out holes, and drill for black gold. Some machines are cherished for their history and their pioneering makers, and this Genco classic is one of them. Strike it rich and drop a coin.