Ride the frontier — Gottlieb’s Big Indian is an electromechanical four-player wrapped in an American West theme, and it comes from the legendary team of designer Ed Krynski and artist Gordon Morison, the partnership behind an incredible run of Gottlieb’s most cherished classics. With reel scoring and a hefty confirmed run of 8,030, it was a genuine blockbuster, one of the more popular EM machines of its day.
The strategy is a classic study in the art of the bonus build. Shoot the drop targets and rollover lanes to advance your bonus, and get the three top lanes to light more bonus and double bonus — building that bonus as high as you can is the key to a strong game. The vari-target on the left, however, is a genuine drain monster: the seasoned wisdom is to avoid it until the fifth ball (the double-bonus ball), when a solid hit awards 5,000 points and five bonus advances, though even then the return can be harsh. The drop targets do double duty, advancing bonus while generally feeding the ball in a nice direction, especially off the top drops. And plunge for the “I” if you can, since you can’t collect it any other way.
Big Indian is a fine showcase of the celebrated Krynski-and-Morison team’s craft, pairing an evergreen western theme with a satisfying, bonus-driven playfield and Morison’s warm artwork. That risk-reward tension around the dangerous vari-target gives the game real strategic texture. With over 8,000 built, it was hugely popular, introducing countless players to Gottlieb’s reliable design. For the collector who loves the golden age of EM pinball, it’s a rewarding find. Build that bonus, avoid the vari-target until ball five, and ride the frontier. Drop a coin and hit the trail.