<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article relies too much on references to primary sources . Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . (August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article relies too much on references to primary sources . Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . (August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Skee - Ball is an arcade game and one of the first redemption games . It is played by rolling a ball up an inclined lane and over a "ball - hop" hump that jumps the ball into bullseye rings . The object of the game is to collect as many points as possible by having the ball fall into holes in the rings which have progressively increasing point values . </P> <P> Skee - Ball was invented and patented in 1908 by Joseph Fourestier Simpson, a resident of Vineland, New Jersey . On December 8, 1908, Simpson was granted U.S. Patent 905,941 for his "Game". Simpson licensed the game to John W. Harper and William Nice Jr. who created the Skee - Ball Alley Company and began marketing the thirty - two foot games in early 1909 . The first advertisement for Skee - Ball appeared on April 17, 1909, in The Billboard . About two months later the first alley was sold . Alleys continued to sell slowly over the next few years . </P>

Game where you roll a ball into a hole