Jokerz had a production run of 5,403 machines. It was designed by Barry Oursler and Python Anghelo, with artwork by John Youssi. John immortalized himself on the backglass of this game – the large joker is him! In this version of the ever-popular playing card theme, a king and a queen are using tiny people, all dressed in joker outfits, as poker chips. Jokerz exemplifies the rapidly increasing complexity of pinball machines in the late 1980s. Just ten years earlier, multi-level playfields, jackpots, disappearing ramps and games that spoke and played music did not exist. Similar to its slightly older brother Cyclone, this machine also features animation in the backglass. When your ball goes into the “draw poker” hole, watch the first three cards in the king’s poker hand magically change! Jokerz is one of a long line of System 11 games from Williams, all of which were built solidly to last.
