Pachinko is similar to pinball, well sort of. Instead of there being one big shiny pinball, there are hundreds of small 11mm steel balls. They are shot onto the playing surface on the top much like a pinball machine where they haphazardly bounce around and downward through a network of nails. The object of the game is to have the balls directed into winning pockets, whereby you receive more balls that equate to a prize or a monetary amount. The pachinko player is responsible for controlling the speed or force at which the pachinko balls are shot from the bottom to the top of the playing surface.
To initiate play you first purchase a number of balls much like you would buy tokens in an American Casino. These balls are then placed into the machines ball shooter hopper. By rotating the handle, one ball is projected by a spring (or a motor on newer machines) onto the playfield. How far you rotate the handle or lever will dictate how far the ball travels before if falls due to gravity. Most of the balls will fall unsuccessfully through the pins to the bottom, but some will fall into special pockets that either open up more pockets or on newer machines, activate a slot machine. At this point you are instantly rewarded with a set number of balls, and on newer machines if the same three symbols match up on the slot reels, you enter a Jackpot Mode where 2000+ balls can be won!