The coils can make it take any of three positions
i'm not really sure but i would think that the coils arranged like they are would not exactly work.
i mean energizing any coil would cause no movement. since the rod goes completely through the others, there is no "air" gap in the solenoid coil to facilitate movement. unless there is acrylic on the rod too, but i'd think it would be too brittle to sustain repeated use.
unless the resting position is aaaaaaall the way out, and the coils pull in the rod one position at a time.... any idea what game it might be from?