Pinball Games

Pinball games recreate the machine you know from arcades: you launch a ball, watch it ricochet off bumpers and ramps, and use the two flippers at the bottom to keep it from draining. There are about 40 in this section.

How a game works

The ball leaves the plunger, usually with a key press or a tap. From there you work the flippers, one on each side: one key for the left and another for the right (often the arrow keys or two keys at opposite ends of the keyboard, but each game tells you). Round bumpers, ramps and targets score points, and if the ball slips down the center gap, that ball is lost. The game ends when you run out of balls.

The fun of it is that every game goes differently. A strange bounce can send the ball somewhere you never planned to hit, and now and then a mistake turns into a great shot.

Kinds of tables

Classics like Classic Pinball or Pinball 2 stay closest to the original machine. Then there are tables built around brands or characters, like Pepsi Pinball or Hello Kitty Pinball, and themed ones such as Zoo Pinball, Jungle Quest Pinball, Space Adventure Pinball or Scary Pinball. Fantasy Star Pinball 3D plays with a three-dimensional view.

There are also mixes with brick breakers, like Bricks and Balls Pinball, PinBall Brick Mania or Basket Pinball, where on top of keeping the ball up you have to knock out blocks.

Tips

Wait until the ball reaches the flipper before you press. Hit it too early and it leaves weak or at a bad angle. On many tables you can also hold the flipper up to trap the ball and line up your next shot without rushing.

If the ball comes down fast along the side, don't mash the buttons: let the flipper catch it and react afterward. Slapping both flippers at once without looking almost never works.