Saturday Morning Gaming: Gloomhaven as a Pinball Game

One of the best tables I’ve ever played was the Terminator 2 table. There were a bunch of fun things to do on the table that would result in the table yelling quotes from the movie or just to hear Arnold yell “HURRY UP” before the hurry up mission kicked off (or, if you tilted, the machine would give you the full “chill out” quotation.)

I want to say that the last fully tied-in table I played was either The Addams Family or Twilight Zone. Awesome tables all. (I’m sure that the licensing to get them is a bear.)

One of the awesome things about PinballFX is that it continues the tradition of taking an awesome non-pinball thing and turning out a surprisingly good pinball table that “feels” like a good translation.

The most recent one is a pinball table based on Gloomhaven.

Here’s the table:

It’s a *SWEET* table.

Begin with the skillshot:

Over there on the far left, you’ve got a ramp that goes up to the targets on the elevated playfield that drops you down into the bumpers, then a spinner that takes you through a loop, then a ramp to take you back to the left flipper, then a reverse scoop in the middle, then the sinkhole is the shop (and the entrance to the miniplayfield), then another ramp to take you back to the right flipper, then the other half of the loop.

And the missions have you try to hit these various targets and, dang it, I am absolutely awful at this table. Like, when it sends you to a mission, it’ll first ask you about the side scenario that you play on the way to the main mission. Hit either ramp to pick an outcome. Then, during the mission, a bunch of drop targets pop up and you have to knock them down to beat the mission. If you visit the shop enough times, you have the option of doing a side scenario and playing in the miniplayfield.

Hit those targets and collect the treasure. Or, more likely hit one, once, and then lose the ball down the drain.

I absolutely suck at this game. AND I CAN’T STOP PLAYING IT.

If you like Gloomhaven or pinball, I can’t recommend this table enough. It’s so delightfully frustrating and once you get the rhythm of what the game is asking you to do, it’s downright intuitive.

So… what are you playing?