pinball

DEMON’S TILT/XENOTILT thoughts

~ mpklamerus ~ Leave a comment

As part of my Pinball Era I have been playing a lot of pinball video games as well, which includes both DEMON’S TILT and XENOTILT. Both are pinball games inspired by the Turbografx/PC-Engine games Alien Crush and Devil’s Crush and like everyone else that’s played them, I think these are some of the best modern pinball video games out there.

At a very broad high level, they have the same format of there being three segments of a pinball table that you hit the ball up. Both games have two gameplay modes, with a main arcade mode and a secondary mode that adds a bit more complexity and new areas you can knock the ball into for boss fights, but the game is more difficult as well. The biggest difference is obviously the theme, with DEMON’S TILT having a gothic horror theme and the XENOTILT being more sci-fi horror. XENOTILT also has more complexity to it, like machine guns you can activate if you have both flippers up and nudge the table down.

big castle looking pinball table with a nun robot thing in the center
DEMON’s TILT screenshot from Steam

Like I said earlier, both are great! I love the art and music, which feel like if the Turbografx had just kept going and getting minor updates but folks kept making weird 80’s games for it. The games also feel good to control, with table physics that feel real in context with that world. I know it can seem goofy to talk about the controls in a pinball game but more games than you’d expect goof this up and make flippers that feel off, or a nudge mechanic that just isn’t worth bothering with. The only bit that I don’t really care for is the machine gun mechanic in XENOTILT, which feels a bit clunky to activate, but one you have to get comfortable using once you play more in the advanced mode. They’re pretty fair games too. The game does expect you to use the nudge mechanic but I think it’s generous enough that players feel comfortable using it without really worrying about tilting the table. I think the games could have explained the tables rules a bit better but you figure most of it out from playing anyway.

big sci-fi looking pinball table with a robot face in the center
XENOTILT screenshot from Steam

If you haven’t played either game but you are interested in trying one, just pick whichever one has a more interesting theme to you. I think XENOTILT is a little bit better, with every element of the game being done by someone who has more experience making pinball video games, but both games are some of the best in the pinball video game genre anyway so it doesn’t really matter. I also personally like the sci-fi theme and soundtrack in XENOTILT a little more, so that one happens to be one I go to more often.

I have kinda weird feelings about pinball video games, where I either like them if they strive to be very realistic, like Pro Pinball Timeshock, or really out there like these games and Alien Crush. When the tables are in that middle ground where it’s half realistic table and then there’s stuff flying around and maybe you play an arcade mini game, I can’t stand it. Or it’s possible that most of the original tables for Pinball FX are just bad, which is why I have this opinion. I do remember liking 3D Ultra Pinball, but it’s been so long since I have played it. Playing both of these games has made me interested in revisiting that series and playing other pinball video games, which will probably lead to disappointment but I guess we’ll see! I just love pinball!

DEMON’S TILT is available on Steam, XBOX, Switch, and Playstation 4. XENOTILT is on Steam, Switch 1/2, XBOX, and Playstation.

I Have Entered My Pinball Era

~ mpklamerus ~ 1 Comment

I haven’t really posted about it on here but I’ve been playing a lot of pinball lately. I’ve always liked it but for whatever reason, I really got the pinball bug about two months ago. I think it’s mostly because I made an account on Stern Pinball’s achievement tracking thing, that automatically tracks achievements and scores across their tables as long as you scan a QR code on your phone using the machine’s QR reader. I’m generally not an achievement fan but it makes sense for pinball to me, where the goal is to reach higher scores. I think tracking my scores, even in the non-Stern tables, has made me more excited about pinball. It also just feels great to play and once you get good enough, it generally feels fair and you can play for longer.

The arcade I’ve mostly been going to has been Pinball Pete’s in Ann Arbor since it’s by the Downtown branch of the library. They recently moved from another location, which I think I liked slightly more because of all the old arcade games they used to have, but now they have more pinball tables which I guess fits in more with the name anyway. Just yesterday, after the Comics and Small Press event they had at the library, I walked over and played Elvira’s House of Horrors, Pulp Fiction, the new Transformers table, Foo Fighters, and Uncanny X-Men. My favorite table at Pinball Pete’s at the moment has been Stern’s Godzilla table, which I think is a great tribute to the Showa era of Godzilla films.

I’ve also been playing DEMON’S TILT and XENOTILT (both great, I should do separate posts for those) and Pinball FX, where I really like the recreations of real tables and can’t stand the ones made for the game. Anyway, pinball is great. You should look at this map and see what tables are near you. There will probably be more posts about specific tables in upcoming weeks as I play more tables and revisit others.

Vaporwave Pinball Thoughts

~ mpklamerus ~ 3 Comments

Developer: Mixtape Games
Publisher: Mixtape Games
Year: 2025
Genre: Arcade

image of a pinball table sitting next to a pool

Vaporwave Pinball is a new game from Mixtape Games. It really is what it says On The Tin. It’s a collection of pinball tables wrapped in a vaporwave aesthetic. I don’t know if there’s a whole lot more to say about it than that. It’s only $5 and that gets you 5 tables that are both fairly straightforward but also have layers to them. It’s good!

Ok, fine. Maybe I do have some more interesting thoughts on the game other than that. This is probably my ideal version of what a pinball video game should be like if it’s not attempting to be as accurate of a recreation of a real pinball table as possible. I enjoy the recreations of real pinball tables in Pinball FX but really bounce off their original tables, partially because they’re mostly grounded but then have a few fantastical elements. If you’re going to make up a table for a video game, go wild! This game has elements like the ball being teleported and the table morphing as you play.

The most recent episode of Quest Quest actually has a lot more interesting thoughts on this (cohost Ben approves of the game!) that I can’t really build on because I’ve never played Pinball Construction Set, but it apparently has a lot of similarities to that. Ben also pointed the line on the Steam page that says “Less for pinball simulation fans and more for chill, flow state pinball fans.” Which I think is a very accurate and fair description of the game. I wouldn’t recommend it for hardcore pinball fans but if you just want to chill out while playing pinball, I think it’s a solid recommendation.

Vaporwave Pinball is available on Steam. The post is based on a key sent from the developer.