Multi-Played: Did we accidentally mess up how to pinball hang?
By definition, the only thing that can grow this hobby is if people who are currently not into pinball get into pinball. That means that all of your friends should not be pinball people or you’re not a pinball evangelist. Let’s be real, even if you’re REALLY a pinball person, all your friends should not be pinball people. If they’re all pinball people, then you’re disturbed. Shut this off and go outside to quietly meditate.
And even amongst my pinball friends, that level of pinball “dedication” really varies a lot. There are people who own games, people who play in leagues, and people who just, like, play it when they see it. That last group represents the silent majority in pinball, I suspect. Most of my friends fall into this group, since our tournament scene is in pretty stages (but really good and growing, shouts Matt Blankenship and co).
The thing is this: even though multiplayer games can work among people of equal skill levels, they really don’t work at all when one or two of the players is a lot better. I know, because sometimes my friends don’t want to play with me anymore. It’s not a brag. It sucks. It’s not their fault and I get it. It’s not just my terrible personality.
Waiting in limbo for hours on end is no way to live
It comes down to the dirty little secret nobody wants to talk about: waiting to play pinball sucks. When you’re playing against someone better than you in a two-player game, you end up waiting A LOT. If you end up in a game with multiple good players? Forget about it. Pack it in after you power drain your first ball 5 seconds into Avengers. Just go and take a dump because these other dudes are gonna take a while.
But that’s the thing, you’re not totally able to zone out either. You gotta remember what you’re doing when you eventually play your ball again. You sorta have to hover around the machine. You’re not a free human being. You can’t go out to smoke. You can’t (in good conscience) eat a sumptuous dinner. You’re partly in, partly out – and that’s just no way to be.
Parallel play is cool, but also not what we are talking about
The other option that ends up happening in places with multiple pinball machines is that you’ll play two different games rather than end up waiting for each other on the same machine. I’m not against this, in fact, if you have a partner, parallel play is probably a necessary part of your relationship (unless you’re one of those weird co-dependent couples who like checks in on each other when they go to the bathroom and stuff).
While we recognize parallel play as something GOOD and NORMAL, it’s ultimately NOT what we want when we’re hanging with friends that we catch up with, especially friends who might not understand pinball as intimately (re: nerdy) as I or you. In short, we wanna hang.
The problem: Pinball is a weird game
Pinball is a weird game that takes skill. You don’t have to know MUCH about it, but you do have to know something to actually enjoy it. Like, how many times have you seen a person new to pinball walk up to a game, play the fastest three balls you’ve ever seen as they randomly flipper flap, then tell their friend that pinball sucks and it’s all luck, ultimately leaving unfulfilled.
Your answer better be a LOT of times, because I see it pretty much nonstop. For me, this is the biggest problem to solve for a buncha casuals to get into pinball. A complete newbie needs just a LITTLE bit of knowledge first, but then you gotta let them go. Like a dumb baby bird. The best parts of pinball, no matter your skill level, are when you’re exploring a machine, finding shots, getting in the zone and controlling the ball completely. That’s hard to do in a multiplayer game, really for one big reason: time. It’s completely imbalanced between new players and experienced ones.
This might be a problem unique to pinball among bar games. The better you get, the longer your play time. Unlike darts or pool, where you’re essentially taking the same amount of time at a beginner or advanced skill level, pinball players play for longer as they get better. They’re rewarded with more time on the machine. That creates distinct advantages for more advanced players when playing newbies. It also makes multiplayer games terrible for low-pressure hangs. You start to press, because who knows when you’ll get to play again?
We need a way to play the game that both allows for some teachable moments AND lets new players explore the game without long downtimes where they have to stay mentally engaged like it’s a frickin’ finals at D82.
Maybe the answer is play more single-player games… together?
While multiplayer games RULE and are essential to competitive pinball, maybe it’s time we rethink the pinball hang. Recently, I was at The Firehouse in Eau Claire because they got the new Star Wars from Stern. Contrary to what you’ll read on clickbait internet, it’s actually pretty fun ,and I find it relaxing when I’m really locked in. I’m a mode guy, and this game has modes.
Well, I average around 300-400 mil and have topped out at 1.9 billy recently, so it’s actually not very much fun to play with me. I know this because my buddy Josh has told me that before. Like, a couple different times at this point. So, I was hanging out with Josh and Andy, who owns Firehouse, and we all just sorta started playing single player games one after the other. This, my friends, is the answer.
One guy would play Star Wars, and the other two guys would just sorta shoot the shit and drink, watch Home Alone 2 on the bar TVs, or generally just sort of ‘bum around’ as my ex’s dad used to say. We did that for 3 hours. It ruled. Every once in a while, I could pop my head into Josh’s game and give him some advice on what to shoot (that he didn’t ask for, and I could tell secretly didn’t want, but mostly I give advice so I can feel good about myself), but I didn’t overstep — and he was able to get into a better rhythm, cuz he wasn’t waiting for my DUMB ASS to get done with a long ball 2.
It makes sense, right? Let’s think about it this way: if you play a two-player game and are player two, there are three major pause points when you’ll be waiting for player 1 to end their turn. If you alternate single-player games, you’re getting just one long-ass pause point. In fact, it’s not a pause point at all, because unlike a multiplayer game, you don’t have to stay mentally engaged with what your game strategy needs to be going into the next ball.
Instead, you’re given the ultimate luxury. You’re given the perfect pinball hang.
Did we get it right? How do you pinball hang?
The result is an ultra chill gaming session that ultimately leads to deeper conversations and more pinball learning (especially when people have different skill levels), which makes me think: did we overthink multiplayer games as the primary way to play with multiple people? Maybe there are other ways to pinball hang that might stimulate other areas of pinball culture? Maybe we need to be trying out new stuff during our pinball hangs – especially when we’re trying to bring in fresh blood to the hobby.
I ask y’all: did we get this right? Are you multiplayer till the day you die? Maybe there’s another way to pinball hang that I haven’t fathomed. What say you, Nudge readers? I’m ready to have my hollow construct of reality blown apart. Do your worst!
