Super-Skill Pinball 4-cade

The Game

Super-Skill Pinball is a roll-and-write game about pinball machines. It is essentially a solo game, just that up to four players can play at the same time, and you compare scores to see who wins. Pinball machines are a relic now. People who have experienced the pinball machine era should be doing regular medical check-ups now. 

The game is pretty simple. Every turn you roll two dice, and you move the ball around the board to score points. The longer the ball stays on the board, the more points you will score. Eventually you'll lose the ball as it falls to the bottom. That's when a round ends. You get to play three rounds, and after that you compare to see who has the most points. 

You set up your player boards like this. The horizontal piece above is mostly decoration. Only the segment on the left is for scorekeeping. The vertical piece is your actual game board. That's where the ball moves about. 

You play using dry erase markers. During play you will cross out boxes and also erase your crosses. There are dice icons on the board. When you use a die value to move the ball to a particular dice icon, you cross out the icon. You've used that icon and it cannot use it again, unless there is a way to erase the the mark. Gradually you'll run out of dice icons to cross out. Then the ball won't be able to go anywhere except down to the bottom, i.e. you will end the round. 

The board is divided into four sections from top to bottom. The ball enters at the top section. Normally each time you move the ball, it must go to a lower section. It's called gravity. The ball can only go upwards or stay in the same section if specific components allow it. 

At the bottom section there are two levers, red and yellow. If you manage to catch the ball with one of these levers, on the next turn you can flick the ball upwards to a higher section. Just like in real life. 

The various components in the pinball machine have different behaviours and provide different benefits. This yellow duckies component is a set of three. If you manage to hit all three, they reset (i.e. you can send the pinball here again) and also you get to activate one special power. For example you can get an additional ball, or you can use the red and yellow levers interchangeably. Star icons scattered around the board mean victory points. In this game you will be scoring points all the time. It's a little tedious. 

That silver sphere is the ball. It's actually just half a sphere, so it stays still and doesn't roll about. At the top left you can see the numbers 1 to 6. This is a feature called the skill shot. When you hit all three of the Ferris wheel cars near the top, you gain a skill shot. You may circle one of the numbers. From then on, if there is a specific number you want to roll but fail to do so, you may choose to set a die to a circled skill shot number. This gives you some control and predictability. Once you use the skill shot, you erase the circle. If you hit all three Ferris wheel cars again, you can claim a new skill shot. You can save multiple skill shots of different numbers if you complete the Ferris wheel set multiple times. 

Resets are helpful. Whenever you reset a group of components, you are reopening opportunities for your ball. You'll be able to last longer and score more points. 

The game has a nudge feature, just like in real pinball machines. This basically allows you to cheat. If you really want a specific number, you can change a die to that number by performing a nudge. Doing a nudge comes with some risk. If you nudge hard, i.e. you change the number by a lot, you may lose the ball next turn. If the difference between the dice rolled is smaller than how much you nudged on a previous turn, you lose the ball. In the whole game you may only nudge three times. 

This set of three components allow the ball to bounce between them instead of rolling down to the next section, provided you roll the numbers needed. If you manage to cross off all twelve dice icons, they reset. Notice in this photo I have two balls in play. 

The game comes with four different pinball machines, with different themes and art styles. There are some common features in all the machines, but each of them has some unique elements too. The circus themed machine is the simplest one. The others are more advanced. 

The Play

Super-Skill Pinball is a risk management game. You will gradually run out of spaces to cross out and eventually you'll lose the ball. You try to prolong the play as much as possible. You plan ahead a little, strategising where you will move the ball depending on what numbers you roll. You try to make use of the resets as much as possible. A turn is simple. The game mechanism matches the theme well. 

You do some long term planning, e.g. saving up the skill shots, and making conscious effort to complete sets. You roll dice a lot, so there is certainly some luck. Your job is to manage that luck as best you can. 

When special powers are activated, I circle them

At this point if the ball is to fall to be bottom section and I roll a 1 or 5, I can still catch it with the right (yellow) lever. If I roll neither, I will lose the ball. 

These are the other three pinball machines which come with the game: 

A hacker / cyberpunk machine

A disco themed machine. It used to be called "disco". Now it's called "clubbing".

Fantasy / dragon-slaying theme

The Thoughts

Super-Skill Pinball has a unique setting, and it is designed to capture many elements of pinball machines. That part is certainly done well. It is a theme first game. It is mostly a solo game. There are some tactics to explore. Give it a go if you find it interesting. I'm not specifically a fan of pinball machines, so for me the theme is novel but not compelling. I'm not a big fan of solo games either. I'm content to have tried it out to understand how it works.