Pop machine. Only one I always win at.

LTG : )

#iron-maiden-legacy-of-the-beast is great for all sorts of practice. You can play ultra-conservatively: almost completely ignoring the upper flippers, trapping out of feeds, and methodically picking off shots to light modes and get to the safety of multiball.

On the other hand.... Shoot everything on the fly, hope you bounce into multiplier targets and lock shots, and start hitting those LOOP JACKPOTS! Maybe you want to try building up a huge Power Jackpot or focus on lighting Revive early. All totally valid game strategies and it never feels like there's a single "correct" way to play.

It also has perfect geometry for learning to nudge, shatz, drop / live catch, dead bounce, short plunge, ski pass, and get a feel for how the ball moves in modern games. Maiden is almost everything you could ask for in a true player's pin.

TMNT Stern.

For practicing your general shot aim I've gotta give it to Laser Cue. You have to hit the targets on the drop bank in order, otherwise the previous one pops back up. Then after you clear that, you need to do 2 outer shots and one upper shot with enough strength to hit the fairly recessed target. That IS the game. It's basically hit the shots 101.

If you want it to be harder, remove the flipper rail under the second right flipper so you can't easily lock in a dead bounce. Though I think that's just particularly devious, I know some have.

Fish Tales

A wide range of machines from all time periods.

Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle

I've been playing pinball for a decade and this game has made me better than any other game on the planet. Orbits are tight, controlling the ball is difficult, ramps are down the middle if you don't hit them correctly, etc. I went from an average player to one that wins big(ger) tournaments, and it's all thanks to this game.

Another good one I think is TMNT. I don't love the game itself -- borderline hate it -- but if you can hit all the shots in this game, stage the flippers to get the jackpots and loops, then you can dominate many games on the market.

Why the Addams Family?

The Addams Family has the best PROGRESSION for beginners of any pinball.

It is easy to approach. Fun, colorful, has some great call outs. Then you have that Bear Kick shot. Easy, but you'll miss a lot and accidently open the bookcase.

Wow! I'm really getting the hang of this game!

A couple of games, now I can make the tiny ramp to the left of the bear kick, and OMG!!! THINGS HAND!!!

Oooh... and now I'm getting an extra ball when I make that shot! I am roxxoring at this game!

Sweet, the thing ball cup drops the ball to that upper right flipper, and I CAN MAKE THE TRAIN SHOT! WOO WOO!!! (I'm aiming at the ramp, but I hit the train shot...)

Now I've done it... SHOWTIME!!! Multiball! Cr---a---zy!

A few games later I'm hitting a dozen bear kicks, I can -sometimes- make the electric chair shot and I'm hitting multiball almost every game!!! I am truly a pinball wizard!

Every step along the way, as you learn the game, the Addams Family has a new reward. And along the way it keeps surprising you with Mamushkas and tunnel hunts and other cool things.

Eventually, when you play the Addams Family, you'll completely master every shot, and the machine won't have anything left to show you. It isn't a hard game.

But for my money, no game does beginner progression better than the Addams Family.

At my current level, I like Bram Stokers Dracula.

It has that delightful tough as nails left ramp shot that Barry Oursler is famous for. And I'm good enough to make shots, but I'm not good enough to completely control multiballs.

And that's the goal of BSD... Stacking Multiballs. TH---I---R---TY M---I---LL---ION!!! Such a sweet sound!

So, for me, at my level of skill, BSD is a great training machine.

Finally, Mandalorian has a insane difficulty mode... It's going to change your opinion of how good a pinball player you are.

genesis. brutal outlanes, close brutal drops, smushy flippers and a playfield you have to hit all the shots on to progress

Classics can help your nudging skills alot! Got to get one too!
And I would say mixing it up is the only way to be a "well rounded fighter".
Playing only one machine for two years straight is not so good.

I played in a pinball tournament this weekend at Allentown and my scores were directly related to the age of the machine. I quadrupled the 2nd place players score in my group in competition score in Stern Star Trek Pro, but scored dead last in my group on the E.M.s. If you want to be a better tournament player you need to play games from all eras. I can complete the first 6 missions on Star Trek more often than not and reach the first mini wizard mode but will rarely roll the score on an E.M.

Any one single pin: Total Nuclear Annihilation

To answer your question over a range of Eras: Deadpool (tuned hard),Fish Tales, Bram Stokers Dracula, Torpedo Alley, Flash Gordon, Nine Ball, Any late 70's Gottilieb E.M.

If you want to get better at Pinball I solidly suggest that if you get a chance to go to a pinball show with a tournament, spend 30 minutes watching some of the tournament players. I was surprised how much more interactive they were with the machine. Most players just stand and play. These guys aggressively nudged the ball in all directions.

Also, watch a few tutorials from Bowen on Youtube. My skills improved dramatically watching him explain how to Alley Pass, dead drop, post pass, and explaining the rules of the game.

Good luck!

And I changed my mind... it's Flash Gordon for "git gud".

Plus playing one example of one title isn't good either. After games start developing wear & tear, and/or get repaired/adjusted in slightly different ways, they can sometimes play a bit differently from one another, especially older games.

So, if you get good at playing a specific example of a specific game, and then try to play someone else's game, you might find you have to adjust your playing style to accommodate those slight differences.

High Speed is a great game to start basic skills with. Good flow, multi ball you work for but its not too complex, simple rules fun with sense of urgency.

Iron Man good for practicing live catching as well as outlane nudging.

Police Force good for learning to hit the same shot over and over.

TMNT kills my confidence. I personally like to play my Star Wars Pro to get better.

Every machine is different. Aiming is a much a function of individual machine settings than a particular playfield. If you want to get better, you’ll want to play fast machines and slow machines. Wide open layouts and cramped shooting galleries. Machines with upper flippers and playfields and those without. Machines with wide outlanes and those with center drain posts. In other words, the best way to get better at pinball is to play pinball. A lot of it. On many different machines.

There are certain techniques (trapping, bang backs, passing) that are easier to learn on certain, specific games (not titles, individual games). Find an amenable table, and play it to master that technique.

Good luck and have fun. That’s why we’re all here.

I learn different things on different machines.

Tron is teaching me about ball spin and reaction speed atm.

Hobbit taught me about setting pathway goals and following them.

Houdini taught me mode progression.

My early single lever SS games like Orbit 1 and Lost World teach me nudging skills, other games ball control is king, or outlane saves are important.

GnR was ball control during multi's.

Each game has something that it lends itself to revealing to you if you observe and think about what you are seeing.

Abe flips has posted in this thread, if you want to see some good tutorials have a look at his series. They are fantastic.

Maverick helped me to slow down and find shots. Definitely helped my aim.

This is easy. Any game that is waxed, everything works as it should, and level.

An early solid state. Flash Gordon, EBD, Space Shuttle, Joker Poker, Count Down, Stars, Meteor, Barracora, Alien Star/Poker, too many to name, really. You need a great balance of skills to do well on this era of machine. Pure pinball baby!

I know this may not be the most challenging or interesting machine, but this is perfect for beginners. I recommend #Harley Davidson. I played on the third edition of the machine on my Xbox, and I learned to use defense and keep the ball in play. Your priority should be learning to keep the ball in play, and then as your skills improve, you can start learning how to make the shots necessary to clear each mode and progress toward the wizard mode; you can do this easily because there is a third button you can use to prevent the ball from draining down. Then, if you're extremely curious, like me, you can explore the game even further and look for exploits as you play.

Having improved my skills on that machine, I eventually got 2 billion+ on the machine. It took a ton of endurance and plenty of video modes. Once you reach the extra ball limit of three per game, each perfect video mode is worth 35 million. Also, if you can make a multi-ball last until Milwaukee, you can have two multiballs in play. Hopes this improves the skills of a novice!

Time Fantasy.

Trying to find one to purchase.

Simpson's Pinball Party - don't know why I feel this way - just makes me feel more confident on other machines.

I'm still a very bad player but I'm thinking Iron Man is helping me get better the quickest. I'm starting to recognize the trajectory of my shots more and be able to tell much quicker if the ball is in danger of draining. That is helping me to proactively nudge. The game is so damn fast and keeps me on my toes. When I go play something else afterwards I always feel like I'm playing better.