Any game you play a lot. Because practice leads to improvement.

Obviously...but clearly some games will do MUCH more to improve your skills as a player than others.

I'll throw another hat into the ring for BSD. Not only do you need to prepare and anticipate missed shots to survive, but to score well, you also need to practice staging multiballs to prepare for the 3 multiball stack. I am still working on learning how to stage certain modes/multiballs for big stacks, having the patience to get one shot away and not start something intentionally...and this skill carries over to many different pins.

Most early Bally and Sterns.

Strategy+Skill+Speed...BSD and GOT.
These two have been on my interest in playing AT ANY TIME LIST. (along w/Tron)
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Games with very good rulesets that make you think ahead of the action while keeping a mindful eye on anticipated ball movement has made me a better player.

for me, these would be:
TWD
WOZ
GOT
AC/DC
SW

SW is killer!!!

Paragon is great for mastering both the dead flip and tap pass. Both are essential for posting a decent score.

On occasion, I will also do a controlled drop catch on the lower right flipper, not so far back as to send it back through the split between the two right flippers, but just forward enough to kill the inertia of the moving ball. By the time the flipper is back in the down position, the ball is gently rolling toward the tip, and you can take your shot at the Valley of Demons. It's a super high risk to reward shot, but always makes me smile when I can pull it off.

The Shadow.

I'm not a DMD guy but I tend to like the ones that people find brutal. Iron Man and ST TNG are my favorites. What's with those outlanes on TNG? I'm guessing Steve Ritchie was sick that day and Barry Oursler decided to help out

Well there's a kick back at least

Some of these pins that are being called brutal, in the old days we called them Drain-o-matics. Insert coin and 30 seconds later you are done. We learned skill shots not because the game would spit out 50 million points; We learned skill shots just to keep the ball from draining.

BSD is one I class as a Drain-o-matic. Cactus Jack's arcade in Oklahoma City has one. If I could find one on free play I would like to play it, but at $.75 a pop, it is too expensive for me to learn. I have tried it 3 times with the same results: shoot--drain, shoot--drain.

MM, SS, MB, AFM all give me more bang for my buck. They still take my money but at least I get to hit the ball a few times.

GB is brutal but it will not improve your skills. It will just piss you off!

I recommend any 2 inch flipper EM's. Also most early SS games like Eight Ball, Stars, Flash Gordon, Paragon, Future Spa, etc. For more modern games I echo BSD, as well as IM, Tron, even GOT and SW with a difficult set-up.

#indiana-jones "narrow escape" is how i finally learned to nudge (it still kinda seems like cheating on any games that don't invite me to nudge like that...). Even though a little girl like me doesn't really have enough mass to move a wide-body like that very far!

Surprised no one said Johnny Mnemonic yet. I feel JM made me an over all better player with trying to handle its speed

I've played and owned some mean pins, but the first pin that made me a better player was definitely Fish Tales. If set up right, that game can play FAST. Lightning Flippers don't make things any easier.

I have my Stern Stars set up hard and it keeps me coming back. Brutal but fair. Just don’t miss the shot.

Robocop can be brutal

My '69 GTB Target Pool.
That upper horseshoe is a KILLA.

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GB and TWD

I'm glad to hear that. I have one being shipped in. Hoping it will be here this week.

When setup right Old Chicago is very tough. Exposed pops and no in lanes.

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Stars!!

Flash Gordon is the ultimate ass kicker

With a silver ball, Super Orbit is brutal; I have a Powerball in mine...talk about crazy fast. Vari-target, or spinner and pops? I like this one so much that I picked up a NOS playfield.

I have my Genesis set up very hard as well. Shoot the drops and chance it, or fan the play field to ready the reveal? I also put one Powerball from time to time to mix things up.

Both of these titles require you to be sniper sharp with your shots. If not, your reaction time and nudging skills better be above par.

Modern:
Shadow, Judge Dredd and Stargate made me a better player. All have upper flippers, all have deep rules, all have fast flow.
Honorable Mention: Total Nuclear Annihilation

Early SS:
Flash Gordon (drain monster), Skateball (ball control), Elektra (rules). Honestly you can't go wrong with any 81 bally for sharping your skills.

EM:
I'm new to collecting em's, so my experience is limited.
Combat(zaccaria), Old Chicago, Surf Champ - all are challenging and fast games with plenty to shoot for.

My NGG is brutal. Trying to setup for the jackpot shot taught me control/backhands/trapping/passes. Love the game because of that.

You want fast and brutal, get a F-14 Tomcat.

ST:TNG learned me to really NUDGE!
WH2O to properly aim at all the flashes in the right order.

And an brutal fast AFM learn me, that i really have learned nothing

You won’t be disappointed, welcome to the club!

Big Guns. It punishes everything but accurate shots. It's fast and you better nudge or a 3 ball game will last about 20 seconds.

Wow, what a split when I read this list. Some people have no clue. Brutal or getting "a" shot down is not really getting you overall better on anything but that one game. But a lot of good calls in this thread also.

EM are a class of their own. From this 2" flippers to Zips or crazy outlanes. They are too different. Almost a panic of getting the ball up. Like Egghead.

Early games have different skills. Like Harlem and Paragon. The split flippers and in-line drops that multiple hits cause tough roll backs. Nice. Stars, Seawitch and Blackjack that trick you into comfort then toss the ball to an outlane that kills.

How about High Speed and games that teach you the issues with speed long before Iron man. The newer games seem to have a tight shot or stupid quick return (GOT Pro Dragon shot) that's only learning that game, that shot.

How about Silverball Mania for a game that makes you stop in your tracks or you get nowhere. Or the games that trick you into a panic with the sound effects like Space Invaders or White Water so you learn to pace yourself listening (without headset) but not letting it run your game.

Lots of different stuff.

With the growth of competitive pinball, I would expect these kind of brutal games to be more popular. And some of the classics make a change from the standard B/W and Stern games.

Games in this category that I would now love to own.

Catacomb ( found one! ).

Quicksilver.

Flash Gordon.

Paragon.

Harlem Globe Trotters.

Stars.

8 Ball.

Eight Ball Deluxe.

Shadow.

Gotta throw out Avatar. Mine is incredibly brutal at least, need to be very accurate or it's Insta outlane drain...

Avatar is similar to iron man, but with posts instead of drone targets.

Plus no consolation-wizard mode like Jericho - you have either start all modes in one ball or finish them completely to carry over Final Battle progress to the next ball...

AC/DC for me is the modern equivalent to Flash Gordon - both punishing for missed shots and to me the layouts feel pretty similar.

Central Park taught me how to nudge a game. Lasercue taught me to slow a game down to concentrate where I was in a game at any given time

"Central Park" is definitely one of the most difficult wedgeheads to light up the special on. The seldom seen "Foto Finish" is also really tough to beat.

AC/DC Luci is my first Stern.
I’ve got to say it’s pretty badass,
It is challenging and I’ve owned BSD and JM.

Iron man is that brutal game for me right now. I can't get enough time on it. I used to hate the game, or dislike the game.

Now, it calls to me. And I feel like I am getting better because of my play on it. I would have to buy one, but there are 3 playable around me.

Getting good on iron man is a good thing...

Paragon is also one I hated now love. Same difficulty, similar.

Iron man has ball saves. Paragon. No.

Stay alive!

Of course now we add Houdini!!! This one WILL kick your ass!! Fish Tales is also one to master!!

STTNG - great for learning nudging, orbit shots, dead flips, and high speed combo (Picard). Also helps to learn to deal with intensity/stress.

SHADOW - great for nudging, dead flips, and combos. Can't post pass on mine, so I use the ramps (functional accuracy). Also good for learning coordination and concentration via ramp control and upper playfield.

IMDN PREM/LE - best game, by far, to learn modern Sterns. Great for trap and shoot, dead flips, schatzing, live catching, and high speed reaction timing. Pretty good for nudging as well. You pretty much need to learn to play like the pros to be successful with any sort of consistency.

IM - accuracy, nudging, on-the-fly accuracy, some nudging, and reaction timing on high speed saves.

Fish Tales will punish you for short stroking almost any shot.

I’ll throw out a nostalgic one - Nags. Large flipper gap, tiny flippers, 3 drain lanes on each side of the flippers. Rotating pop bumpers, if you try to hit the closest (lowest) pop bumper to advance your horse, the ball is likely to come straight back down, quickly. Best shot is through the rotating pop bumpers to get the ball to the top part of the playfield. It has that “just one more game” feeling.

Sorcerer.
There are so many things close to the flippers (including the 8 S-O-R-C-E-R-E-R targets in the center of the playfield) that half your shots come straight back at you.
Great game to hone your reaction time.