Yikes. Tough comparison because they’re two completely different experiences.

Uniqueness? Man... I think they both deliver that in spades.

Gameplay? If you were to strip away the rules and go solely on how the shots feel, I think it might be a draw. They both have a ton of good feeling shots.

Rules? DI. No question. Tons to do, lots of nostalgia, clever risks and rewards. Mate that with a brilliant layout, and it only gets better for the game.

Sound/music: WH2O wins, without pause. Sure, the quality is better on DI, but it was my biggest personal disappointment with the game. I really wanted to hear some tasty Chris Granner licks and tunes on the game. Instead, we got an understated soundtrack that feels really lackluster to me. The compounding raft tunes of white water has unmatched depth and breadth for a Pinball soundtrack, even by today’s standards.

DI is a Pat Lawlor masterpiece, imho. It’ll keep your interest longer, it’s got a ton to do, it’s got really good flow, tons of toys and technology, comparing it to WH2O is like comparing an EM to a solid state game.

I know I’ll never give up my WH2O, but I’d probably sell every other game in my collection to finance a DI. I’ve thought about it more than once.

Same. People want deeper and deeper game experiences, but you then get to a certain point where the player just gets completely lost in the rules, and has no idea what to do or where to go next, and you lose the whole essence of Pinball that way.

Saying a game is not good because the rules are too shallow is like saying the first super Mario game on the NES is bad because the only thing to do is to jump and run to the right.

There’s something delightful about simple rules. Make your way down the river. Get to wet willies, ride the whirlpool, save the dude who just fell overboard, and get called a wiener by the game.

HOWEVER, I do think that Dialed In does a good job at keeping things tangible for the player, though maybe that’s because I’m familiar with Lawlorisms, and DI is really no different than his previous games. I know people like the mega depth of LOTR and TSPP, but to me, it’s too much. I just don’t want to stand at a table and grind for 30 minutes.