I like in Hobbit how there’s sort of a story you’re playing, and it’s more about advancing than the score (at least at first)

I also like how Sorceror’s Apprentice is like a role playing game with pinball shots; you have to use magic and block assault from the bad guys. Scoring is almost moot

On the flip side, I love how in Doctor Who you can get absolutely crazy points by hitting the loop shot over and over again, then hitting 3 specific shots more or less in sequence. Extremely hard to do, simple to understand

I'm really digging simple, brutal with less complex rules right now. During Covid I bought a Kiss Pro and Iron Man. Both brutal with rules that are straight forward and keep you wanting to play more. Short ball times with intense game play. I love both.

Depth is probably the least important part for me; just because a game is "deep" doesn't make it good. Plus, its pretty hard to agree what "depth" is around here.

Love Hobbit, have owned it twice - might be one of the flowiest games I’ve ever played!

Sorceror’s Apprentice is a P3 game

Best rule set for me so far is ehoh. Many diff strategies to try

Getting my Wonka soon. When I've played it on location It has always felt like just enough depth without being overwhelming.

I love my Star Trek because of the 3 level deep missions that are well laid out. Star Trek code is easy to understand.

Give me a solid layout w good objectives and shorter ball times and I’m good to go.

In terms of favorite rules for me:
-Funhouse
-AFM
-Johnny Mnemonic (only for the bonus shenanigans)
-Andromeda
-Iron Man

That's deep, man.

TWSS

For a game to have an enjoyable ruleset there are a number of things I appreciate.

1: To get a good score/progress towards wizard mode - you must be forced to shoot all over the playfield. No rinse and repeat style rules, or ignored shots/targets. (MM - bash the castle, TZ/TAF - ramp start mode)

2: When you make the much needed shot there should be, at the very least, a semi safe return, or the 'randomiser' shot (JP Truck, AIQ disc) is at the top of the playfield allowing time to execute a move to save. The vital shot shouldn't be overly difficult (Tron - Gem)

3: Being able to work on more than 1 objective at once, and the ability to stack things. Whether that be mb on mb, or mode on mb - not being locked out of something because you've started something else. (Bad - JJP GnR, Good - LZ)

4: Having a realistic chance of getting to mini-wizard modes 1 in 10ish, and main wizard 1 in 50ish games. (Obviously this will change per game based on the players skill). Any easier than that becomes too boring, any less becomes too frustrating, and thus ignored.

5: Specific different challenges in modes. Not just hit the blinking light for no apparent reason (Bad - ST, Good - IMdn)

That's why I think that the best games in recent history have been (in no particular order) JP2, AIQ, TWD, DP & EHOH

Multiple ways to approach the game and still get a high score.

Balanced scoring. No real exploits.

Risk reward. Game can be too simple and have no real risk reward component.

It depends but something simple like Stern Potc is easy for me to explain, has everything clearly represented on the PF. Has a mixture of easy and hard objectives.

I do love complex rules such as JP or SW but these games are quite difficult to pick up or explain.

I find that I very much like rules/objectives that match the theme of the title I'm playing.

Two examples;

1) Stern JP - You start the game at the Main Gate, and are following the map to get to the Visitor Center. Each paddock you visit has a dinosaur on the loose. To advance, you need to rescue staff (orange shots) before the dino gets to them (moving green shots). Once you've rescued a couple of staff, you have to set the traps (yellow stand-ups), then capture the dino (moving green/yellow shot). Once you learn what the different colors mean, it makes total sense what each shot represents.

2) Johnny Mnemonic - The glove/matrix. When you shoot your first ball into the VUK, pay damn close attention. The DMD will briefly show what each spot on the 3x3 matrix is, and what its reward is. Fantastic idea making it a memory game, since the whole idea of the story is about human vs. computer memory.

There are many more (collect the Inifinty Stones in AIQ, defeat houses in GOT, etc.) but those two above I think are brilliant.

Later,
EV

For modern pinball I think there's two types of ruleset, those focused on points for tournament style play with less of focus on mode choreography (music, sounds, animations, etc timed to shots) and then those that put the player on a quest with an emphasis on mode choreography. I've always favored the quest type rulesets which is why I find the rulesets in Lord of the Rings and Hobbit to be among the best in pinball.

One of my favorite rules hook is giving the player a reward for completing modes (in additional to wizard mode progression). Lord of the Rings does this the best in my opinion with offering the player a Gift of the Elves shot to collect a reward. Dialed In does something similar with having the SIM card shot lit to collect "Dialed In" letters. Why more games don't do this is something I'm puzzled about, it's such a cool feature that keeps players coming back for more and makes completing modes more rewarding. When you have this type of rules hook in an objective based mode that works the entire playfield with great music, sounds, and animations I don't think pinball get's any better.

Games that have a set of easy rules for beginners, and more complex rules for advanced players. A few good examples:

1. Black Knight (1980).
2. Deadpool
3. Jurassic Park
4. Lord of the Rings
5. AFM/MM

All of these have easy to achieve basic goals (3 ball multiball, black knight, 2 ball multiball, Deadpool, Raptor Multiball, Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings, Fellowship Multiball. They also have secondary goals for better players: Black Knight, Extra Ball by bashing targets, Deadpool, depth, JP: Depth, LOTR: Depth. To me a good game is one that has a set of rules you can explain to a non-pinball person easily. Of all of these, I think AFM/MM fits the bill the best as you can tell anyone to just blow up the ship or destroy the castle by bashing the target repeatedly. Some games have the easy goals down that are simple for noobs, like World Cup Soccer, but don't have that much depth (not much to do). Others like Avengers don't have much on the shallow end but require a book and study for experts to get down. The ideal game is something that does both well.

I'm of the firm belief that Star Trek is one of the most approachable of all the newer Sterns.

For a newbie, all you have to do is explain "Shoot for the colored Insignia". I guess GOT falls into this category as well....

Later,
EV

• Utilising all the shots and the entire playfield.
• Rules that compliment and integrate into the theme
• Above all else fun! Achieved by the above!

It’s why Mando is one of my favourite games it ticks all those boxes for me.

The thing that makes The Shadow such a great game, particularly for tournaments, is not just that there are different strategies that are fairly score-balanced. It's also that the different strategies require different pinball skills. One strategy requires mini-playfield skill, one requires skill with side-loop combos, and the Vengeance thing is good if you're good with regular combos. Which means that even if the strategies aren't perfectly score-balanced, some people will still prefer one to another because the skills required for each strategy are different.

I find BSD to have a simple, but yet challenging objective. Stack the 3 multiballs and get ready to hear "Thirttyyyyyyy Milliooooon". You could also kill Dracula while racking up the points, good sense of accomplishment other than just a big score.