I've owned both and still own Diner. Earthshaker is great, but not being able to relight the jackpot is a real bummer.

Yes, buy both

I honestly would take GL over them, but I would begrudgingly take Diner over Earthshaker...I guess

Hmm. Earthshaker is a counterpart to Whirlwind which you have and Diner a counterpart to Taxi. If it’s worth anything I played an Earthshaker and did not care for it. I’m not sure if it’s because at the time I didn’t know the rules so I just kept shooting the upper ramp or if it was because it was beat to crap. It didn’t do it for me though. Never played a Diner but it looks interesting

Earthshaker is awesome, I have owned it many times, and always end up selling it once I beat the game.
Every. Time.

In my mind Earth Shaker any day!!!

It is all personal preference though.

Earth shaker may have some nostalgia though for me as it and PinBot were the first machines I absolutely dominated.

Hearing the ringing of all the fault trips and miles is awesome especially if you max out a 99.

I understand Diners following but EarthShaker any day for me!!!!

I would have guess ES would win. It's a PL that compliments WW and is liked, and the ladies love it.

Owned both for quite a while. Both great. But i have to give the edge to ES. I think its the music, i am playing it in my mind as we type it. The shaker is awesome and i love the aftershock effect. Sure you can exploit the centre ramp all day for points so not the best tournament game. But other wise its bitchin.

Diner is racist and offensive. Anyone/any arcade that has one, should be shunned.

Based on your current lineup I’d say grand lizard offers you the most diversity, so I’d go w/ that. If you didn’t have taxi I’d lean towards diner , but 2nd for me would be earthshaker

Gl is also the cheapest of the 3. Put that money towards something else on your list.

Your avatar is misogynistic, anti-Christian, and offensive and you should be shunned. Thanks for playing the cancel culture game.

Edit: Apparently my sarcasm meter needs calibrating.

WOW

I can't tell who is joking more? Can't wait to see how this concludes...

/popcorn

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

<spits out his coffee>

"<deleted>"

-mof

There is just no way to break this kind of tie. So solution is - get both!!

Both, but EarthShaker first!

I voted for GL, because of those sounds. However, for your real question, Diner.

But the best part of this is that they are all good games. So if someone else said Earthshaker, they wouldn’t be wrong.

Diner by a lot. ES is way too easy.

ES, Better sounds IMO.

Yes, Earthshaker is too easy, however, it's just plain FUN. Hitting the center ramp may be boring for people to watch all day (holy crap DON'T put it in a tournament) but it's therapeutic and really good for practicing timing. Diner is goofy, and definitely anti-PC, but whatever, it's a dumb pinball machine, and stirring the cup is one of the best feeling shots in all of pinball. The callouts are so bad they make you laugh and I LOVE that.

Interestingly, the pinball place my wife and I go to near us has both games on location. I play a TON of Earthshaker, she plays a TON of Diner. Music wise they both are good, but the jackpot theme of ES puts it slightly over Diner. So my vote is Earthshaker, but by a hair.

Grand Lizard is fun to play but the lizard looks like it was a kid's art project.

Hot take:

Whirlwind is the same game as Earthshaker.
Diner is the same game as Taxi.

Whirlwind>Earthshaker
Taxi>Diner

I say that with the utmost respect for both Earthshaker and Diner though as they're both damn fine games, and you wouldn't lose adding either to your collection. I just think when compared to their "sister" games, there are so many similarities that might make them feel more like extensions to games you already have as opposed to feeling like a different game entirely. IMHO, you already have the better alternatives, so I say give the search some time and go with Grand Lizard.

Can't agree more. Loved the Earthshaker I owned so I went and found a Whirlwind. Then I realized I owned two of the same game, and loved the theme of WW more, so I put ES on the market. As much as people say "You need a ES to complement your WW!" you really don't. It's just a left handed version without a second jackpot.

Speaking of which: CAN'T SOMEONE CODE THAT IN ALREADY?!

You own Whirlwind and Taxi. ES and/or Diner would be redundant, even in a large collection. Mousin' Around is a solid game from this era. Funhouse, High Speed, Banzai Run, Radical, F14?

I was going to say the same thing yesterday - spot on.

Weaker players go ES.
Better players - set to hard/hardest, open up your side drains, jack up the back legs, and grab Diner.

Es is fun for everyone. It's a complete package. Mine will never leave.
But seriously someone please make a jackpot relite code change! I'll pay.

I own both and I can't decide

I would certainly hope.
However, there are morons who are actually "offended" by Diner.

I've got WW and ES and love them both. They're the same, but different.

Edit.... What's offensive about Diner?

The only person saying anything about it in this thread is you.

So I wonder who the moron is?

*Abe Simpson shakes hand at cloud*

Aww man really??? I grew up playing pinball dominated many many games, and still came back to earthshaker!!! Just an awesome game!!! Never got tired of it!!!

Diner is better.

Earth shaker just makes you wish you were playing whirlwind.

Neither are exactly the deepest or most replayable games. You are buying them for system 11 charm but I’d say if you are buying a game for serious play look elsewhere.

These two are strictly in the “maybe my spouse / guest / kids will think it’s cool” arena.

Diner. Earth shaker too easy, long ball times

There are many ways to evaluate a game

Sometimes I like to rank based on how funny/goofy the sounds are, *since that's all that matters*. (this is purely subjective of course)

Diner > GL > WW > ES

ES just doesn't crack me up. Not that funny.

-mof

OK... lots of peer pressure I voted for Diner. However, I'm a HUGE Pat Lawlor fan.

*cough* grand lizard! *cough*

Look at it!

Sometimes I just look at it.

Look at this look at that.

20200816_154900 (resized).jpg

20200821_154959 (resized).jpg

My vote went to Diner with a VERY close 2nd to GL. GL definitely flows the best out of the three but needs a bit more for the rules

Would you look at that??? JUST LOOK AT IT!! LOOKS REALLY GOOD!

Just curious as I’ve never seen nor played one in person. What’s things are offensive?

Just stereotypes that wouldn’t hold up or be tolerated by many today.

That's a tough decision. I think Diner is one of the best *looking* pins ever made, but I've never quite been able to enjoy playing it as much as I wish I did. My main gripe is the Dine Time jackpot. Unlike a game like Mousin', where there's a few different, sensible ways to go about raising the jackpot, Diner either requires you to spell EAT 12 times, or spam the left ramp like 16 times *in a row* to max out the jackpot, because it doesn't actually start increasing the jackpot until like the fourth combo shot, and if you mess up the combo, you'll have to get it up to four again before Dine Time starts increasing again. Basically, once you start shooting the left ramp, you feel obligated to grind it for a couple minutes until you max out the jackpot. Comparing with Mousin' again, that game's jackpot system works really well since you don't lose any progress if you miss the ramp when spelling CHEESY, and so you can feel free to stop shooting ramps and go for something else if you want.

Of course Earthshaker has its own big flaw with the whole one jackpot per-multiball thing. I think overall I enjoy shooting Earthshaker more, but Diner looks so gorgeous it's honestly a game I'd still seriously consider even if I have some issues with how it plays.