There is also the "spinning disc" layout.

Which not only redirects balls after they leave the flippers, it also redirects buyers after waiting on a pre-order.

I’ve always personally delineated a fan layout as a game with near equal shot spacing adjacent to each other as found in Austin Powers and No fear.

In EM-Land you’ll hear asymmetrical and symmetrical designs. Symmetrical ones are games like Spacelab or Cleopatra and asymmetrical ones being Card Whiz or Wizard!

Flow games usually have long sweeping shots, and very few dead ends and kickout holes Stern’s Star Wars is a good example, so is Star Trek(s). (Steve Ritchie is known for this).

Stop and go games, to me, have short, abrupt shots, lots of kicker holes and VUKs. Sometimes rules have a determination in this factor. Games like Earthshaker, Rollercoaster Tycoon, and Junk Yard are more stop and go.

Then there are games with a lot of “side play.” Not sure what I’d call these, but this is a Pat Lawlor staple. His games always have a strong emphasis on shots made from side flippers. Dialed in, and Twilight Zone are good examples.

FANS (resized).jpg

https://www.scarm.info/layouts/track_plans.php

LTG : )

Thought this would be an off topic subject, until I read the full post. So no G, O, HO, N, scale track plans here.

The Mrs. is always wanting to go layout in the sun, but I'm happy with my farmer's tan.

In terms of Pinball I think mbaumle summed it up nicely.

Max you are a gentleman and a scholar as always. The real modern fan layout can be best illustrated with Attack From Mars. It is the quintessential layout from which all other sprang. There are examples before it, but none so perfect. It is the primordial ooze, if you will for everything Stern has done with this type of layout. For stop and go look at Pat Lawlors catalog of games for an idea. Very different, even with and especially Funhouse and Whirlwind.

Remember that some things like "flow" & "stop & go" are made up terms that cannot be explained by "facts." Not everyone agrees on these terms and their meaning so they can't always be taken so literally. They also seem to pigeonhole people into making per-concieved notions aboot games which is sad.
"I don't like widebodies" is my favorite recockulus statement. As if, Paragon, Demo man, & TZ all play the same because of their width.

I think they can be explained although I generally agree that there is not a cut and dried method to decree this machine as flow and that machine is stop and go.

I think flow games typically have ramps that at easy to hit and return the ball via a wire form back to a flipper. But rules are important to setting the tone. Flow games tend to have objectives that take advantage of the flow-y nature of the layout. Example, chaining shots into combos or hurry ups.

Stop and go layouts do not bring the ball back to the flipper as easily and the shots may be more difficult, requiring you to get the ball under control, stop and make a planned shot. Again, rules contribute to a game’s reputation as a stop and go title.

I can add that 'flow' games often have a loop shot that goes around the back of the playfield and returns to the flippers and many times this is called the outer loop. Loops shots do not have to be on the outside however.

Not saying that games with a loop shot are always considered flow games (TZ) - I'm saying that flow games many times have a loop shot (MM).

I think they can be explained too, but in many diff'rent ways without everyone agreeing on an answer

So they have to have wireform habitrail back to the flippers, no plastic allowed! See we disagree already

I always like to find patterns in designers' games. Barry Oursler's games, other than having his trademark voracious inlane/outlane combination, very often have a wide sweeping ramp shot that runs around the back of the game: Dracula, Junk Yard, Dr. Who, Hurricane, Pinbot, Bad Cats, and to a lesser extent Cyclone, and Who Dunnit.

I always loved the way the ramp in BSD felt. Buttery smooth, and provides the tension relief the player so desperately needs after getting beaten up by everything else in the game.

As far as stop and go..I think Addams Family is the best example. The skil shot, the mansion, the swamp, center shot to thing, even the the ramp when thing flips is a stop and go. They all stop the ball and then reintroduced the ball back into play. IMO Sterns ghostbusters is very similar to a stop and go pin, almost every shot you need to make stops the ball and then reintroduces it to the play. This is just my opinion as TheLaw has said there are varying opininons on this.