I find it really difficult to judge a game by walking up to it and batting the ball around or shooting for the flashing lights. So many games are not intuitive. Even with my own games after years I’m still discovering little nuances or seeing them in a different light compared to other games.

I always start by studying the playfield - what shots there are, how long they are, where they go, what the mechs do with the ball, etc. If you’ve played many other games it’s usually possible to imagine what they feel like. Then I like to get down and dirty with the rules - are they clever, repetitive, how well do they utilize all the shots, what other games have similiar rules. For the rest you can watch videos in Youtube.

If you still want the game after this approach, I do not think it is taking a great risk to buy it before playing it.