both very cool. Dialed In playfield layout is better. if i would get one of those two, i would get dialed in

I played both on location (about 15 games of Houdini and about 20 games of DI) and bought a DI, which just came yesterday. I have no doubt that I made the right choice. Houdini was a beautiful game with a lot of cool ideas but there was no comparison as far as gameplay. I’m still getting the hang of the shots on DI but you can left ramp, right ramp. side ramp, right ramp, left loop this thing for days and it’s so smooth. I got no flow from Houdini and I’m a flow whore. The artistry is top notch on both games. I might warm up to Houdini more if I owned it but on location I tried and tried but just couldn’t sync with the machine. The Batman 66 next to it though....

That is the choice I am making now, leaning towards DI

Houdini. Dialed In is fun and the shots are much easier to make, but it gets old since it's very linear (at least right now). Houdini has many ways to attack the game and lots of mini-wizard and special modes. Dialed In has 3 (Chaos, Armageddon, and Shutdown, though the updated manual points to another one, Theatre Multiball, coming).

In a home environment, Houdini if you can only have one, and it's a couple grand cheaper than DI, to boot.

If you love flow Houdini is not for you as Houdini is not a flow game. It's stop and go, more akin to Twilight Zone. Dialed In is great, but the structure to advance wears thin after a few months since it's essentially the same every time. They added the Chaos mini-wizard mode, which breaks things up, but it's not enough IMO.

In that case, if you love flow and stop and go equally as long as the game is good, I reiterate that Houdini is the one to get.

I vote Houdini. Better theme. More modes. More challenging shots. Cheaper.

completing a mode in DI then getting the sim card never gets old. It’s a rush every time.

Dialed in is the better overall package, and as other have stated has much more flow than Houdini, but for a first game Houdini is very good. A friend of mine said that Houdini is a wide body game sandwiched into a regular, I think that is pretty accurate. The shots, especially on the right, are so tight that I feel it crosses the line from challenging to frustrating. Dialed in just plays so smooth and getting Big Bang to complete a mode is just so satisfying!

Both are good games, no wrong answer here

Not even close. Houdini is a brick fest and lacks the polish of stern let alone JJP. Judging from the market reaction to it, especially on route Houdini has struggled.

Dialed in though it's very linear and as someone mentioned starts to feel like the same game each time. However it's a great shooter with a cool layout super polished feels great. DI all day

Dialed In is what we went with. Wife likes it, as well as friends and family. Great shots and layout. Lots of fun

DI all day!

Replace the shooter rod spring to a red one ASAP!!!

Owned a NIB Houdini for about two weeks......I am NOT a person who sells games quickly but Houdini is like playing a game where more than 75% of your shots are bricks.

Its soooo hard to put combos together it gets frustrating but of the two theme and toys are most appealing to me

As for DI it plays great and is feature packed but the theme kills it for me..... emoji multiball and so forth. Im not a 10 year old.

If I had to choose it would be DI.

I have both games at home and have played both extensively. DI is amazing from a technical / show off standpoint, and it is like slipping your hand into a well-worn glove. It just fits - you instinctively know where all the shots are and it's very fun- layout is fairly similar to TAF

Houdini on the other hand, makes You work for -everything- many of the shots are not clear, it takes time to figure them out and you really have to finesse many of the shots. When you do figure out a shot, it is VERY rewarding. I've commented on other threads that the game forces you to become a better player because you have to
Sit and think about what you're doing and sort of
Decode the shots. This is the reason most people are whining about it being too hard ("shots are too tight..."), but it is also the reason the game Will last a long time in a home environment. Ball and game times are perfect - you can have a satisfying game in 10 minutes or so, and that is an intense 10 minutes - but not like say LOTR or TH where you're just worn out from the ball
Times.

If it were me, I'd go Houdini - there is no other game like it, the bang for The buck is outstanding.

So bottom line - DI is classic Lawlor, things "fit" and you know what you're doing immediately, very familiar.

Houdini is new ideas, a softer playing game, more finesse required and takes a while to figure out the geometry, which for me is much more rewarding.

I had a Houdini and I've played dialed in. Houdini was sold and dialed in is on my short list to replace it. I look for games that are fun and I enjoy playing. Dialed in checks both of those boxes. As others have said, Houdini is a brick fest and I don't find it fun to miss a shot 75% of the time when it could have been designed better. It's not just one shot that's tight, it's 4 or more. They are not just tight, but poorly designed in my opinion.

DI all day.

I have 2 locations that have both games. They are basically even in terms of earning. Price to play is the same. After the most recent code update I've been told people like Houdini better but in fairness Dialed in has been out a lot longer.

My personal preference is Dialed In. My daughter loves the game and looks forward to all the interaction that really isn't offered with any other pinball. I see some complain about the music and theme. I think it is light hearted and can be set at just about any family friendly establishment, so I do like the theme but i understand the issues with it as a collector. Houdini is fun and very challenging. It's really improving with the increased depth of programming. I'm sure they will both be a hit no matter which one you chose.

20180512_172606 (resized).jpg

20180529_203515 (resized).jpg

I vote Dialled In.

Easy decision because they are apples to oranges.

Houdini gives you a better theme, stop and go strategy, saving a couple grand, and difficult play.

Dialed In gives you terrific layout and flow, and ease for everyone playing.

Pick your poison, both terrific and beautiful machines.

This is false. Houdini earns. DI, not so much in relation to its cost.

And what "market reaction" are you referring to? Have you seen how popular the pin is at shows? Do you know how many units they're selling?

Do you operate machines? I don't either. I'm just going off of what I've seen (been in multiple bars with Houdini and it's almost always not played). I've also heard from people on these boards about how the game is not doing well. Who knows - can't say for sure.

As for the general public, I've noticed many houdini's for sale from other pinside users which is a little odd when a game is first released (vs something like a TnA where you don't see any).

Ultimately this is just my opinion.....I've also played the game many times myself and really don't like it. I hit the narrow shots too - it's not just that.

I have 4 Dialed In LE's on my route. They have all earned at the top of their respected locations.

Houdini has also been in the mix as well. We are still on the fence about taking on more for the street.

Your situation may be different but I offer my customers an opportunity to request games as they are circulated on my route. Every customer with a pinball machine that knows of Dialed in requests it. That's very telling to me. To each their own, we purchase at least one example of every game out there new. It could very well be your experience that Houdini is the better earner and I am happy other operators are supporting these companies. Good luck on your route! Best,

Chris

Also cost is relative. Houdini is 7k, DI is 9k. If the game earns 20% better per month, that difference is not as relevant. This has been my experience so far.

Sorry, but norcal realtor DOES operate machines.

Apart from that, i'm most interested in the comments that DI is linear. How so?

Are modes always in the same order like RS? It seemed more like Ripleys to me. Or is it just ther order of mini wizard modes?

I'm glad to hear DI is doing well for you. It basically needs to be tp dog at $9k. A high traffic Nor Cal location had one and the op told me it was not keeping pace with the Stern Pros.

Every location is different though. More data points are helpful, so thanks for sharing.

Houdini, tough game but worth it.
Practice makes perfect.
You want a fast flow that takes your pictures for an extra 2300, go for it. For that price the new Nikon DSLR at 1300 costco is a better camera.

Yeah, but to be fair, that Nikon has ZERO flow.

We cld not get into Houdini... didn't like the layout or the way it plays unfortunately. Dile is one our favorites ever and will never leave and its just great.

Nice - that's why I was asking. Surprised to hear that about DI but maybe that's just the specific locations

As for linear - the modes can be changed by hitting a certain shot (forget which one - sold it months ago) BUT it's basically charge phone, play mode (which is just shoot this, shoot that) get SIM card then do it again. The good news is that it shoots REALLY well - butter smooth. Now maybe new code has changed this and added in more variety.

Great points. Stern pros are great also. They almost always attract customers and they release 4 games a year which is also helpful for keeping our lineups fresh.

Here is a long term prospect for all of Jack's games, they are accepted to be a $1 per play for their entire lives on the route. Now that stern, spooky and American have introduced LCD's, we will see if they can keep that viability. I have some sterns with LCD screens on my route. 75 or 3/$2. This is where there is some bang for your buck with stern. My original WOZ's are still $1 and holding their own on the street.

My choice would be neither. If I had too choose one it would be Houdini.

Who you kidding Darin? You saying a game will never leave is like me saying I will not be posting in the “what game did you bring home thread” ever again.

I’ve played it a fair amount of games on both, but don’t own either one. Houdini is definitely the more attractive game to me from the artwork and looks perspective, but the shots are tight. Still, I have fun playing it, because I like challenging games.

DI Is a great game also and plays well, but the theme and interaction component doesn’t do much for me.

I keep things for a long time if i love them but i guess at some point i may sell, but di wld b last to go. I actually may be selling off most of my collection (minis bsd and di) to help fund our dream house and some land .

I played both of these games on location for the first time this week. My perspective below may not really help with someone looking to buy the game for home use. It is the perspective of someone that operates games, so take it or leave it as you want. I knew DI was well regarded but I was kind of out of the loop on Houdini as I hadn't paid a lot of attention to it.

I played several games of Houdini with my wife and my daughter. We really enjoyed it. I thought it was easy to understand the objectives and that they were fun. I didn't think anything about tight shots or it being difficult until after we were home and I looked at the reviews. I then remembered that this was a complaint about the game. Maybe it is my style of play, or how the game was set up, but tight shots wasn't on my radar after playing it. I thought it was very well done and came away impressed and wanting to play it more. We had several games that I'd consider rather long. As an operator I left thinking I'd consider getting one. The lower price is also appealing.

I played DI four times. I made myself play it four times because I'd heard so much about it and felt I had to give it a chance. I left unimpressed and not caring if I played it again. It just did not gel with me and I couldn't get into it. I found the artwork and toys unappealing, the theme is obscure, overall it just didn't garner any interest. My impression on walking up cold to each game is that Houdini grabbed me and I wanted to play more. DI didn't have that appeal. Neither my wife or daughter looked at DI or played it. Another thing that I found interesting is I know how many times I played DI because as I mentioned, I made myself play it. I have no idea how many times I played Houdini because we kept putting more quarters in it and playing it again and again.

I know I need to spend more time with DI. I'm not dogging the game, I'm just giving my quick first impression. An impression like this doesn't mean DI is bad or that I'll never like it. It is just what I thought after seeing and playing both games for the first time. I've operated Twilight Zone and that is an example of a game that the general public doesn't understand but players love. Hopefully I'll get a chance to play DI more and figure it out and learn what people find so appealing about the game. But that's the thing, with DI I felt I'd have to learn to love it. That wasn't the case with Houdini. Of course with more time on Houdini I might learn to hate it, that's always a possibility. But as an operator I left thinking Houdini was more fun and would earn me more money from the general public.

OK,these pins play entirely different!!! When people say,oh,thats too hard,(Whine) then thats clearly not for you!Yes Houdini is harder to play!! Its for players,not whiners! You want easy and fast go play Bugs Bunny !A hard pin to play,makes Johnny a better player!I thought SW was hard to shoot as well but people passed on the difficulty for the popularity of the title! Everybody has different styles of play,stay within your style!!!!

Not sure how to answer this one as I love them both for different reasons lol. I think they are great to have together personally....2 amazing home games!

20180523_012408.jpg

There you are,a honest answer!

Agreed, the game feels like the designer play tested it for all of a week. On the two examples I've played the flippers feel like have a weird fucking delay going on or something... as such, the game just does not feel "right". I was actually wondering if there is some sort of PC controlled delay going on because I've never had such a funky playing experience on a game right out of the box.

For you guys with DI just curious what your thoughts are on the scoop protectors. I used to really enjoy playing the game on route but ever since the protectors we're installed on the phone scoop and Sim Card the game is too frustrating to play with all the rejects. Totally ruins the game experience for me!

I use mylar, are the protectors causing the game to reject the shot?

I just bought a dialed in and I never thought I would. I wasn’t interested in the theme or the art package. I might be in the honey moon phase but it’s the most fun I’ve had on a pin in a long time.

Yes. I'd say the he phone scoop is 5x more difficult to hit with the protector in vs. out. SIM card shot is the same way. Takes any enjoyment I had in the game away. Houdini has tight shots but doesn't punish you as much for hitting clean shots.-although I have gotten plenty of bounce outs from clean stage hits.

Newer DI have cliffy style protectors installed which have improved the shot to the hole. Sim shots always been tough but not impossible.
I’ll never like selfie bs, but the gameplay overall has turned me around on DI.

Want to play more Houdini, that one left a good impression right away. Challenging shots but nowhere near a clunkfest with pretty good code at this point.

If you can get some time on both games first...they are nothing like each other. I have to drive twice as far to play Houdini, but the game gives me a reason to go. Dialed In is at my local spot, and I could care less I just don't find it very compelling. People love that game though.

FWIW, I have played Houdini a lot and don't care for it, but do you need to be such dicks about it? The designer is one of the few people in the industry who still posts here. I'm sure it's just awesome to get crapped on constantly by people who haven't designed shit.

I'm not saying everything has to be all sunshine and rainbows but it would be nice if more people in the industry would post here.

Houdini has one MAJOR flaw, despite its beauty and great code: geometry. Whoever designed this PF was no engineer. The shots simply feel wrong. And when I heard it was designed without the benefit of a whitewood, even, it all made sense. If AP survives to make a second and a third pinball, I will buy their products as I did Houdini, because of the code and the attractiveness of the game. Geometry, I would hope, is a mistake a company makes only once.

Do you have a Houdini on route? It's one of the top earners, still, on the route I help with. Can't say that about Dialed In. It dropped off after about a month to the middle of the pack then drifted down from there.