hey folks. someday soon i'm planning on having a party and inviting a bunch of friends over to play pinball. they are not pinheads at all, so i'm trying to think of ways to get them excited and engaged in the games, and make it fun for everybody. the lineup will be STTNG, Funhouse, Black Hole, MM.

here are some ideas i'm considering:

- getting a bunch of lottery scratchers or small bottles of booze, and award them as prizes to anyone who can reach certain achievements -- start Final Frontier on STTNG, reach 3-ball multiball on Black Hole, complete the mirror on Funhouse, defeat the King of Payne on MM. (probably limiting it to one per guest)

- reset the high scores on all the games, and award prizes to the top three on each game at the end of the night.

- maybe even hold some kind of mini-tournament at some point? any ideas for a format that can be completed quickly and easily?

also, how do you guys think i should set up the games? extra balls enabled or disabled? should i set them up easy, normal, or brutal?

any other ideas or suggestions are welcome.

Oh it won't be before MMRLE arrives. So obviously no firm date or anything yet.

I mean ... If they don't want to play pinball they don't have to come. I'm not forcing anyone to do anything. Showing up at a pinball party I think implies some level of willingness to play pinball.

yeah, i think you're right about that. hmmmm...

yeah i think i agree. i think shorter games might have a better chance of holding their attention. the last thing i want to do is bore them.

this is sort of what i want to avoid, and i think adding some casual structure of some kind is the way to do it - either by competition or by setting goals (and offering token rewards either way). just asking them to start games and make up their own objectives is asking them to walk away disinterested, in my opinion.

i think i'll offer the scratchers / booze for the objectives i originally mentioned, knowing full well it's extremely unlikely anyone will get close to the Final Frontier on STTNG or whatever, but i'll offer them just so they can realize there is, you know, "end game" content, progression, etc, on these tables. i think that is something most non-pinball people don't realize.

i'm thinking i'll leave the option open for a single-elimination tournament if people seem up for it. you never know. i'll keep thinking about this, though ... the party likely won't be for a while.

hmm maybe i'll tell them I have TMNT to get them to come, but then when they arrive it'll just be the NES version. THAT oughta keep em playing the pins!

yeah I've experienced both before. you don't realize how much jargon we use until you try to explain it to someone! pinball machines seem to assume everyone knows exactly what "light lock" means -- that it enables some other shot which will capture a ball, which will be released when multiball is achieved. none of that is at all obvious to a normal person.