AIQ Premium all day for me, too much change to the right side of the playfield on the Pro. Best shot in that game is the Captain Marvel and it is missing entirely from the Pro.

JP3? There is a 3rd one already?

yah, if you're gonna pay the price bump, there's no rush.

I own(ed) both. After nearly two years I still play JP3 premium more than all 20+ other games combined. Bought an AIQ and it barely lasted a week. It's not a bad game, but my expectations were extremely high after Maiden & JP3, and they were not met.

This is hard to verbalize, but AIQ seems too inward-focused to me, like all the rules take place in your mind. You have to memorize all the effects of each gem, how the effects change based on which level, what each hero does when leveled up, etc. None of it feels like it takes place under glass. You see a colored arrow and your brain has to do all the calculus to make it fun. There's a reason some guy made a tutorial, flash cards, and even a printed booklet to understand it.

Whereas with JP3, it's very deep and wide, with lots of overlapping modes & goals, but it feels very grounded, like you're playing your way through that world. The game takes place on the playfield. To me it's a modern, better LOTR. Great modes, multiballs each feel very distinct and with a purpose, handful of super rewarding mini-wizard modes, and a holy grail final wizard mode that could take years to reach, if you ever do. But you can also play the wizard mode as a mini game!

JP3 is my all-time favorite pin and I doubt even KME can top it. I hope Godzilla proves me wrong.

It's funny that you post this, but I'm going through the same thing right now. I'm limiting myself to most likely the Pro as opposed to the Premium since I've only played the Pros at leagues.

We've had JP for a few seasons now and I love it. The way the game rules mirror the movie is just awesome. The shots are completely satisfying and you can get some really good flow going. AiQ on the other hand is new and I've only gotten about 15 or so games on it, but I'm having a ton of fun with it. I put my first ball on it during our launch party, walked back and said "Dude, that machine is pretty bad ass".

As for the theme, it would be JP all day. I've always been a huge JP fan and grew up with it as a kid.

I've been saying that JP was going to be my next game ever since I played it, but I'm considering AiQ as well. Most likely because we've JP in leagues for 3 - 4 season, so I've had a lot of time with it. Pushes me towards AiQ since it's new to me.

Such a tough decision. Like roar said, I think you're going to love either one of them and you can't really go wrong with either.

I sold a star trek pre for JP3, it was the best upgrade I have made. You should not have too many issues finding someone who needs a monster bash. Its a amazing game, I thought MB was too easy.

I think the reason to not wait might be how long it takes to get one. Location pros and LEs will be built first...meaning you might not get one until November with the backlog and slowed production.

It's really going to come down to personal preference. I own both and prefer AIQ Prem over JP Prem.

why is there a 3 in the JP acronym?

I have owned all three and recently swapped out my Maiden Premium for an AIQ Premium and sold my JP3 Premium. I am still figuring out AIQ...but love the shots, the flow, and have started to truly appreciate the deep ruleset and many different strategies that can be used to play the game. I agree that the ruleset is complicated, but I think it translates really well for the home collector looking for a deep game with a lot of different ways to approach it.

I liked JP more than Maiden based on theme and found Maiden to be the least challenging of the three for sure. I actually found Maiden to be a bit too easy compared to the other two. I loved JP, don't get me wrong, but had it since December 2019 and played the hell out of it. Now, I'm really enjoying Avengers and, while the theme and callouts aren't the best, the layout and strategic elements more than make up for those items. The Capt Marvel ramp is pretty awesome and I like the physical portal ball lock as well as having the antman VUK. I think the AIQ Pro is pretty solid, but I'm definitely not regretting my Premium decision in the slightest.

Hope that helps

The original JP Data East = JP1, Lost World Data East = JP2, Stern JP = JP3

but lost world jp is JPLW. So JP 2 would be available.

If you say JP2 some people might think you mean LWJP. With JP3 there's no ambiguity.

I think most people don't count LW as one of the series because it straight up sucks

Feel exactly the same. I would love to see simpler rules in modern games. Keep the variety of modes, mb's, and wizard modes for depth but just keep the scoring, perks, multipliers, etc. more simple. I had a hard time connecting with AIQ for same reasons. Shoots pretty good but don't get a clear direction of how to start playing like JP and Iron Maiden.