On....but not bright. To hard to see IMHO in total darkness.

I like playing in the dark as that's the way it all started in the pool hall where the pins were located with hardly any lighting or dimmed is nice as well. I like to see the colors.

My eyes are not what they used to be. My F-14 was so bright with all the LEDs and flashers it was IMPOSSIBLE to play in total darkness. Ambient room lighting on dimmers recommended.

I used to play with the lights off. But I find that with the newer Sterns now, the light show is blinding with the lights off, so I play with the lights on now.

Personally it makes for a higher scoring game, however, you do give up the full effects of the fantastic light show on some of the newer titles like GoT, GB, MET etc etc.

I have overhead lighting on a dimmer switch. It's perfect!

"why not both".......famous quote from a popular machine, sometimes on.....sometimes off..

After all the issues with LEDs......Dimmable!

That way you are not turning your game into a Light Box!

Incandescent, or LEDs, will work best with ones own eyes!.....
adjust as needed, for you, as well as the lighting in your game.

I like some lights on for all my games, except AFM and CV. AFM's Strobe Multiball is best played in a dark room for the strobe effects, and CV's Neon Multiball is similar to Strobe Multiball, and it also best enjoyed in a dark room. I just wish Neon Multiball wasn't such a rare occurrence.

House lights off - neon and black lights on. Its a buzz-kill when the lights have to come on to remove the glass for whatever reason.

100% of the time I play with the lights off. I love the ambiance.

Part of Playing in the dark is related to the lighting in the game, and Old Age.....Cant see the ball the way I use to.

I have lights on in other areas of my basement but lights directly above pinball machines are turned off. The indirect lighting is perfect for my eyes and I still get the light show.

Original exposure I think has a lot do deal with it. See I would say the opposite that growing up playing them in arcades the lights were never off. Now so many people are introduced to them in home use where a lot of people play lights off.

I do a dim myself.

+1 on original exposure; dad took me to the bar and the smokey-dark bowling alley.

I obviously do not want cigarette smoke in my house nor do I like it, but just recently I was someplace and it was dark and some folks were smoking (not MJ for a change) and the smell brought me back.... just for that moment, I really missed it.

If Glade had a "bar/beer-smoke" plugin, I might buy it just for playing at least once.

In the dark.

Turn on all pins.

"May you always have enough pins in your house to provide adequate ambient lighting."
- Confucius, probably

Amen brother.

Lights off, neons and decorative lights on for the bar atmosphere my happy place!

Yeah this was a pool hall called Fezziwigs (spelled incorrect I know) in Mission Viejo, CA. It had five pins in its own area. I think that's where it all started and had to be 18 or older after 10pm or 11am to my memory.