It occurred to me yesterday that out of my collection of 25 pins, only 4 have what I would call [EDIT:] Story Modes. I define Story Modes to mean "a linear progression of prescribed shots with a story line, usually with a dedicated playfield insert or indicator". LOTR, RFM, JM and Dirty Harry have lots of Story Modes. Metallica, IM, Congo and POTC don't, or they only have a few. And of course all of my older pins are completely mode-less. It's hard to tell a story without a DMD.

I've noticed that I spend a lot more time on games with few or no Story Modes. The games I like, people tend to call "shallow" (like IM). But the way I look at it, these games go "wide" instead of deep. At any moment, there are many different strategies in front of you. The joy of playing these games is to learn all of these strategies, and see which one works best.

What's the future of pinball? Is it deep storytelling via modes (like ST and LOTR), or is it "wide" games like IM and GOT? Do you prefer one style over the other?

While I'm at it, I'll mention what I think makes a good modal pin. The reason LOTR works so well is that all of the modes are very different (thanks to Keefer). I never get that "lather, rinse, repeat" feeling when I'm playing LOTR. RFM is the opposite: most of the modes use the same shots (ramps and orbits). I still love RFM, but it would have been better to have more shot variety.

I guess it's a question of degree - there's a spectrum between "Mode-less" and "Modal". When I did the Mind Map for Congo, I discovered a few modes, like Skill Fire, Ghost Tribe and Amy Good Gorilla. But these are not essential to playing the game - they aren't required to reach the wizard mode.

IM is probably the least Modal game I own. The only real mode is Bogey scoring. And yet, it's my go-to game.

I agree the definition of "Mode" is open to interpretation. I'm really talking about the subset of modes I'd call "Story Modes". These modes say "Hey, I'm going to tell you a story now. When we get to the end, something cool will happen." So modes like "And Justice for All" in MET are not what I'm talking about. Sorry for the confusion.

I love playing Story Modes on games that I don't own. I tend to get sick of them on games that I do own, unless they feel "different".

Maybe we can change the conversation to "what makes a great story mode?"

Great dots and callouts, varied shots (within the same game), and a satisfying reward (like "RELEASE OUR RIVER"..."Gift of the Elves!").