LEs next week, Pros the week after that.

Had a chance to play the pro this past weekend and had a blast. Played about 5 games on it and was sold instantly.

Keith Elwin and Zombie Yeti are Stern’s best assents right now. Just put them on all future projects together

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Haven't played the Premium/LE, but I got strong Metallica similarity in the coffin lock/Strange lock. Cool visual, but doesn't really impact gameplay. The vuk and additional wireform will change how the game shoots, but the pro doesn't feel like a stripped down game on its own. The left side of the playfield is unchanged between all models and thats where a majority of the action/shots are.

Majority of people in this thread are going premium, but I think the pro is going to surprise people with how much game is in there. The Thanos glove on the pro almost looks like it was made with Modders in mind. There will be a custom mod that replicates or tops the premium glove in short time. Can't wait for my pro in a few weeks

My distributor said he'd be getting in pros for customers (non operators) late this week, Thursday or Friday.

Got my pro today and love the game. Keith Elwin and Zombie Yeti both have flawless track records in my book. All of the shots except the Ant-Man standup(VUK on the prem/le) are very long. The game is pretty forgiving and is comparable in difficulty to Iron Maiden, especially in that I feel that Iron Maiden really only has one challenging shot (left ramp between pops) and so does AIQ (Captain America shot between pops, occasionally blocked by the strange disc). Because all of the main shots are way up the playfield, theres plenty of time to nudge and recover, which is why I think it plays longer. The right orbit (Black Panther) to ramp is smooth as butter and so satisfying to hit. All of the main shots flow so well together.

The location I was routing my games at closed down, which forced me to rapidly downsize my collection, resulting in this AIQ. Kind of bittersweet because while I love this new game for my personal collection, I think this game is gonna be a hit on route between the theme and forgiving-enough-for-newbs difficulty with the 25-page ruleset for experienced pinheads.

Regardless if you get a pro or Prem/LE, if you've enjoyed Elwin's games up to this point, you're gonna be happy with this game.

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Today is the first time I’ve actually bothered reading through the Stern rulesheet and Jesus does this game have an awesome rule set.

I thought maybe the Strange disc or Stark tower was detecting phantom/incorrect hits as some modes were starting inconsistently as 2 or 3 ball multi balls, but turns out it’s related to Portal locks turning gem modes into multiballs.

I HATED the shot multiplier mechanic of Star Wars, but feel the gem shot placement on AIQ works well for mode completion.

What is everyone’s opinion on the difficulty of modes? I haven’t played them all enough to rank difficulty in order or really know what’s going on occasionally, but I had a 5 minute long Thor multiball stacked with Time Gem mode and still couldn’t beat Promixa Midnight.

I was considering using AIQ as tradebait for a TWD premium/LE, but girlfriend had told me I’m not allowed to get rid of it. I’m glad as the game is growing on me the more I dig into the rules. It is astounding how much they’ve crammed into this game at launch.

Of the 5 main modes (gems) I'd rank in difficulty of just finishing them, minus any nuanced scoring opportunity or awarded gem placement etc ->

Power Gem (Hulk vs Black Dwarf) and Reality Gem (Strange vs Maw) as easy

Space Gem (Glaive) as moderate

Mind Gem (Supergiant) and Space Gem (Proxima) as hard

Anyone else care to chime in on the modes or general way to approach them? I generally don't play Mind or Space Gem without a Portal Lock added in for a multiball at mode start.

Anyone with a pro having issues with balls getting stuck behind the Captain Marvel spinner bracket? Don't know if its the balls getting magnetized and stuck on it, or if its a pitch issue.

Massive lightshow improvements in .92! Specifically for Iron Man multiball qualification (sweeping orange lights) and Soul Gem's light show, it now actually feels like the mini-wizard mode it is.

I enjoy AIQ as much as IMDN when I first played it a few years back. AIQ needs better direction and explanation in the quests and gem bonuses, as there is a bunch hidden in the code that is currently at work, but you have no idea what you're actually doing unless you read through the 25 page ruleset multiple times.

I'm hoping much more speech, sound effects and overall minor polish makes its way into the game before 1.0, because the code thus far is incredible, just poorly explained to the player without the rulesheet.

The alternating red/yellow lightshow related to the Iron Man lock is new in .92, as is the GI going out and RGB effects during ballsave, related to the Cap graphic on the screen.

This - have a DP at work, JP on location 10 minutes away and AIQ at home (all pros) and enjoy AIQ the most. The combinations of what modes you play first/where you place your gems and the different approaches keeps AIQ fresh. JP and DP are pretty linear how you approach them. JP I think is outstanding and DP is just ok, but I would take AIQ over both.

Would keep Maiden and dump JP for AIQ. Have known way too many people that sold IMDN and regretted it, ended up getting another. Maiden is also out of production and may be difficult to get ahold of in the future, JP is still in production.

A molded, well done gauntlet for the pro would be a giant upgrade and sell to virtually every pro owner.

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Looking to possibly leave the club if anyone is looking for a pro and has some pins to trade.

Still love the game, but I find myself playing TMNT and IMDN much more, so I’m seeing what’s out there .

Feel the same about what you're saying. AIQ has an amazing layout, rules (that will only get better once it's fleshed out and finished, already amazing as is unfinished, though) and cabinet/playfield artwork.

The presentation as far as audio, display-effects and music are all either missing or are awful, though. It takes away from how great all the other aspects of AIQ are. The display effects, while having no impact on the game itself, are the worst since Stern switched from DMDs. Even worse than Aerosmith and thats not easy to do. It looks incomplete and lazy, like some halfassed free-to-play mobile card game.

Thankfully with Pin Browser we'll be able to change it to something presentable (like what was done with JP2), but its a lazy, ugly mess from the Stern team.

I hope everyone with an LE/premium is enjoying their game, but I’ve got to say I’m glad I went pro reading pages upon pages of how difficult the CM ramp is to dial in.

Played a premium on location and the CM ramp is awesome when you hit it just right, but the amount of rejects was infuriating.

Hoping we get a code update soon, I’m getting close to seeing everything in .95.

I’d argue that besides Thanos, Thor, Black Panther and Hulk, the rest of the voice acting is as bad as X-men.

We’ll get custom audio/video sooner or later and fix it, though.

I still prefer IMDN over AIQ, but Keith hasn't made a bad game yet and I like AIQ more than JP.

AIQ does deserve some flack because the audio is just awful. The music seems like filler and all of it sounds mostly the same, there is nothing from the audio that will make you realize you're in Thor multiball as opposed to IM multiball as opposed to just playing a Gem mode with a portal lock in place. The call outs are half assed for the most part (Thor, Thanos, Hulk sound good..the rest are awful) and aren't instructional.

It's a sharp looking game and Zombie Yeti is amazing, but I feel like this is his worst pinball art package thus far. Still looks good, just not quite as great as TMNT, IMDN, DP.

With that said...there is a T O N of depth in the code with how the gems work, the layout has amazing flow/combos and it is overall a great pin. I went back and forth a month or two back about potentially getting rid of my pro, but after the latest code update adding Thanos Attacks and further polish, I've decided to hold onto it longer. Will it be a long term keeper? Time will tell, but i'm thoroughly enjoying it now.

I think that once someone adds in good music and callouts people are going to look at this game differently like they did with TWD after Cleland made the audio as good as the rest of the package.

My post on the spinning disc has now come loose and flown off a 2nd time after properly screwing it down and tightening it. I'm looking at using loctite as others have mentioned. Do you put the loctite on metal cutout on the disc, on the rubber itself, where?

Love the game, but having to routinely hunt for nuts and screws flying off the game every month is irritating.

Deadpool is a great game and IMDN has been my favorite game since it came out (and still is), but AIQ has more depth than both combined. Getting timed modes/awards from the drop target grid, shooting combos to get a portal lock, spinning the disc to start a mode, bringing in a IM or Thor MB once youre back down to single ball play. Theres so much you can stack on top of each other and different ways to approach getting a big score, without even getting into the order to play modes in or which shot is most beneficial to place each gem on.

AIQ is rough around the edges with its presentation and A/V, but it has a brilliant layout and code to match. It's just going to be up to us to fix the shortcomings Stern couldn't afford or be bothered with, unfortunately.

That’s a bug, Soul Gem is a 1 ball mode, any portal locks should count toward whatever mode you start after Soul.

Haven’t had it happen on my pro

Nudge preemptively before the ball gets to the rubber to hopefully get it to bounce back in action.

If I see the ball heading toward the middle or top of either slingshot, I give it a shake in the opposite direction to prevent it from going toward the outlanes

Looks like a lot of lightshow improvements in the patch, curious how the Captain Marvel hurryup works and how valuable it is. Previously I kind of ignored the Marvel shot except to feed the ball to the right flipper

It's weird hes the only character on the PF nowhere in the code or on the screen. War Machine isn't in any of the artwork and is in the replay animation.

Put up a decent score today and got 4 of the 6 gems and reached Black Order multiball for the first time in a month or so.

I can’t put my finger on why, but when I reach comparably difficult mini wizard/longer reaching goals like Horde on TWD, Team Up on TMNT 2M2M/Cyborg on IMDN or Destroy the Ring on LOTR, threes a sense of accomplishment with sound effects/music tracks/light shows exclusive to that mode and some kind of awareness you’re in a fairly difficult mode to get to.

Black Order is worth big points, but the music, sound effects etc...nothing is different and it doesn’t feel like an accomplishment to get there, when it should be, as you’re one set of Avengers away from getting to the final wizard mode, Battle Thanos.

I know this is a super minor complaint, I just feel like the big things I look for in a pin (layout, code) are phenomenal in AIQ, but the speech, music, graphics and details are lacking.

You can go binary on the pro after a certain # of spins, but unless you really rip it from the left side its unlikely you'll go binary in one shot.

I can't wait until Pinball browser is updated and we can replace audio/video in this game. The terrible music/callouts and boring video are my only real complaints with this game. I love the ruleset and layout.

Both the sound and call outs really are that bad, but the layout and rules are more than enough to make up for them. If someone else doesn't do it first, I'll be putting clips from the cartoon that this was inspired by (Avengers Assemble i think it was called?) and callouts from the MCU, custom music etc. Waiting on the code to be finished now

I'd be interested to see if this bug carries over to the pro as well, haven't had it happen ever. I had a premium spit out two balls during Soul Gem and Black order, but not what you're describing.

Amazing game. Now that you've done all the game has to offer, are you over it, ready to sell and move on? Or still enjoy the game and looking to keep it?

When I thoroughly beat a game, like you've done here to AIQ, I usually get the urge to get something new in its place.

This would be my guess as well, haven’t ever noticed a ball saver for gem modes except when there’s a portal lock that goes along with it

Finally just beat the game, missing only the Space Gem. Took a full year of owning the game to do it. Kinda odd how the game ended, as it threw me into Black Order Battle Royale, which I won, recovering and then placing the Soul Gem (which I had previously lost in Thanos Attacks), then the next spin of the disc didn't give me the option to replay the failed Space Gem quest, it just put me automatically in Battle Thanos.

Had 2 portal locks loaded and wanted to see any additional bonuses from beating the game with all 6 gems collected. Oh well, will have to play better and have all 6 before the final mode next time. It was a rush finishing the game, my heart was about to explode spinning the disc the final time to start Battle Thanos.

Even the best players have dry spells. Go play your Walking Dead for a week straight and come back to AIQ, it'll seem easy

Just added Pinstadiums to my TWD, IMDN and Avengers and am on the fence losing the 2 color GI effects on TWD, but on games with single color GI like AIQ, I think it’s a massive upgrade and highly recommend them. It’s a fairly dark game and the entire center of the playfield’s art is lost if you’re playing in a dim/blacked out Gameroom

Have 2nd string of UV lights tied to the shaker motor, adds a cool effect similar to Stranger Things’ UV when it goes off

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AIQ has a cool layout that a casual player can enjoy, its not too difficult to make the shots, but the best part of the game, the code, is labyrinthic to the casual player and can really only be enjoyed by someone thats put the time to read the crazy rulesheet and is a above average player to start with that can collect, place and use the gems well.

I can definitely see how people are turned off by the game. It is borderline too complicated.

The points in the mode are pretty solid, I completed it today with 3 gems and got 150 million during the mode.

If they made it easier or similar to Soul Gem, there would be no danger with the mode. The game itself was way too easy to breeze through before they added Thanos Attacks, I think it serves as a good, challenging mid-game point.

If they update the game again I hope they just fix the achievements, I'm happy with everything else. Speaking of which are the Black Order Multiball achievements glitched like the disc spin ones? I just played it, didnt get credit for reaching it and I got a super Jackpot during it, and nothing.

The easy solution to this is to win just 1 gem quest, collect the soul gem and start Thanks Attacks with just 2 gems to win. Either that or you can purposely fail Soul Gem so the mode doesn’t start at all. If you can consistantly win gem modes the only downside to not having Soul Gem is missing out of Soul Gem Jackpots.

Very nice of them to follow in IMDN's steps and add a previously locked feature for pro/non-topper owners for the masses with Insider Connect. Interested to see what this mode is all about. Was no way in the world I was paying 100s of dollars for Stern's lame ass topper for one mode.

Leaving the club tomorrow, 1 month short of 2 years. I really enjoyed AIQ, I kept it way longer than the average pin. I beat it once before IC was connected and it irks me I haven't had a breakout game to do it again before letting it go, but I want a Zilla and couldn't say no to the trade offer.

Its a shame that the artist of the game was rushed after TMNT to get this out the door and that the video, callouts and music were the worst of the Spike 2 era thus far. The layout is really one of a kind and feels like a rollercoaster, the flow never stops going if you're hitting your shots and every shot with precise timing can lead to another lane. The ruleset is amazing, its just hard to appreciate behind the awful callouts and effects leading you through it. A journeyman, LOTR-like experience beating Thanos that is a rush.