There has been a lot of talk about what should be or what could be lets hear what people think would be good non license themes and what are the best of the past by game sales not todays prices.
(Topic ID: 84206)
My top five themes would be something like:
Time Travel thru different ages
Search for Sasquatch/Yetis/Bigfeet
Space travel/UFOs/Wormholes etc
Haunted Cabin/House in the woods
Hell with the devil and all his buddies
I'd throw Zombies in there too but it looks like we have a couple on the way already.
Quoted from schwarz:
A burglar or thief themed game might be fun as well.
Safecracker might fill this void.
Quoted from bjoechamp:
Safecracker might fill this void.
I was thinking more like jewel thieves or cat burglars. Maybe starting off as a pick pocket.
More cloak and dagger esque.
St. Louis
Quoted from Ballsofsteel:
cheech and chong!!
Both unoriginal licensed themes.
Quoted from tcore:
I love some of the original carnival themed games that have been done... Funhouse, Cyclone, etc. How about a haunted carnival theme, like what happens at night after the carnival is closed?
Agreed, like something wicked this way comes.
What about a food/cooking theme?
Seems all the rage these days.
Pan searing bumpers.
Flambe extra ball.
Poached egg orbit.
Minced meat multiball.
I think I'm officially out of ideas.
My son comes up with novel themes all the time while he designs playfields. Some of my favorites were:
Ice Cream Shop (he thought of this theme as a pun on "scoop" and went with it, had cool modes and multiballs collecting flavors, filling orders, getting raw ingredients and such)
Solar Madness (the outer planets all had modes and rules, there was an "orbit" around Saturn for the rings, the pops had hidden standups and were the asteroid belt, Pluto was a behind the field ramp shot for a lock, the inner planets were an under the table playfield ala' Black Hole, etc... pretty cool)
Backpacker (pretty easy to imagine this, equipment to collect, mountains to climb, hazards to avoid, there was a random reward / mode start saucer where he said the backglass would have an animation where the guy complained about prices)
I have more than 100 of these things.
Backpacker sounds awesome.
Lost in the mountains, lost in the jungle, lost at sea.
Just getting lost all over the place with a backpack sounds good to me.
Still think there is a lot to do with the "Knights of the Realm" or medieval period game (yeah those descriptions stink)... Dragon moving toys, cool sword mods, castle toys, dungeon toys damsels in distress on backglass (as female pin art seems to be returning) etc etc- hell yeah!! Or maybe a storm the castle mode with a catapult...
Quoted from TheDarkKnight68:
Still think there is a lot to do with the "Knights of the Realm" or medieval period game (yeah those descriptions stink)... Dragon moving toys, cool sword mods, castle toys, dungeon toys damsels in distress on backglass (as female pin art seems to be returning) etc etc- hell yeah!! Or maybe a storm the castle mode with a catapult...
So basically a Game of Thrones pin. Sounds good to me
Quoted from ek77:
the best theme would come from a non pinball player 10 year old there wild ideas wold be best
I'd put my eight year old's designs up against some random 10 years old any hour of any day of any week.
Leduc, AB
For non licensed themes, there are many, but can they be successfull?
In no particular order. Ghosts, zombies, vampires, occult, magic, sci-fi, circus, space, western, clowns, travel, sports, gambling, patronism, parties, beach theme, arcade theme, cards, dinosaurs, Roman age, knights, steam age, dragons, evolution, mythology, cryptozoology, there are many.
You hear so much about people yearning for original themes - I'm curious why more collectors aren't searching for the 80's/90's Gottlieb and Al G games. Original themes out the wazoo, but no one really seems to care about these games. Bonebusters, Class of 1812, Cactus Jacks, Lights Camera Action, Surf 'N Safari, Al G's Garage Band, etc. Super original themes, layouts and features....and, they're not priced through the stratosphere. Most are prob $1500 or less.
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