If it matters, Stranger Things has great flow and is mostly easy to shoot. It’s more beginner-friendly, IMO. Not sure how anyone could call it “blah”. It has the best light show by far, once you install the UV kit. I went to a location to try one, and it was constantly in play. Very fun game.

If you have the opportunity, definitely play both games on location. Before I decided that STH would be my next new Stern, I played a lot of AIQ, EHOH, IMDN and AFM. In the end, STH was the one game I kept wanting to go back to. I made a trip back the next Saturday and did it all over again.

It’s a very personal decision, with theme, layout, rules and art all playing a part. So don’t cheat yourself by relying on Pinside opinions or even gameplay videos. It’s worth driving a few hours to play everything, if you can.

Don’t listen to the Pro skeptics on Stranger Things. It’s plenty of fun without the projector, the TK lock and a few other bells and whistles. And it’s of the few pros with the exact same layout as the LE (minus the TK lock).

What was a let down? Layout, rules, art or sound?

I sincerely appreciate your opinion. I had the opposite experience with AFM and EHOH, but that’s pinball - it’s very subjective what’s fun and what isn’t. An arcade or barcade probably isn’t the best place to experience any game’s audio. I honestly went in kind of blind (or deaf) on Stranger Things because the volume was way too low, and there were snot-nosed kids playing the free shooter game next to me (and leaning on the pin!). I took a chance, and was really happy with the stock music, but Cleland really did take it to another level. I’m working on the callouts in the game, so you’d likely have multiple custom audio tracks to choose from. I don’t know the fan base for the other games, but I can tell you that the STH club is pretty much starry-eyed in love with the game.

I absolutely loved my JP for 2 years, and I think it’s a great one for everyone to have at some point. I just wasn’t worthy - I never got to a single wizard or mini-wizard mode. But it’s a genius game.