AC/DC most certainly improved my game. Great game to sharpen your skills on.

+1

Pin-Bot will increase your nudging skills with those F-ing outlanes.

Seems like IM/TRON/MET are all making me a better player, though sometimes I don't see it on those particular pins (if that makes any sense. Brief explanation...earlier this year, I was playing a lot of AC/DC Premium (and was getting better, but not "killing it"). Then I picked up IM/TRON/MET and they've all been giving me grief. I recently went back to AC/DC and I'm "killing it" now. I find some games make me a better player even if I'm not seeing it on those pins.

I wouldn't necessarily say I've mastered it, but I believe the time I spent on Judge Dredd, especially supergame, back in the 90s and recently made me a better player. But it also made other games with naturally long ball times seem very boring and monotonous.

In my collection, it's DH, IM and Space Station. DH requires precise shooting, IM requires good reflexes, and SS will teach you to drop-catch.

im,tron,met as snaroff said:
also:

jackbot
WOF
indy 500
high speed
a TAF wish nasty feeds
em's or SS games that are harder to control (like quicksilver, flash gordon, fast draw, fireball, black hole).
JD

find a mixture of games that play fast with flow, and games that have stops and are slower paced.

Anything by Steve Kordek will force you to learn how to shoot.

I will also add that any time spent on various EM games that have no ball save, will always make you a better player. I like warming up for DMD games by playing my EMs first.

Watching other people play, not any specific machine, has made me a better player. I've learned some very useful techniques that way.

BSD can be pretty mean, so it's a good one for helping you improve your skills.

Any game of his in particular that stand above the rest?

X's & O's. it constantly forces me to play in control and shoot with precision. If you don't, you simply can't fill out the board correctly. Just hitting a sling changes which is lit, and changing back also requires precision or an extra tap of the sling or rolling down the inlane changes it again. It took me a while to realize what a bitch the game is. And if I play it for a while, I'll play any game better.

EM games teach you a lot aboot nudging.

Paragon is the ultimate pinball training game to get shots and nudging down at a great price. That game has it all (I do not own that machine).

Yeah for sure. Even learn you how to tap pass with those super short inlanes.

Shadow.

Comet would be a common one that you would not have a hard time finding. Kids and casual players can just bat the ball around and have a good time, but to really master that game, you have to know how to shoot (and some features can only be made to happen on ball 3....). The Dunk the Dummy will kill the flippant player.

Pokerino would be a rare example. You have this really wide open playfield, but the shots are exacting, and many can not be directly hit from the flippers. The Joker drop target must be down for the spinner to score 1000 per spin and to collect any earned bonus, but it is dangerously positioned to drive careless shots SDTM.

For me personally it's been JM and XMEN that have attributed the most to my play improvement

+1. I don't even play it unless I'm ready to step up.

Sinbad- inline flippers will teach you how to live/drop catch real fast.

Flash Gordon- every shot is an exercise in regaining control. Just forget what you see in the PAPA tutorial; that sh!t is god-tier.

2" flipper EMs - nudge nudge. Say no more.

Fish Tales is a good one to cut your teeth on though. Some of those games are over before I even know where the ball is.

Another vote for BSD.Brutal Fun

no contest...avengers! master the five shots and you can hit anything on any other machine.

Taxi, Jackbot

High Speed gets my vote.

For me it's the Shadow, and Bram stokers Dracula. Both have made me a better player, I just bought a Totan, and easily destroy it Everytime I play it...

Avengers for me, then Xmen

games like TZ continually test your shot making and nudging skills.

Tron and IM test your manhood.

T-2 has helped me with multiballs. operation thunder with aiming and anger management

+1, i agree with this!

Yep said it before and ill say it again my bsd has made me a better player no doubt

Wheel of Fortune. It hones your nudging and your understanding of ball physics and vectors.

STTNG and RBION. Difficult drain monsters of games with tons going on. You have to nudge and trap balls with controlled shots to do anything. Lots of strategy in both as well. Really complete packages IMHO.

I think that the games that truly improve your skill the most are generally the older games where really precise shots are needed to score high. Cybernaut was the first machine I owned, and it requires perfectly accurate shots to hit the targets in sequence (that are 3/4ths of the way up the playfield and then on a slant) to advance them. You have to hit them in order. Other than that, there really isn't much to the game - there is a ramp, but if you hit the ramp how I set it up it was very hard to control the ball coming back into play, so that was a dangerous thing to do.

The game has like 15 targets total, but requires really precise shooting, ball passing, and drop catching skills to really do well in it. It's a great learner.

After that, you can set up just about any game you own to be really nasty and it will help you to improve your scores, but I really think to master the rules that really matter, you need a machine where there is little going on to distract you from that goal.

Most Steve Ritchie games will do that.

Avengers for me too. Really, really a lot of satisfaction lately making all the shots I want.

Don't own a 3 flippers pin but I guess Tron or X-Men would be a good choice to practice that side of pinball. Actually both are a must, one has a third left flipper and the other a right one. I guess I'll need to get both

For me it has been SM and XM. SM has so many shots accessible from either flipper helping with consistent backhanding. XM is just brutal at times especially if you don't consistently hit some of the tight shots. If you miss often then your games are going to be pretty short. It's help me improve my accuracy.

They have all taught me something......still have a TON to learn though.

If you are really good already, I can see Avengers making you better. If you are not already exceedingly good, I think Avengers can be too challenging to improve you much. While Avengers is plenty fun I'm not sure if it helps a novice to moderate player get any better.

Avengers for sure is trying to make me a better player. Lots of great tight shots to hold and aim for. I'm pretty consistent with nailing most shots but Iron Man is actually the one I have the hardest time with, even more than Black Widow.

CFTBL, FT, BSD, and IM. All will own you unless you play better!

The Shadow, no doubt. Shortest . . . balls . . . ever.

TF..when ball is going around the loop at 1000 miles an hour and then making a flipper catch.

Captain America sure seems to be a tough shot (at least for me ) . But yeah I agree with TigerLaw25 , I think Paragon will make you a better player .

I don't personally feel short ball time games are really the key to improving your play. While you spend a lot of time on BSD trying to get the ball under control you don't, for example, do flipper passes on that machine.

Likewise, Tron is a rush but I don't feel it makes me a better player just because it is so brutal.

Avengers LE hands down