Thanks to those who provided location information as well. I'll post my full list of games from 2018, the % of total that they earned, location, and any random info to help clear things up. My bottom game isn't at the bottom because it's bad, so that has to be accounted for.

I had similar results. Very big bummer since I like the game.

My SYS11's have been pretty reliable, and Whirlwind and Diner often are pretty close behind Ghostbusters and AFM. I don't have the cash flow to fund new games at a very fast pace but I can certainly see SYS11's getting pushed down (along with everything else) when I get my first LCD game.

Here is my 2018 ranking, with comments as needed. In early May of this year I got asked to remove my 4 machines from a location so they can remodel the space. Their off-season is coming up, so they spend the 3 hot summer months renovating where needed. Hoping it's only a few weeks because finding space for 4 pins on short notice is tough. I'm trying to slim down the collection a little in 2019 as well to modernize the lineup a little.

1. AFM, 10.62%. Because GB was at a different location all year
2. Whirlwind, 8.62%. Great game, well liked.
3. Ghostbusters, 8.34%. At a non-primary location, earned half of what it did at my main location the previous year. Is now back at main location.
4. Diner, 7.07%. Reliable and consistent earner.
5. 1977 Ball Lost World, 5.90%. If you figure out why, let me know. Arrived in FEB so tournament players practiced it a lot to learn. Not as much play in 2019 already.
6. Taxi, 5.63%. Tough but honest game. Go to game for 2 upper level players in events.
7. Hook, 5.34%. Added new code late in the year, but that didn't really uptick earnings, just lets me use it at main location now.
8. Corvette, 5.29%. Only on site for last 7 months, well liked. In a 12 month race it would have been top 3.
9. F14, 4.13%. Not popular in events, but I drag people there when I need a win.
10. Space Invaders, 3.97%. Missed 3 months of action until I bought the full biz out and then I fixed it. Mixed reviews but growing on people.
11. Bride Of Pinbot, 3.89%. Left the route the last 4 months after I bought the biz. Strong earner for some puzzling reason.
12. Ice Fever, 3.87%. Missed first 2 months until I had a spot for it. One shot game, but the trick is setting up that shot.
13. Cyclone, 3.76%. On loan for first 8 months. Fun game, well liked, but not a whole lot of proof in the cashbox.
14. DE Star Trek 25th, 3.55%. I like this game because it makes you shoot all of the shots. Left after 8 months when I bought out the biz.
15. Police Force, 3.53%. In a non-primary location. Gets played by kids for the most part, but I enjoy it too.
16. Future Spa, 3.20%. Not a lot to say on this one, Sits right next to PF and earns about the same.
17. Black Belt, 2.82%. Next to Future Spa, gets played less for whatever reason.
18. Evel Knievel, 2.69%. CPR playfield and redone cab. On loan to another location for first 3 months and then taken off route the last4 months when I bought the biz. Not bad for 5 months.
19. Silverball Mania, 2.08%. Taken out for the last 4 months due to repairs needed and another game ready to take its place.
20. Laser Ball, 1.87%. Damaged in transport in month 5, not my game at that point. Currently getting worked on at my house.
21. Dolly, 1.62%. Down for 4 months until I bought the biz. Already earned more in 2019 than 2018.
22. Special Force, 1.11%. Only on route for last 4 months.
23. Stars, 0.84%. On route for 3 weeks before the year ended.
24. High Speed, 0.26%. Worked for a few days in month 9, then board went bad. Back up and running after replacing RAM with NVRAM to fix failed RAM chip.

There is a list in Play Meter magazine, isn’t there? Not sure who they are asking and how big the sample size is.

I would typically say Addams Family. It’s not the best bang for the buck, but casuals seem to always pick it. However, if you don’t have locals that “played it when they were a kid”, then it’s existence isn’t special.

Now, if you can get a modern Stern on the used market for the price of an TAF AND there isn’t much of a pinball history in your area, I’d say get a Stern with the most popular theme and forgiving gameplay you can find.

Or, Attack From Mars. I really like mine and it’s easy to explain, fun to shoot, and has a ball save. Not a cheap game, but lots of good things going for it.

Year to date is:
Ghostbusters
Metallica
Iron Maiden
AFM
Stars
Funhouse
Taxi
High Speed
Future Spa

This is the order from my location that is open. The top 2 are $28 apart and then it drops off a significant amount. After the drop from 2 to 3 it mellows out quite a bit. Point being GB and MET are my top 2 and I have two players that drive that as those are their favorite games. One for GB the other for MET even though they both play everything.

It’s funny because my AFM typically is below most of not all of my other modern games. My player base is mostly experienced players. I’ve asked them about it and several have said the same thing. They love the game, and enjoy playing it in tournaments and league, but don’t feel the need to practice on it outside of that because it’s so familiar.

There was a big regional roller hockey tournament at my location this past weekend. Between my 10 pins and my Super Chexx I wonder how many pins will have to be combined to get to the total in Super Chexx. That is, assuming SC didn’t go down and nobody reached out. I have labels with contact info on most of the games, but have never had a stranger reach out.

I’ve only had it for 4-5 months or so. It’s probably still in the honeymoon phase, but that’s lasted longer than pins normally do. My location shut down from Dec 23- Jan 4th or so. So the early collections this year were expectedly low. Couple that with Covid being in play the whole time I’ve owned it and who knows how it will be doing in a year.

However, if it was a pin, it would likely be my number one earner. It was 5th compared to my pins last year and I’d only had it almost 4 months by the time the year was over. If that was 12 months, it might have been number one.

Hockey is a big part of the rink, but Saturdays are soccer all day. When I have my pinball league, which is one Saturday a month, I will see soccer parents and kids playing bubble hockey, which wasn’t what I was expecting.

Mine is used and from the serial number was made in 2000. I did have some parts to replace, the puck, one gearbox, the red lenses on the scoreboard, and after discovering a poor repair on the ice surface, a new one of those too. They are fairly simple designs and once cleaned and all fixed up should be pretty low maintenance for a while. I make sure to play a practice game when I’m there just to see that everything is working as it should.

I’m happy with the purchase. Based on ROI it should pay for itself before 2021 is over. That would obviously vary by location. It’s not crushing it, but is something I have wanted since I was a kid and if it can supplement pinball buying with its coin drop that works too.

Once covid is over I want to try a quarterly tournament to try to get some additional interest going.

Results from the latest roller hockey tournament:

Super Chexx
Ghostbuster/Metallica (tied)
Dolly Parton
Iron Maiden
High Speed
Old Chicago
Funhouse
Future Spa ($3 wah wah)

Taxi broke a kickout bracket a few days before and was off. Stars had an issue with the coin door pop up and wasn’t taking coins, so counting that as effectively being off. Fixed Stars yesterday and Taxi parts arrive any day.

Yeah, it might settle down a little when it’s just regulars playing the pins. One of the bartenders told me recently that she plays a few games a week on it and I know some of the ladies that play soccer play only that pin a time or two every week recently. So it has draw for a decently wide audience.

It’s a good game too, and my tournament players absolutely enjoy and respect the gameplay.

Old Chicago is currently the only EM I have out. It earns decently well compared to the others.

Does anyone run tournaments at their locations. I do and that 100% has an impact. The tournament players will play everything, even if it’s just a few times on occasion, if they know they have to play it in league and/or tournaments and I do both.

My main location sucks for casual foot traffic and is 90%+ coin drop from tournament players.

Ghostbusters is typically my top earner and this month was no exception, but it was better. I was going to bring it home so I can tear it apart and put new rings everywhere. I tend to drag my feet more if it’s here so I might just do it on location on a slow day there. It’s doing too well to pull right now.

I’ve wanted to try to see how long this would take my top 1 or 2 earners to do. My guess is actually 5-6 months. I’m not that patient. Maybe when I finally get my GZ premium I’ll give it a go. Maybe

I have my Super Chexx (in a roller hockey rink) set to $1 for what I thought was a 5 minute game, but maybe it’s by period and if so it is 90 seconds a period for a 4.5 minute game.

That timing has never had a complaint about game times and while it doesn’t rain money when I open the cash box, it gets played a decent amount each month.

I had a few items to fix before it went out and a few things have failed/broken along the way, but it’s been very reliable for many months in a row. Very happy I added it to the lineup there.

I don’t need a lecture, thanks. Somebody asked about bubble hockey, we answered about bubble hockey.