(Topic ID: 248990)

What pins to add at a brewery?

By Coz

4 years ago


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  • 135 posts
  • 59 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by cjmjmm2006
  • Topic is favorited by 4 Pinsiders

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    Topic poll

    “What pins would you prefer to play?”

    • Old EM 1 vote
      2%
    • Early solid state 4 votes
      7%
    • Late 80s 2 votes
      4%
    • 90s Bally Williams 13 votes
      24%
    • 90s Data East 0 votes
    • 90s Sega 2 votes
      4%
    • 2000s Stern 2 votes
      4%
    • JJP 2 votes
      4%
    • CGC remakes 4 votes
      7%
    • New stern 18 votes
      33%
    • American Pinball 2 votes
      4%
    • Spooky 1 vote
      2%
    • P3 Multimorphic 1 vote
      2%
    • Homepin 0 votes
    • Other- add in comments 2 votes
      4%

    (54 votes)

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    There are 135 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 3.
    #1 4 years ago

    I’m sure this question has been asked before.....but I’d like to hear some input and opinions on what pins to have on location at a local brewery. I’ve met with the owners and received the go ahead to place games on location. What’s been a good earner or is there any specific pins customers have requested? I’m gonna start with 4 or 5 pins and just looking for advice. There are currently no other games or pins at the brewery- hopefully this will help add some fun and extra entertainment.

    Of course, every area and bar/brewery/arcade is different- just wanted to get some advice as I get started. I currently have quite a few pins ready to route, looking for additional titles too

    #2 4 years ago

    With a high limit budget I'd put out an

    Attack From Mars remake SE,

    Jurassic Park,

    Iron Maiden,

    And the one that no one will agree with, Beatles. Just my opinion. Some times you gotta spend some money to make some money.

    #3 4 years ago
    Quoted from Coz:

    I’m sure this question has been asked before.....but I’d like to hear some input and opinions on what pins to have on location at a local brewery. What’s been a good earner or is there any specific pins customers have requested? I’m gonna start with 4 or 5 pins and just looking for advice. There is currently no other games or pins at the brewery- hopefully this will help add some fun and extra entertainment.

    Not from an operator perspective, but from a consumer, I have a brewery about 3 min up the road and they have 2 cool EM’s both on $0.25/play. However, one always needs to be leveled as it’s super slanted and has suicide inlanes. Those games are always open and no one plays them (and this place is very popular).

    Then about 15 min from me is another microbrewery with a SW Pro and AS Pro... both on free play. I mean their beer is better too, but seriously, I’d tolerate a few drops of bleach for free SW and AS.

    FWIW - Id go with newer games or titles that you know will draw (SP, SMB, TSPP, JP, any era SW, TAF). Also them having good beer is key for foot traffic. I won’t go to 2 out of the local 6 microbreweries near me because their beer sucks and I’m not alone. GL!

    #4 4 years ago

    I guess that depends on if you plan to have a league night as well but....

    If your going to do pins, and want to attract more business, I'd say you need more like around 10 pins

    But start with what your budget allows

    I'm sure you have a certain amount you can realistically spend

    Maximizing you bang for buck is going to be important

    I'd say a blend of old and new is a must

    Get a newer stern with a. Theme most can relate to

    A few system 11 games, like high speed, pin bot , whirlwind or taxi,

    A few DMD games, this can be tricky , do you go with a list games only ? Personally I'd get one a list game and 2 or 3 b or c list like fish tales or junk yard

    And at least one em game in good repair

    Something for everyone!

    #5 4 years ago

    The ones the players there like.

    You may have to put some games there, and rotate non earners out until you figure out what the players like.

    LTG : )

    #6 4 years ago
    Quoted from LTG:

    The ones the players there like.
    You may have to put some games there, and rotate non earners out until you figure out what the players like.
    LTG : )

    Just recently got the approval from the brewery to add the pins. I was going to open my own location, but this brewery is huge and usually very busy. Honestly this is great, since I have no rent/power bill. Also they don’t really offer any additional activity other than a couple dart boards and cornhole games. We don’t have a pinball “scene” yet, but I’d like to create one. Unfortunately no other place in town to play pinball- The closest place is uptown pinball in Martinsville VA. We definitely will start with a few and see how it works. It will be little trial and error to see what works.

    #7 4 years ago

    PM DR-Willy,he is a operator here,and he does his thing at a place called The Dip! He has 5 pins there and rotates them so patrons always have a new pin to play while they Drink!!!

    #8 4 years ago

    After seeing the lines to play Oktoberfest at CAX coupled with the perfect tie-in, I'm going with that one.

    #9 4 years ago

    I wanna recommend police force. It has a mechanic that on the third ball if you shoot the right ramp twice(adjustable) it steals the highest score. This is terrible for serious competition but it's great fun if you are drinking beer with your friends. plus the middle ramp is really easy to shoot and it gives unlimited millions after a few consecutive shots which gets new people hooked really fast.

    #10 4 years ago

    Earthshaker has been earning $150- $200 a week steady since it was put in a local brewery several months ago.

    #11 4 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    Earthshaker has been earning $150- $200 a week steady since it was put in a local brewery several months ago.

    Agreed Earthshaker and Whirlwind are great!

    #12 4 years ago

    BM66 is another.

    The playfield is way past looking like the moon, but it has paid for itself at least twice over by now.

    11
    #13 4 years ago

    COZ ma dude! We have 16 games in our brewery location. All I can say is THEME THEME THEME in the beginning. Remember that if you are reintroducing pinball to the general public, they are going to be drawn to pop culture/something they recognize. Once you break the barrier and get people addicted you can then add the occasional off the path/classic title.

    Our line up consists of:
    Super Mario(shitty game but top earner)
    Rocky and Bullwinkle(another shitty game, but a close second in earnings)
    South Park(again..... real shitty game... but great earner)
    Creature from the black lagoon
    Twilight zone
    Tron
    Attack from Mars
    Monsterbash
    Oktoberfest
    Star Wars
    Star Trek
    Munsters
    Ghost busters
    Deadpool
    Guardians of the Galaxy
    Medieval madness

    I can 100% tell you the general public start on the licensed themes. Once they learn there are actually rules, they start to explore the other games.

    make sure you have a pinball 101 class every now and then, get the bar to provide a free beer to draw a crowd and teach the class. I have a power point I can send you if you like!

    Lastly, I don’t mean this to be a plug.... but it is what it is.... If you can get people using PINQUEST the theme may not matter like it used to as the chase for the achievement may out weigh the theme.

    PM me if you want to chat!

    #14 4 years ago

    As far as THEME THEME THEME, I guess it really matters what part of the country you are in. Or what part of the world you are in for that matter.

    #15 4 years ago

    May want to consider Oktoberfest.

    #16 4 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    As far as THEME THEME THEME, I guess it really matters what part of the country you are in. Or what part of the world you are in for that matter.

    Agreed, but generally speaking in most parts of the country and world, pinball has been dead for a long time. To resurrect the game, you need to get a familiar theme out on location to get the general public playing. Stern knows this, which is why they are expanding to target events like Comic-Con and releasing “new” titles like the Starwars home pin and JP.

    #17 4 years ago
    Quoted from WolfManCat:

    May want to consider Oktoberfest.

    Yes! This game does great for the brewery here!!!

    #18 4 years ago

    Oktoberfest, ac/dc, jjp potc, the new jurassic park, ghostbusters

    #19 4 years ago

    Oktoberfest for sure! At least one music theme..preferably Iron Maiden since they are still in production. One sci-fi preferably Guardians is liked by all. Everything after that is icing on the cake!

    #20 4 years ago

    I went to a brewery in Rockford, IL that had Aerosmith, Metallica and I think AC/DC among a few classic vids and a Super Chexx bubble hockey table. I played a couple games on the Metallica.
    It seems like the rock band games would be winning from a theme standpoint, going for that casual player.

    #21 4 years ago
    Quoted from PINQUEST:

    you need to get a familiar theme out on location to get the general public playing.

    Which must explain why Earthshaker is doing so well here.

    #22 4 years ago
    Quoted from jfre81:

    I went to a brewery in Rockford, IL that had Aerosmith, Metallica and I think AC/DC among a few classic vids and a Super Chexx bubble hockey table. I played a couple games on the Metallica.
    It seems like the rock band games would be winning from a theme standpoint, going for that casual player.

    Agreed, as long as you can have the volume turned up a little. Some establishments don't like the noise. My feeling is machines sound a lot better with sound, then just hearing the flippers and pop bumpers.

    #23 4 years ago
    Quoted from Da-Shaker:

    Agreed, as long as you can have the volume turned up a little. Some establishments don't like the noise. My feeling is machines sound a lot better with sound, then just hearing the flippers and pop bumpers.

    I agree wholeheartedly. Volume is key!

    #24 4 years ago
    Quoted from Da-Shaker:

    Agreed, as long as you can have the volume turned up a little. Some establishments don't like the noise. My feeling is machines sound a lot better with sound, then just hearing the flippers and pop bumpers.

    They are nearly unplayable without the sounds/music in my opinion. It’s a huge part of modern pinball that draws you into the game. I HATE playing at places where they crank the house music or dial down the pin volumes if I’m there to play. If I can’t hear them at all, I’m not playing.

    #25 4 years ago
    Quoted from Mbecker:

    They are nearly unplayable without the sounds/music in my opinion. It’s a huge part of modern pinball that draws you into the game. I HATE playing at places where they crank the house music or dial down the pin volumes if I’m there to play. If I can’t hear them at all, I’m not playing.

    Honestly, I'll still play a little and then leave mad, haha.

    #26 4 years ago

    That’s why you put in an EBD doesn’t matter if you can’t hear it. It has a bar theme & easy to learn sux down coins pretty fast

    #27 4 years ago
    Quoted from Da-Shaker:

    Agreed, as long as you can have the volume turned up a little. Some establishments don't like the noise. My feeling is machines sound a lot better with sound, then just hearing the flippers and pop bumpers.

    This particular place is big inside. Some kind of old factory on the riverfront. The game area is set off a little ways from the bar area. So they could be turned up without having an impact on the spot where people would be drinking, socializing etc. So as far as this goes it can depend on exactly what kind of setup you've got inside.

    Actually one of the gripes, such as they are, with the various barcades here is they'll have music going that drowns out the sounds of the games, such that I can't really hear what some of these newer games really sound like. Good point though on the music themes is hearing Iron Maiden or whoever with the pinball action is part of the experience.

    #28 4 years ago

    Breweries are full of millennial hipsters so Super Mario, Street Fighter, maybe Baywatch or a Lethal Weapon 3 or Baywatch. Save money and think outside the box. Space Shuttle is also always a winner.

    #29 4 years ago

    I play a fair amount on location at barcades and such, I'd go with the following, which isnt necessarily MY ideal lineup, but the stuff I see/would expect most lay people are drawn to...Mario, GoT, Gotg, new JP, and BTTF... I'd also consider Willy Wonka, I bet that'll earn great

    I'd stay away from music pins, I just dont see them get a ton of traffic. Nobody touches the Xenon/Centaur/etc here. Also be picky with 80s/90s themes, people flock to Back to the Future but Baywatch, Playboy, and Terminators seem to gather dust.

    #30 4 years ago

    All really good ideas. That’s the age old debate...what game earns well. I live in an area with no pinball, so we’ll have to introduce pinball to potential customers. I’m definitely starting out with 4 or 5 games and will see how the are received and how well they earn. To start, I will probably have stern Star Wars, Whirlwind, Slugfest, Ghostbusters, Austin Powers and maybe more.

    #31 4 years ago

    So as someone who frequents breweries a bunch, you have to remember people bring their kids now and typically the kids are the ones playing the games provided. So with that in mind here is my top 5.

    1.) Shrek
    2.) JP
    3.)Pirates (stern or JJ doesn't matter)
    4.) Guardians, Star Wars, or avengers (or really anything based on a semi current film franchise)
    5.) Octoberfest - because, well its a brewery after all

    #32 4 years ago

    I feel variety is key for a brewery these days, because it draws all types of players in. Maybe an early bally SS game, an system 11 game, a Williams WPC game, an mid 2000's stern and an newer Stern would do great.

    (First machines that come to mind) Paragon, Taxi, Fish Tales, Monopoly, Spiderman, Star Wars etc.

    #33 4 years ago

    I will add that Pirates kills on location with kids. I traded my pirates to an OP years ago and he told me that it out earned almost all of his games including MM.

    #34 4 years ago

    from what i've gathered at our local brewery that has machines...

    - STAR WARS (far and away the best earning game. stealing dollars from children since day one)
    - Ghostbusters
    - Guardians of the Galaxy
    - JJP Pirates
    - Funhouse
    - Super Mario Bros
    - Oktoberfest

    I think Beatles, Deadpool and Jurassic Park (old DE or new stern) would be amazing theme titles for a location.

    #35 4 years ago

    It was statef before about pop culture so one pick would be austin powers.

    #36 4 years ago

    Stern music pins. No jjp’s

    #37 4 years ago

    >cough<
    i think you know what I am going to suggest

    #38 4 years ago

    We had an Austin powers and a monopoly both did AWESOME but were maintenance nightmares for some reason for us. Monopoly’s little flipper always had issues and the time machine on AP would always crap out.

    We tried music pins. Big time losers at our location. We’re a massive family friendly brewery. You can look it up if you care to! wonderland Brewing in Colorado.

    #39 4 years ago
    Quoted from DanDanDAN:

    &gt;cough&lt;
    i think you know what I am going to suggest

    Yes that’s good too.

    #40 4 years ago

    Not pinball, but a tapper would kill at a brewery

    #41 4 years ago

    I would say
    1 sport theme to fit the season
    (nba, big hurt, wcs)
    1 driving theme
    (high speed, viper, mustang)
    2 music
    (elvis, GnR, aerosmith)

    Should be a more mature crowd so cabinet 'wear' should be minimal.

    Then see what's making $ and juggle.

    #42 4 years ago

    I have had a number of pins at a barcode locally. When they’re done I bring them home to my personal collection so cheap and easy way of padding your collection. Good earners for me have been GoT, MMr, AFMr and SM. TNA and TWD were dogs. Too hard for the masses. Want something approachable. Owner of the place has some pins there too and I think Deadpool, SW, and Iron Maiden have done really well.

    I’m getting ready to pull AFM which has been there over a year and replace it with JP. I also recently put GBLE and that has done well but it’s new and only been there a couple months. Time will tell if it stays.

    Surprisingly, Monster Bash has only been so-so middle of the pack type earner.

    Hope that helps.

    (As a side note, I’m guessing it is important how you’re structured with the owner. Mine is set up as a lease- owner of bar leases my pins and the lease is based on a certain percentage of coin drop. Owner maintains all business licensing for the pins and insurance- all I have to do is keep them working and get monthly audits. It works well on both ends I believe)

    #43 4 years ago

    Then about 15 min from me is another microbrewery with a SW Pro and AS Pro... both on free play. I mean their beer is better too, but seriously, I’d tolerate a few drops of bleach for free SW and AS.

    I live near the breweries you write about. What is the name of the brewery with free play games?

    Sorry I’m new and don’t know how to copy info from other posts.

    #44 4 years ago
    Quoted from Nhpolarbear:

    Then about 15 min from me is another microbrewery with a SW Pro and AS Pro... both on free play. I mean their beer is better too, but seriously, I’d tolerate a few drops of bleach for free SW and AS.
    I live near the breweries you write about. What is the name of the brewery with free play games?
    Sorry I’m new and don’t know how to copy info from other posts.

    Click the quotes at the bottom of someone else's message to quote them.

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    #45 4 years ago

    Thank you

    #46 4 years ago

    Whats a Brewery without a Champion Pub?

    #47 4 years ago

    I have friends that operate in breweries up here in Richmond. Newer sterns with well known themes do best.(SW, Deadpool, Ghostbusters, etc) Especially if you're dealing with mostly casuals to start. If you want to operate 90s BW games, avoid games with pain in the ass mechs-DW, JM, etc. We have a mix of eras of game at Richmond Pinball Collective but our customer base is mostly pinheads and some casuals. Thanks for growing the SWVA scene!

    #48 4 years ago

    100% go for the theme that's appropriate for your customer base. When I put pins in at the brewery I operate I was surprised to see how many of the dollars were being dropped by children that came in with their parents. I'd recommend at least one very family friendly / kids-would-recognize-the-theme pin, and I'd check with the brewery before bringing in anything like IMDN that might make children cry.

    *note this has nothing to do with my opinion on whether you should bring your kids to a brewery or not so please do not hijack this thread with that debate.

    #49 4 years ago
    Quoted from Chalkey:

    I'd check with the brewery before bringing in anything like IMDN that might make children cry.

    Kids LOVE Maiden

    UP THE IRONS!!!

    #50 4 years ago

    I don't have kids and never thought it would be an issue until one if my friends brought his little girl over who immediately started bawling when she saw gorgar. If she cried at gorgar, eddie would probably make her shit herself.

    I had a dream last night that I was playing pins at a brewery I was operating (not the one I actually do) and stepped outside for a minute. When I went back in the IMDN was gone. I looked around and found it loaded in a truck that was pulling away. I took my phone out to get a photo of the license plate as I started running towards it but I noticed one of the guys was still standing there. Thinking he'd just take my phone I called 911 to relay the numbers instead. My buddy John picked up and I told him to write the license plate numbers down but as I was looking at them the tag numbers kept changing.

    So uh... I guess keep that in mind.

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