Sparta, NJ
Quoted from phoenixpin:I’m going to take the view that depth is actually underrated. I fully understand why simpler games, when all other elements of the game are 10/10, are voted consistently so much higher in a popularity contest. They are great, and they are also crowd pleasers. They were built predominantly for operators and meant to be fun and engaging for as many people as possible. If you had a home arcade with 5+ games, they are a fantastic choice too.
But if you were buying a single pin for your home, like I currently have for mine, I don’t care how great those 3 games are - I just could not buy one because they lack the depth. For a single game, I actually do want a game with complex rules and strategy and character selection that takes tons of time to learn at the expense of being welcoming when you first walk up to the machine (or even first 10 times). And when I say “character” selection I don’t just mean JJP POTC, it’s characters on SW, minor villains on Batman66, beer mugs on Oktoberfest, songs on ACDC, even CIU on Metallica.
All that said, I also would rank these 3 great games so high. I just wouldn’t buy one, or at least one as an only pin. These ratings can change depending on what we’re rating it for: popularity in an arcade, lastability, operators, small vs large collectors, tournament players, etc.
This is why I love this hobby. People can think so differently. I feel depth actually hurts replayability in the long run. In my opinion early SS games like Stars and EBD dance circles around these new "adventure style" pins. I'll only play LOTR once or twice but EBD has me pressing start all night. Games are quick and I never tire of it. Now a pin like AFM sits in a "Goldilocks Zone". A time of modern design elements with the addictive gameplay of early SS machines, it just works on every level for all different kinds of people.
