As an operator I have heard and seen very few good things about the build quality and reliability of Spooky games, and have heard many, many bad things. I ask all the ops I know, from a variety of well-known locations across the country, some of which have several of their games out (including the "good ones," TNA and Alice Cooper), and the overwhelming majority of them see their games as both unreliable and poorly built. As an early WOZ pre-orderer who really took the brunt of jumping in excitedly with an unproven new company, waited the years for the game to come out, had endless headaches trying to keep it running once it did, and ultimately took a big loss on the game, I'm definitely gun-shy when it comes to pre-ordering/buying new games from iffy pinball companies. When Spooky posted the pic of the underside of Rick & Morty's playfield, my first thought was that it looked like an amateurish unkempt rat's nest, which really doesn't give me confidence in the rest of their build. I've also noticed that their games are disproportionately broken when I go to arcades and bars that have them, and also tend to get pulled from location altogether before long. It's too bad, because I have little doubt that the game would make money based on the theme alone, I like various aspects of Danesi's designs and enjoyed TNA, and I'm excited to see a pinball company embrace a theme that could resonate with younger players. The price was a pretty big deterrent as well -- it's ridiculous how expensive it is considering how lacking the game is in complexity, but I suppose that was justified to them by it instantly selling out.

Stranger Things is also an exciting theme, but I'm sadly on a self-imposed Stern game buying ban as well because of their playfield issues. JJP as well. So basically as it stands I won't buy brand new machines from anyone, and all because they break too easily or have art that bubbles and flakes off, instantly dropping the value of a game faster than it can even begin to pay for itself. I really hope these companies sort their issues out soon, because it sucks seeing nicely designed and fun games come out (JP has been hard to resist) that I'd like to buy and operate, but pass on because of the risks.