Clunky means the game has lots of dead shots (intentional or otherwise) that slows the game speed down. Generally you lose a lot of flow on these games.

Clunky does not mean "bad" either.

I may be using the term wrong but maybe not. Stargate feels clunky to me. The ramps don't flow well. The ball seems to hit the ramps and bounce around inside them and the ball seems to get thru the ramps in spite of itself. As opposed to going in smooth and hugging the sides.

Yep hitting that blue rubber, I tell people if you would aim better it wouldnt be so frustrating

Tron, AFM, TOM = smooth, fast , flowing
TZ, TSPP, WOZ = stop-and-go, tight shots, "clunky"???

I think games described as clunky are often just games that require a bit more skill to enjoy, like IJ.
Fast flowing games usually are a lot more forgiving with wide ramp mouths and generally easier shots... for the most part.

Clunky is a combination of sound and feel while you're playing. Bottom line, you know it when you see/feel it.

I like LOTR but I would describe it as "clunky". The ball hits a lot of metal in the game...ring ramp, sword ramp, left ramp - tries to jump off sometimes, left inner loop diverter, Gollum's cave VUK and wireform, Shire VUK. The ball is always hitting something hard. To me, the smoothness of say an SM or WPT (those ramps and orbits are awesome without the left gate stopping the ball and the posts on the ramps except for the "river" shot) is lacking in LOTR. At times, sure, the ball flies all over and travels in nice flowing arcs but it still feels a bit clunky to me overall.

I have read a lot of opinions that think the games flows nicely but I have to disagree somewhat.

Clunky means lack of good flow IMO. why isn't that one of the options in the poll? It's just all negative answers....

chill is right on.. he's talking about metal posts and junk all over the PF that can have you hitting nothing at times. Clunky

Right ! especially for the left ramp, a very hard shot, even with a strong upper right flipper. This "clunkyness" actually makes this shot unsatisfactory, even when you succeed... smoothness is missing there.

No flow. Usually slower moving metal ramps and a lot of side to side action that is not intended.
Clunky games can still be fun unless flow is the most important thing to you.
I do not rate SM as highly as others but it is not clunky

Great example of this is IJ. I love it, but it can frustrating sometimes (post, post, post, slings, slings, post, drain). Just the nature of the beast I guess.

of course every machine is different, but the SG I had was very good at making the left ramp and was pretty fun. one of the couple games I regret selling. SG could be quite a clunkfest though.

clunky /ˈklʌŋki/ adjective
clunk·i·er; clunk·i·est
[also more clunky; most clunky] informal 1 : large and awkward in form or appearance
▪ clunky shoes
2 : old and not working well
▪ I drive a clunky old station wagon. ▪ a clunky old computer
3 : badly or awkwardly made or done
▪ His act was full of clunky one-liners. ▪ clunky dialogue

CLUNKY

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seems more like you are telling us what it means rather than asking. Just saying.

I had the exact same experience when I had my LOTR. Left orbit shot clunked its way around, that and the spinner rejects out of the ring shot start to wear on you. Still a great game!

like driving a uhaul. clunky sucks

Same as driving a clunky car, it may run and things may work, but if it feels lose and like thing just arent working as they should it feels clunky

With respect to pinball, lack of flow, no feel for the shots, might be construed as clunky

Haven't you ever play one game that's dialed in and it rocks, then played the exact game one route and everything seemed clunky. I have, I was at Midwest gaming classic, there were 2 AFM's both restored. My wife felt the same way, like things weren't always firing, ball kept getting stuck, slings and pops weren't sensitive at all.

Easily fixed, but it was clunky feeling. Probably many ways to describe clunky it's a subjective term

Whenever I hear the adjective "clunky" used my first thought is "you're not doing it right". There are very few games out there that feel clunky if you are hitting your shots.

I would refer to clunky regarding the feel of flipper-slingshot and popbumper coils. Most Stern games I played had this clunky feel. Clunky would be the car in Nascar popping up with a coil instead of a smooth motorized targetbank. Or the way the ballrog flips in LOTR. Basically it feels cheap. Capcom flippers may also feel more clunky that WMS flippers.

There's a 4 letter word I'd use for that thing. Ill let you use your imagination on that one.

It sounds like the name of a candy bar.

Clunky Nudge and the Plungers

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If I remember correctly, Bix Beiderbecke used them as a springboard to launch his career...

Because they suck at pinball... (Or, just suck at describing things... )
I kiid, I kiiid.

All games have their quirks (shot-wise), it just takes a bit of time to nail down all the sweet spots; then you're golden. Even TZ has some decent flow when you're "in the zone"...

This is of course all for naught if your flippers haven't been cleaned/rebuilt/upgraded at some point in the last 5 years.

Go play Austin Powers! That game feels CLUNKY! A lot of Stern from that time frame feel REALLY clunky and cheap. Bally/Williams will feel that way when they get a lot of time on the flippers/mechs. Don't forget "Clunkers and Junkers"! That's a blown out roached game!

This is the Websters definition the OP was looking for. In pinball terms I think TSPP is pretty much the clunkiest game I can think of. It is simply an awkwardly designed playfield. Thank god for the great software or this game would be a complete bomb IMO. I wouldn't say that TZ is clunky. I get into great flows with that game.

Clunky is definitely an over-used term in pinball.

Many play a couple of games on a machine for the first time, don't make their shots, don't have much fun, and run to the boards to deem the machine "Clunky!"

I've seen and heard players call almost any machine clunky, now matter how absurd it seems to me, from T2 to MM! So I mostly disregard the term these days when it's used, and find there's usually a far better way to describe why you don't like a particular shot, combo, or entire layout, rather than use the term 'clunky.'

It's sort of like a non-descript, subjective symptom, much like Ferris' clammy palms, which has been overused in recent years to the point where it's lost its meaningfulness as a pinball term.

I'm no expert, but I would have used the term to describe the overall feel of a game. It's not something you can always point to, but when something in the game just doesn't feel, sound or play the way you are used to games playing; I'd call it clunky. I see others are saying it's not a bad thing, but I guess in my view I'd only used it in a negative connotation. Having said that I think you can get used to game that might have initially felt clunky.

Clunky to me is where the ball does not return smooth when you make a shot. The 2 games that I had that felt like they were clunky to me were LOTR LE & TFLE. Maybe they needed to be tweaked some but they just never really clicked that much with me.

Clunky to me expresses awkward kinetics and unpleasant sounds.

My JP will play clunky one game and smooth the next so I think "clunky" is part game and part player. I strive for that smoothness of gameplay which I believe any good pin will give.

I tweaked the hell out of my LOTR so stuff like this doesn't happen. Orbits/lanes/ramps are smooth when you hit them at any speed, orbits send the ball along the slings and not into them, etc. I think anyone (not meaning you here, prop!) who is fixated on dressing up their game with lots of pretty accessories should spend a decent amount of time tweaking lane guides, adjusting pop/sling switches, etc. so the game flows smoothly. Unless you like looking at your games more than playing them.... (You should see how butter-smooth my CV is!)