I like pinball because I like pinball?

It stimulates my adhd.

I like waxing my balls and sinking them down the gobble hole!

I play pinball for amusement and recreation

(I think I saw that on a backglass somewhere)

The people.

LTG : )

Ever since I was a young boy
I’ve played the silver ball

Why did I like pinball? Because when I was young, I could win a free game.

Why do I like pinball now? Because the combination of skill and the random action means there are never, ever two identical games. No patterns memorized and the tactical feels and sounds of every game no matter how simple or complex make pushing that start button my unique experience.

Why do I love pinball? Because there are themes that resonate with my life, passions and interests whether music, movies, or whatever. I can fill a room that speaks to *me*. I love pinball because I can share the experience with my family and friends, playing together while enjoying time together where any ball can be a winner or a loser for any player and bonding around the common fun. I love pinball because it gives me a reason to meet others in my community and as I travel whether a tournament or talking about a new or old game in an arcade or pub. And I love pinball because I continue to learn, how to play, how to score and how to fix...it’s like nothing else in my life.

In my early 20s I had all day to play competitive online games or rpgs. Now my life is so busy i just want to play something I know all the rules to. Really nice being able to play a new table and not need to do a tutorial. I just want something familiar but fresh.

A few reasons;

1) it's something different
2) it's interesting seeing how different tables play even though they might be "the same" (a pinball safari to some coastal resort is always an good day out, even if there aren't any out there that day)
3) I've always had less than stellar hand/eye co-ordination, and I feel as I slowly improve at the game, so too does everything else
4) it's an excuse to put off more important things
5) it's just neat

The frustration ... in a good way!
Nothing like a crappy day at work and being challenged by a shiny ball to relive the day to day stress .
Plus the feeling of getting a new to me game and tearing it apart to make it look like new again .
Lastly they are works of art .

The engineering aspect, mechanical and software. Lots of teaching moments for our young kids, maybe an engineering interest will catch on. Plus, pinball rocks! Regarding the young ones, an LCD screen and video clips has made all the difference in level of interest for them.

To quote Gary Stern: it's fun

From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played 'em all

Please explain how you 'play' a table....maybe you mean you can play cards on the table?
table (resized).png

pinball is the best hobby for a single dad because it offers recreation at home so i can stay here with my kids and enjoy the games instead of going out golfing, drinking, or gambling for hours or days, leaving my kids to fend for themselves. it allows fathers to enjoy their homes more and not resort to escaping their homes to seek recreation.

plus, when i was a kid, my fantasy was to own a pinball game. I never thought it would ever happen. when I finally bought my first game, I had realized a childhood dream, and it never gets old. nostalgia, paired with developing skills in maintenance and mechanical acumen all offer a great ownership experience. plus, if you love art like me, the art really is a major bonus! pure bliss, right here at home. I can be here with my kids and enjoy the home i work so hard for even more every day as i never want to leave home because i dont have to. It's all here for me to enjoy. everything I love and care about. family and pinball!

The massive dopamine dump I get from playing real well!

because I like things that break 5 minutes after you spend a day fixing

The little worlds under glass.

Pinball is simply pure fun!

Also, nostalgia for me as I loved playing them as a teenager in the 90s.

Finally, I really like the mechanical/electrical part of it. To me, tinkering , modding and restoring them are as fun as playing them

The people.

You cheesy bastard.

I like to play pinball

I like big boxy objects with drawings of boobies and butts all over them.

First and foremost ,my oldest was born autistic and I truly believe it’s doing wonders for his motor skills .We do more standing vs sitting .It’s time spent with family where prior we would’ve been in separate rooms doing our own things.The reasearch,hunt,and payoff when looking for one .Lastly ,if your chosen is there really any “choice” after the fact

Every pinball is a universe in itself.

Im a big gamer so I love all things arcade/pinball. But over last few years have become obsessed with pinball. I love the art, randomness, etc. But I also love that theres no perfect top score; there is always a grand champion score to beat which is beatable. Im the main player of my pins 99% of the time so its me chasing my own scores or getting to that next wizard mode. I guess its kind of like golfing. Im not competing against others but my own historical scores.

"The ball is wild" Harry Williams

I love the smell of the inside of a machine. Its comforting in a way I can’t possibly describe well. Anyone else, or is this a me thing?

The former PAPA world champion, Robert Gagno is autistic and an amazing young man. There was a great documentary about him made a few years ago. It’s inspirational and highly recommended. It’s called Wizard Mode, if you haven’t checked it out yet.

Growing up I loved playing with my Dad. Then I learned that you could win free games. The pop of that free game was exciting. Made my mind up early on that I would own one. I have 2 at the moment but looking, always looking for a new one. I too like it when someone comes over and enjoys my games. But I cringe when someone doesn't respect them. I've calmed down a bit on that over the years.

I like pinball because its fun trying to convince non pinball people that its completely normal and not at all insane for a person to have 30 pinball machines.

It’s actually the other way around. Pinball chose me. I’m merely an enabler.

20% nostalgia
20% the hunt/collecting
20% satisfaction of resurrecting a dead game
40% playing

I like playing pinball because it is fun, there is a limited time to it, and the gameplay is simple to understand, hard to master. There is infinite replicability for me.

I like playing pinball machines on location because it can be done as a solo or social activity as desired. Location pinball involves a large set of pins that rotate and change, providing almost unlimited variety.

I like owning pinball machines because although I have a stupid amount invested in them, I can get my money back out quickly and then some. If I get tired of a machine, I can list it, and people will show up to my house with a different machine for me to play, and haul the old one off. I also don’t have much time where I can play without taking time away from family, so generally have a 0500-0545 gaming session in the morning.

I like looking at pinball because I like the art. I have a large collection of old backglasses on the wall for this exact purpose. Paragon is a work of art.

I like fixing up pinball as the puzzle aspect of it is appealing to me, and I have learned skills that have actually helped me at work.

I like the social aspect of playing other peoples’ collections and inviting them over for the same. I am in the minority on this one with multiple bosses and people I work with being into pinball, so often in the equivalent of going out to play golf with the boss on the weekend.

I like the people of pinball. For the most part, it is a bunch of people who (by in large) think like I do and are at similar points in their life. It doesn’t matter if it is a collection of Ems or a few older 80s games… for the most part, we think alike and I enjoy the company.

I like pinball and the arcade aspect of it because my kids can get some enjoyment out of my hobby.

Finally, I like my pinball because it’s mine. I can play it whenever I want and always have a lineup of challenging games for me. I like my Rick and Morty because it’s brutal and funny, LOTR because it’s long and story driven, STTNG because of the theme and flow, Indiana Jones for theme and because it’s new to me, Torpedo Alley for speed and campiness, and Sorcerer for the old school feel. I enjoy my pinball machines. If I could never sell them or rotate them I’d be perfectly happy with what I have too.

Thank you for helping me fall down this rabbit hole fellow pinball nerds.

I have a thing for playing with round objects.

Hard to quantify it other than I played pinball as a kid and liked it?

I was a child of the arcades, didn't really have consoles as a kid.

I didn't actually buy a pinball machine until this year though, and that's just a, had free money, and finally lived in a house after being in a condo for most of my adult life.

And I would definitely say owning a pinball machine I am WAY MORE obsessed with pinball now than ever before.

The challenge! It's a game against gravity, and gravity is going to win but for how long can I put up the fight!?

Also, THE PEOPLE! If I had to play solo I'd be out of my mind, but because I can play in leagues and compete in tournaments, I get to hang out with all kinds of great like-minded people. That's probably the best part.

I think the main thing for me is that the unpredictability of it keeps it fresh. It's not random, as randomness would make it unfair, but just unpredictable since there are so many variables involved in the physics of the ball you can never be sure exactly what it's going to do, and that keeps me on my toes no matter how good I get. In an arcade video game like PacMan, you can eventually get good enough where every time you play you survive long enough to literally break the game. There is no way to be that consistently good at any pinball machine.

I also enjoy the variety of playing different machines. Again, in an arcade game like PacMan, if you get good at it, you only get good at PacMan, you won't be able to walk up to a Donkey Kong and be able to transfer what you've learned from that. But if I play any pinball game, I'm improving my flipper and nudging skills, and now that I'm pretty decent at playing I can walk up to any pinball machine and play well enough to enjoy it!

The mechanical aspect is also pretty important to me. When I was a little kid I was almost obsessed with anything mechanical, and while for a while I focused on that interest through trains, I never actually really was serious about them, and when I got into pinball I pretty much lost my interest in trains completely. The mechanical nature of pinball, especially in newer games with unique toys, is just super cool to me. I love seeing all the different ways different pins interact with the ball.

Lastly, the music and sound design, especially in the classics from the 80s and 90s, is something that keeps me coming back to the games that do it well. It's one thing to accomplish something challenging in a pinball game, but when you are rewarded with some over-the-top sound and music, it makes that accomplishment so much more exciting, and that sort of sound design isn't really present in most other arcade games or video games from what I've seen. Moments like getting my first jackpot on Funhouse are things that have kept me hooked on playing pinball!

Played arcade games and kind of forgot about pinball over the past 20 years. Came back to pinball last year with an Atgames vpin.

3 pinball machines later I'm all in. I play at some local places also. Forgot how much I liked it and it's total detox after a day at the office. Relaxing is the key word!

During the hardest parts of my life playing pinball provided an escape.

I think besides the people, pinball let's me focus on something that is so silly to take seriously. When I'm stressed or overwhelmed, a few games of pinball distract me and I'm only focused on the game for those moments. It allows my mind to relax and then I can regroup and deal with real life again.

I don't like it when I am working on a raised playfield and unscrew something and the tiny screw drops and I can hear it Plinko down through my game and NOT hit the bottom of the cabinet. Then I spend the next forever trying to find it. I don't like that.

Pretty much everything else, I like.

Yes I believe that was the first documentary I came across when researching whether I wanted to buy one or not .Great story for sure .

1. It was one of the few leisure activities I could do where I'd focus on the activity, rather than dwell in my (thankfully now past) depression
2. I figured there was a chance I could get good at it - I'm never going to be an athlete or a chess champion, but I could probably get good at pinball.
3. I like the physical aspect to it