Williams
Alien Poker Pinside Rating
This game received 65 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.617 /10
Alien Poker
Score breakdown
Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:
Game Design: 7.82
Artwork: 7.15
Sounds/Music: 6.955
Other Aspects: 7.887
Pinside staff rating
This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 1 of us has rated this game.
Found 30 ratings (with comment) on this game
There are 30 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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8.265/10
1 year ago
Conway, AR
Alien Poker is one of those ugly games that has some great gameplay. Probably one of the worst backglasses in Williams history, if not the worst. The playfield is better to look at, but still not great.
Where Alien Poker shines is its gameplay and rules. Maxing out your jackpot multipliers and getting the royal flush drop targets down in order is fun and rewarding. My only issue with the game is that the spinner being lit really isn’t that good of a strategy here unless you have it lit on the plunge. You don’t get that many spins on it when you hit it from a flipper, and at best, it’s worth about 20-30K on a plunge. You really want to focus in on getting your kings completed to increase the jackpot multipliers and hitting the lit joker targets to max out your bonus multiplier. Also completing all your joker targets starts a fun “joker hunt” mode where each flashing joker target is worth 10K and moves around randomly after being collected.
Shots are relatively safe on this game. I don’t feel like the game is very outlane hungry especially since there is only one sling kicker on the left.
Some like to make the game a little more challenging by taking the guide out under the third flipper, making it a scissor flipper game so you have to have more restraint with the right two flippers. Even with that removed, I’ve played enough scissor flipper games to know not to try to trap up in certain situations and dead flip when the ball heads to those flippers.
No multiball here, but truly, the game doesn’t need it. Multiball would break this game.
Getting your aces completed and spelling “poker” just gets you to the extra ball and special.
My favorite moment in the game is crossing a million in scoring, there’s a voice call out and some sound effects that probably would have been incredible to experience when the game was new. Most people weren’t used to scoring in the millions at that time.
That’s really all there is to know about the game. It’s simple, and the rules are fun. There are some cool moments for those that can get to a million and max out the royal flush jackpot value, and some fun callouts and attract sounds. Having this in my line up gives me a break from the games I have that have a ton to do. Alien Poker wouldn’t work well in a small line up of three or less, but if you have more than 5, it’s a nice change of pace and a good single ball game.
Where Alien Poker shines is its gameplay and rules. Maxing out your jackpot multipliers and getting the royal flush drop targets down in order is fun and rewarding. My only issue with the game is that the spinner being lit really isn’t that good of a strategy here unless you have it lit on the plunge. You don’t get that many spins on it when you hit it from a flipper, and at best, it’s worth about 20-30K on a plunge. You really want to focus in on getting your kings completed to increase the jackpot multipliers and hitting the lit joker targets to max out your bonus multiplier. Also completing all your joker targets starts a fun “joker hunt” mode where each flashing joker target is worth 10K and moves around randomly after being collected.
Shots are relatively safe on this game. I don’t feel like the game is very outlane hungry especially since there is only one sling kicker on the left.
Some like to make the game a little more challenging by taking the guide out under the third flipper, making it a scissor flipper game so you have to have more restraint with the right two flippers. Even with that removed, I’ve played enough scissor flipper games to know not to try to trap up in certain situations and dead flip when the ball heads to those flippers.
No multiball here, but truly, the game doesn’t need it. Multiball would break this game.
Getting your aces completed and spelling “poker” just gets you to the extra ball and special.
My favorite moment in the game is crossing a million in scoring, there’s a voice call out and some sound effects that probably would have been incredible to experience when the game was new. Most people weren’t used to scoring in the millions at that time.
That’s really all there is to know about the game. It’s simple, and the rules are fun. There are some cool moments for those that can get to a million and max out the royal flush jackpot value, and some fun callouts and attract sounds. Having this in my line up gives me a break from the games I have that have a ton to do. Alien Poker wouldn’t work well in a small line up of three or less, but if you have more than 5, it’s a nice change of pace and a good single ball game.
9.164/10
1 year ago
St. Thomas, ON
Fun game. That sequential drop target really forces you to pay attention to your aim or you're going to lose a bunch of points. This is the game in the house that gets the most play.
The artwork is pure 80's cheese. Not everyones cup of tea, but if you're into that retro vibe it's great! Sounds are typical Williams. The speech callouts are fun and that first sound drop when you start the game, followed up by the five successive thunks of the drops resetting. Super satisfying.
The artwork is pure 80's cheese. Not everyones cup of tea, but if you're into that retro vibe it's great! Sounds are typical Williams. The speech callouts are fun and that first sound drop when you start the game, followed up by the five successive thunks of the drops resetting. Super satisfying.
10.000/10
1 year ago
Hands down alien poker is my favorite game from this era for so many reasons I don't know where to start. First it's the art. Lots of people hate on the art on this game but it's my favorite, up there with silverball mania and Phoenix. It's a matter of taste, the weirder and uglier it is the more I'm going to love it! The backglass is a ripoff of the starwars cantina scene, I love it so much. Then the blue/red/black cabinet paint, it shouldn't work but it does.
Next the gameplay. You get a lane change, drop targets, saucers, a zig zag shooter lane that hits a spinner. Never gets old. Same sounds as firepower and other system 6 games. The voices are what get me, totally cracks me up like "when I deal I win" and "jackpot" in a funny alien robot voice. It's the best, better voices than gorgar IMO.
If I could only keep one pin it would be alien poker. It's the combo of the art, space poker theme with awesome 80s electric sounds and robot alien voices with gameplay that's interesting enough to keep me playing 'just one more game' for hours on end. I love this game! Holy grail game for me, think I'll go play it!
Next the gameplay. You get a lane change, drop targets, saucers, a zig zag shooter lane that hits a spinner. Never gets old. Same sounds as firepower and other system 6 games. The voices are what get me, totally cracks me up like "when I deal I win" and "jackpot" in a funny alien robot voice. It's the best, better voices than gorgar IMO.
If I could only keep one pin it would be alien poker. It's the combo of the art, space poker theme with awesome 80s electric sounds and robot alien voices with gameplay that's interesting enough to keep me playing 'just one more game' for hours on end. I love this game! Holy grail game for me, think I'll go play it!
Osborne Park
9.234/10
2 years ago
London
I watched a PAPA tutorial on Alien Poker before playing a physical copy at Flip Out in London. It’s a real shooter’s game, thanks to the drop targets that have to be hit in sequence, and I really enjoyed the challenge.
The theme is…. Original. It is definitely the best pinball machine with an aliens-playing-poker theme. Obviously, it’s somewhat dated in theme and the artwork looks like it was drawn in MS Paint by a toddler.
However, great game and definitely better than many games that succeeded (and preceded) it.
UPDATED: Increased my rating. I have a minor obsession with this pin, mostly to do with the extremely simple but challenging gameplay. It is just a really good way to practice making accurate shots at drop targets, and with an absurd cheesy 'aliens playing poker' theme to boot.
The theme is…. Original. It is definitely the best pinball machine with an aliens-playing-poker theme. Obviously, it’s somewhat dated in theme and the artwork looks like it was drawn in MS Paint by a toddler.
However, great game and definitely better than many games that succeeded (and preceded) it.
UPDATED: Increased my rating. I have a minor obsession with this pin, mostly to do with the extremely simple but challenging gameplay. It is just a really good way to practice making accurate shots at drop targets, and with an absurd cheesy 'aliens playing poker' theme to boot.
7.118/10
3 years ago
Great game for its value with Awesome 1980 robotics sounds. I like that it forces you to hit the drop target in order and the light sequence when you hit 100,000. No multiball and the funky art package hurt its rating but it’s a great early ss williams table.
6.707/10
3 years ago
The artwork is certainly odd, but the gameplay is good. It's not my favorite playing card themed game, but the market price is certainly appealing for newer collectors or someone looking for a rotator game.
8.667/10
4 years ago
The first game I owned, several years ago, and I'd like to find another one. I doubt I'd change anyone's mind, but over the years I've grown to like this one more than Firepower, which is obviously much more popular and has a (somewhat) similar playfield. Despite the lack of multiball there's more to do here.
I like to drop the first two or three drop targets so I'm not accidentally lowering the bonus constantly, then try to get the aces and maximize the jackpot from the top rollovers. This game sure does love to let you get that jackpot maxed and have one or two drop targets left...oops there goes the ball -_-
Sounds and game speech didn't get better than this in 1980. The voices are so funny. Yup I'd love to get this game again.
*Wife approval* She hasn't played this one but I know for sure the voices would crack her up. The sequential drop targets would probably annoy her. But this would be a keeper.
I like to drop the first two or three drop targets so I'm not accidentally lowering the bonus constantly, then try to get the aces and maximize the jackpot from the top rollovers. This game sure does love to let you get that jackpot maxed and have one or two drop targets left...oops there goes the ball -_-
Sounds and game speech didn't get better than this in 1980. The voices are so funny. Yup I'd love to get this game again.
*Wife approval* She hasn't played this one but I know for sure the voices would crack her up. The sequential drop targets would probably annoy her. But this would be a keeper.
6.118/10
5 years ago
Malmö
The game is outright ugly- although there are worse out there. Luckily the playability is somewhat better. Flipperpositions seem a little odd at first, but they work pretty fine and offer a lot of varied shots. Very cool spinner and nice looking bumper caps.
The game I played had weak flipper mechs, which really limited some shots. Maybe I would have ranked a fully serviced machine higher.
A solid but ugly midcard game. Absolutely no A-list - but not a complete dud either.
The game I played had weak flipper mechs, which really limited some shots. Maybe I would have ranked a fully serviced machine higher.
A solid but ugly midcard game. Absolutely no A-list - but not a complete dud either.
7.236/10
5 years ago
spinner and left kickout could really be easier to hit.
Spinner also isn't worth enough
Seems like a grind to max your multiplier, just shoot it up top again and again
Missing doesn't really cost you anything since you just max out your value anyway by hitting more drops
Spinner also isn't worth enough
Seems like a grind to max your multiplier, just shoot it up top again and again
Missing doesn't really cost you anything since you just max out your value anyway by hitting more drops
9.521/10
6 years ago
This game is a blast. Awesome risk reward rules. Give it scissor flippers, and it makes it even better.
7.808/10
9 years ago
This is one of a few pinball machines I had when growing up. Played the snot out of it. I recall the sound pitch ramping up as the ball went on longer and longer. Truly building some suspense. One of those art packages that you either love or leave. I love it.
6.945/10
10 years ago
Initially, I picked this game up as a working project and as a trader. I'm not a big fan of the backglass artwork, but the game play is fun, and the rules are easy for all to pick up. My kids have really enjoyed this pin, and I'm not sure I'm ready to part with it. Overall, it's a decent poker game for it's time.
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