Pinball Phenomenon

Sophomore competes locally

Jacob Robinson & Cassie Sun, Co-Sports Editor|March 9, 2023

Cassie Sun

Walking up to the pinball machine, Haley Huber, sophomore, braces herself to begin her favorite sport.

Fifteen minutes later, the score is shown.

Two billion.

Huber started playing last year at West County Pinball in Manchester. She and her dad started off playing a style of pinball called flipper, and eventually she took over both sides.

“It was something different because I was just bored. We weren’t doing anything,” Huber said.

After she surpassed her dad, she started to compete against other opponents and joined the competitive world of tournaments and leagues. This eventually led to her and her dad helping to create the competitive league at West County Pinball.

“You just get to play several different people that are better than you, and I’ve learned from it really fast,” Huber said.

Invented in the 1930s, pinball is an arcade game in which a ball bounces uncontrolled against multiple objects in a box.

  • To keep track of a player’s score, they have to scan into the machine through Insider Connected, an app that gives a personalized QR code that connects a score with an account. This score then goes to International Flipper Pinball Association and changes the ranking, depending on the performance.

    Media by Jacob Robinson
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Christopher Riley owns the pinball machines at West County Pinball where the Hubers play. Riley said he started off with arcade games before collecting pinball machines.

“The big thing in pinball before LCD technology came along was sound, 60% of the game was about sound because you could hear voice actors, the same actors that were in your favorite movies,” Riley said.

The entertainment and visuals have become more a part of the game, Riley said.

“We had this technology 10 years ago and 20 years ago, but it wasn’t affordable to commercially produce,” Riley said. “So what’s old is new again.”

Competitive players track their scores and rankings on the International Flipper Pinball Association website.

Dean Huber, Haley’s father and open league director for West County Pinball, helped start the competitive league.

Huber, sophomore, holds her trophy after becoming ranked number one in Missouri. (Media by Dean Huber)

Dean said the competitive nature of pinball has changed. The modes have become more diverse with many different ways to earn points.

“They basically integrated a pinball machine and an arcade game together, and so instead of just getting multi-ball now, you want to start a certain mode in the game,” Dean said.

Strategy is important, and Dean said the games have different goals depending on the theme of the game. The game also has progressed to include clips from movies and shows such as “Godzilla,” “Deadpool” and “Stranger Things” to enhance the appeal.

“I mean, if you just walk up and put in a dollar, you can play pinball and try to not let the ball drain,” Dean said. “But, you have the capability if you want to, to really get crazy into the game, and it really makes it fun and it’s challenging.”