Top 10 Most Innovative Modern Pinball Machines

Modern pinball is not simply about making better versions of the machines that came before.

The best modern pinball designers are constantly looking for new ways to make the game more physical, more interactive and more connected to the worlds they are recreating.

Sometimes that innovation comes from the hardware. Sometimes it comes from the layout. And increasingly, it comes from the software, with progression systems, achievements, collections and completely new ways of playing.

So what are the most innovative modern pinball machines?

Here is our Top 10.

1. Fallout

If we are talking about innovation in modern pinball, Fallout is the obvious number one.

Keith Elwin didn't simply design an unusual layout. He seems to have attacked almost every part of the machine with the question: What can we do differently?

There is the inverted flipper, the Fat Man multi-axis launcher, the Nuka-Cola Bottle Cap spinner with its unusual vertical movement, the mechanical Vault Blast Door, the Deathclaw and the Magna-Flip lower playfield.

And then there is the software.

Fallout introduces the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. progression system through Insider Connected, allowing players to develop their characters across multiple games.

That combination of physical and digital innovation is what makes Fallout so interesting.

We recently explored why Fallout is one of the most original pinball machines in years, and the more you look at the machine, the stronger that argument becomes.

Of course, a machine this original deserves equally original artwork. The Fallout Pinball Mods collection takes that visual identity even further.

2. Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic approaches innovation from a completely different direction.

The machine is built around speed.

Steve Ritchie designed the game to keep the ball moving, while Jersey Jack Pinball created an enormous system of zones, boss battles, Chaos Emeralds and physical mechanisms around that idea.

The Spin-Dash feature, magnetic accelerator loop, seven-zone adventure and Dr. Eggman animatronic all make the machine feel much closer to a physical version of a Sonic video game.

And the software keeps expanding the concept.

It is a perfect example of a modern pinball machine where the theme and the gameplay philosophy are essentially the same thing.

We looked at this in more detail in Sonic Pinball: Jersey Jack's Most Ambitious Machine Yet.

And if you want to push that ambition even further, the Sonic Pinball Mods collection brings custom artwork into the equation.

3. TRANSFORMERS: More Than Meets the Eye

Transformers is an excellent example of how software can completely change a pinball machine.

The newest code introduced Optimus vs. Megatron Split Flipper Mode.

Two players play simultaneously.

One controls the left flipper as Optimus Prime. The other controls the right flipper as Megatron. They attack each other's health bars, play through timed rounds and eventually add more balls to the battle.

That is not simply another multiplayer scoring mode.

It is a genuinely different way of playing pinball.

And the machine continues to evolve with new challenge modes such as The Movie: The Mode, Ghost in the Machine and Prime Training.

We already wrote about why this Transformers machine feels different, and the latest code only strengthens that argument.

4. Pokémon

Pokémon might be the best example of software innovation through progression.

The basic idea is obvious: catch Pokémon.

But Stern has now taken that idea considerably further.

The latest code adds the ability to view your Pokémon Collection through Insider Connected, earn Achievements and continue expanding the collection as the game develops. New Pokémon and additional modes are also being added to the ruleset.

That changes the reason you play.

Instead of simply asking, “How many points can I score?”, you can ask, “What can I collect next?”

That is a remarkably powerful idea for pinball.

We've already looked at every Pokémon pinball mod you can add, because a machine built around collecting deserves a visual collection of its own.

5. Godzilla

Godzilla is innovative because it showed just how much modern pinball could do at once without becoming a mess.

Buildings can be destroyed. Monsters can be battled. Bridges collapse. Multiple multiballs interact with each other. The rules create an enormous strategic layer around a layout that is still immediately fun to shoot.

Godzilla didn't necessarily invent one revolutionary new mechanism.

Instead, it demonstrated how physical toys, rules, progression and an excellent layout could all work together at an extremely high level.

That is one of the reasons it remains one of the defining modern pinball machines that changed the hobby.

6. JAWS

JAWS deserves a place here because Keith Elwin once again used the layout itself as a source of innovation.

The ball travels through unusual geometry, shots cross the playfield in unexpected ways and the upper playfield gives the game another dimension.

The Shark isn't simply a decorative toy either. It becomes an active part of the gameplay.

JAWS demonstrates that innovation doesn't always require complicated technology.

Sometimes the most innovative thing you can do is simply design a playfield that nobody has seen before.

7. Dialed In!

Dialed In! was ahead of its time.

Pat Lawlor took smartphones, Bluetooth, cameras, connectivity and other modern technology and asked how they could actually become part of a pinball game.

The result was a machine where your phone wasn't merely something sitting in your pocket while you played.

It could become part of the experience.

That idea now feels much less strange than it did when Dialed In! arrived, which is probably a good indication of how forward-thinking the machine was.

And for such an unusual machine, our Dialed In! Pinball Mods are a great way to give the cabinet an equally distinctive visual identity.

8. Dune

Dune represents another kind of innovation: immersive physical design.

Barrels of Fun didn't simply take the Dune licence and put characters on a conventional playfield.

The machine is designed to feel like Arrakis.

The sandworm, lighting, sound, physical mechanisms and artwork all work together to create a much more cinematic experience.

It demonstrates how modern pinball can become something closer to a physical installation than simply a game inside a cabinet.

9. Labyrinth

Labyrinth helped establish Barrels of Fun as a manufacturer willing to do things differently.

The machine takes a fantasy world and turns it into a physical environment, with unusual mechanisms and a strong emphasis on atmosphere.

It isn't innovative because of one single feature.

It is innovative because it showed that a small manufacturer could create a machine with a very strong personality and a design philosophy completely separate from the major manufacturers.

That philosophy has since continued through Dune, Winchester Mystery House and Bon Jovi.

10. Winchester Mystery House

Winchester Mystery House is one of the best examples of how an innovative layout can completely change the way a pinball machine feels.

The playfield is deliberately confusing in the best possible way, with unusual shots, strange angles and paths that don't behave like the conventional layouts players are used to.

It fits the theme perfectly. The real Winchester Mystery House was built around unexpected doors, staircases that lead nowhere and rooms that seem to appear where they shouldn't — and the pinball machine translates that idea into gameplay.

You are constantly discovering another route, another shot or another way for the ball to move around the playfield.

That is clever design.

The machine doesn't need a revolutionary new piece of technology to feel innovative. The layout itself is the innovation.

Read our review for this amazing game here.

What Makes a Pinball Machine Innovative?

The interesting thing about this list is that no two machines innovate in exactly the same way.

Fallout pushes physical and digital gameplay.

Sonic turns speed into a complete design philosophy.

Transformers is using software to reinvent multiplayer.

Pokémon is turning collecting and achievements into long-term progression.

Godzilla showed how deep rules and physical interaction could work together.

JAWS pushes layout design.

Dialed In! brought connectivity into pinball.

And Dune, Labyrinth and Winchester Mystery House show what can happen when a manufacturer is willing to throw away the conventional playbook and build the machine around the identity of its theme.

Maybe that's actually the most exciting thing about modern pinball.

Innovation doesn't have to mean inventing a completely new machine.

Sometimes it means taking a familiar game and asking a very different question:

What else can pinball do?