Welcome to another installment of the Kineticist Pinball Community highlight series!  

• In our first edition, we caught up with Brian O’Neill of Scorbit.
• In the second edition, we talked with Andreas Haugstrup Pedersen of Match Play
• In the third edition, we talked with IFPA Mobile App developer Ed Giardina

We’re pleased to have a discussion today with Eric Romanyk from Pinball Tennessee. For those unfamiliar, the local pinball community there is actively working on a unique project. Their goal? To nurture and expand their local pinball scene by building a helpful digital hub for all things competitive pinball in Tennessee.

As part of this series and a few other projects we’re involved in, we review many pinball websites. Pinball league sites, pinball tournament sites, manufacturer websites, and so much more. Many of the sites we come across, to put it nicely, are not good websites. Started with the best of intentions, no doubt, but lacking in content, structure, and design, and frequently not maintained with the latest information. 

This is why it was such a delight to discover PinballTN.com recently and to casually observe as they build out their site and digital community presence. 

Pinball Tennesee is more than just a website built and maintained by community member Eric Romanyk. It’s the Pinball Tennesee social channels on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; it’s their two Twitch streaming partners, Pinball Therapy and Broken Diode, it’s the relationships they’ve built with their tournament locations and all the helpful content they create (like custom promotional graphics for all upcoming tournaments, or newbie friendly guides to competitive pinball), and it’s the way they are highlighting the vibrancy of their local pinball community, helping new players navigate the scene, and giving veteran players a reason to stay engaged.

This is not the easiest way to do this kind of work. Building websites and creating helpful content is hard. It’s far easier to piece together things like Facebook groups and Discord channels. But if done correctly, having a centralized go-to resource that’s available outside walled-garden networks is invaluable to community growth efforts. It ensures valuable knowledge and information aren’t lost in an algorithm or to the whims of a moderator. This is to say, PinballTN’s model is one we’d like to see replicated elsewhere. And we hope by highlighting their efforts here, we can inspire some folks in the community to re-create the approach within their own communities. 

A note on this particular interview, while we will be chatting with Eric, who is spearheading the effort, PinballTN is very much a community project. As mentioned above, there are a lot of people involved with various aspects behind the scenes. 

Let’s dive in! 

Kineticist: What’s your pinball origin story? How did you get into the hobby?

Eric: I love reading origin stories, so here’s mine….I found Banzai Run at our local mall arcade as a 10-year-old kid and was immediately hooked. It wasn’t my first time playing pinball, but that was the game that truly started my addiction. Fast forwarding to my late teens and early 20s, I was fortunate enough to have a massive arcade called Grand Prix that was open 24 hours with 20+ pinball machines. My friend and I would regularly spend the midnight hours playing The Addams Family and Theatre of Magic before heading home as the sun came up. That friend is now my wife…was it the magic of pinball, maybe? 

Kineticist: Tell us about the origins of PinballTN.com. When did you launch it? What inspired you to create it? What was your initial vision, and how has that evolved as you’ve built it out?

Eric: PinballTN has only been online since mid-January 2023, so it’s just a baby. I had recently discovered competitive pinball last year, but it was one of the moments in life when you immediately know you are exactly where you’re supposed to be. 

The local pinball community’s excitement, friendly atmosphere, and genuine enthusiasm for the game was infectious. I wanted to do more than just play. I needed to be a part of it in a bigger way and wanted others to have an opportunity to feel the same joy. So when Brian Oliver at Pinball Therapy asked our Tennessee Competitive Pinball Facebook Group about getting a statewide website set up, I jumped on the opportunity immediately. 

Our initial vision was like, “Hey, let’s have a calendar, a rankings page, and list the tournament locations.” It quickly snowballed with the addition of profiles on all the major social media sites, because why not. Then it was, “It’d be cool if we had a guide for new players.” So you can see how a community with a simple idea can start to grow and take on a life of its own.

I really have to say that we were heavily inspired by District 82 and FoxCitiesPinball. They created a great blueprint on how to effectively promote competitive pinball tournaments and streams.

Kineticist: Why build out a website over other potentially easier solutions like doubling down on Facebook groups or starting a Discord server?

Eric: I like Facebook Groups; in fact, that was the gateway to my first tournament. We already have an awesome group for Tennessee that’s been growing since 2017. But Facebook has limitations that a website doesn’t. 

Posts on social media typically have a short lifespan before being buried by newer content. So it’s great for quickly disseminating current information, but it’s really not the place to write long-form articles like interviews, new player guides, or tournament strategy. Beyond that, there are people who just don’t use social media or only use Instagram or Twitter, etc. 

Discord has many of the same issues, and they are compounded by the fact there’s no real search, meaning that you can’t join a community server unless you already know it exists and someone has shared an invite link with you.

So basically, a website made sense as a hub to showcase the existing promotional efforts and to add some new ones.

Kineticist: What are some parts of the project that have been easier or harder than you anticipated?

Eric: Honestly, the hardest part was creating repeatable processes like reusable graphics templates for event promotions. With a typical week having 5 or more events, it can get really time-consuming to try and create unique promo materials for each of them.

Kineticist: Can you give us a rundown of all the folks involved in this effort? 

Eric: It’s a massive list because this is only possible with the participation of the entire community. I’m just a small piece in a much bigger puzzle.

Beginning with arcade owners and operators like Jason Wilson (Game Galaxy), David Yopp (Flip Side Memphis), Seth Steele (No Quarter) and Chris Royalty (Eastside Bowl / Hot Rod Arcade), along with the Chattanooga crew (Classic Arcade Pinball Museum) and Knoxville Players (East Tennessee Pinball and Token Game Tavern), who provide places to play pinball.

The technical wizards that maintain the machines we play on.

The tournament organizers and directors who work hard creating and managing the events that we have so much fun playing in. 

The live streamers like Pinball Therapy and Broken Diode Pinball, who I believe are crucial in promoting pinball to the next generation. 

Everyone that jumps in to help host the streams and makes them fun to watch.

And last but certainly not least is the players who come out to every tournament and support the local venues. Without the players, none of this is possible. It really takes everyone to build a community. 

Kineticist: What can pinball players in the Tennessee area do to help you and the site?

Eric: The easiest way for anyone to contribute is to follow us on your favorite social media, click the like button, drop us a comment. 

Share your feedback with us. What do you like, what don’t you like, or what are we missing that you really want to see? Engage with the community on our Facebook Group too. 

Watch and follow the live streams on Twitch. Cut a clip of yourself playing pinball or an exciting moment and share it with the world.

Most importantly, keep coming to the tournaments and supporting the local scene. Bring a friend along with you and introduce them to the game. 

If there’s something you’d like to contribute beyond that, just reach out. We are easy to find and would love to get you involved.

Kineticist: Is there anything surprising or interesting you’ve learned about the competitive pinball community while working on this project?

Eric: I was most surprised with how welcoming and helpful the entire competitive pinball community is, not just within Tennessee. 

I’m finding new and interesting things every day. It’s so exciting with all the ways you are shining the spotlight on different aspects of pinball at Kineticist and with the new Pinball Jobs website that will help bring talented people together. 

I’m also really inspired by the New England Pinball League, which happens to be the league you play in. It’s such a cool concept that an entire region is being brought together for competition. Very cool stuff.

Kineticist: Are you able to tell how newer players are responding to your efforts? Any insights for other local tournament organizers who are interested in growing their local scene?

Eric: It’s hard to tell right now; I feel like we are just getting started. I do know that people in the community are happy with what we’re doing so far. There’s more plans for local promotion to attract new players currently in the works. 

Insights to growing a scene? Don’t get discouraged. Just keep plugging away. Somedays it feels like no one is watching, but they are.

Kineticist: What’s your favorite pinball tournament format to play in, and why?

Eric: Oh, Knockout for sure. It feels like the stakes are high, knowing your night can end quickly. There’s a lot of pressure to do well in each game, but you also don’t always have to post the best score.

Kineticist: Which pinball tournament format is the best for new players?

Eric: I’d probably say Group Matchplay because no matter how well you’re playing, you get at least 8 rounds or a few hours of pinball. It’s a great low-pressure way for new players to learn the rules of tournament pinball.

Kineticist: If someone was visiting Tennessee and wanted to experience the best pinball in the area, what are three locations you’d recommend?

Eric: Game Galaxy in Smyrna, TN, just outside Nashville, is at the top of my list. They have 175 pinball machines currently with all the popular modern games from Stern, Jersey Jack, Spooky and Pinball Brothers. There’s also lots of classic Williams and Bally machines, plus many of them are rare and hard to find. There’s also another 300+ arcade and console games. It’s a day pass one-price admission with everything set on free play, so it’s a great place to work on your flipper skills or learn games you’re not familiar with. Game Galaxy hosts a weekly matchplay tournament on Thursday nights. Plus the Hours of Fun tournament series which is running on a quarterly schedule. The main event is graded at 200% TGP and brings in players from across Tennessee and neighboring states.

Flip Side in Memphis, TN, is doing some awesome stuff. There’s 16 machines with a nice mix of moderns and classic games that are meticulously well-maintained. Each game is being streamed to a TV mounted above it. So no more looking over someone’s shoulder. You can sit back and relax with a drink while taking in all the action. Flip Side holds a weekly tournament on Tuesday nights, with the format varying between Matchplay and Knockout. Additionally, they have also been hosting a Sunday Shenanigans tournament bi-monthly, which allows a wider group of players from around the state to attend.

No Quarter in Nashville, TN, is a second home for Music City pinball players. A laid-back local bar vibe with 24 pinball machines. A solid mix of popular titles from across all eras of pinball history. Games are rotated in and out regularly, so there’s always something new and fresh to play. No Quarter hosts weekly knockout tournaments on Wednesday nights that regularly brings in 40-50 or more competitors.

Kineticist: Pretend it’s 2033; what does the pinball scene (and PinballTN.com) look like?

Eric: Wow, I have a hard time planning what I’m going to eat for dinner, but I’ll give it a go. 

I see Tennessee becoming a hotspot for pinball in the southern US with major tournaments that give the most WPPR points possible and attract high-level players. We have travel destination cities like Nashville and Memphis. Those cities already have great pinball arcades. Our community is enthusiastic and dedicated to making this happen.

PinballTN will continue to grow, hopefully into a resource for all competitive pinball players with informational content that can benefit the larger community outside our state.

Kineticist: What have we not asked yet that you would like the pinball community to know about you or your work? How can the larger pinball community help your efforts?

Eric: For the larger pinball community, check out our social media pages, drop us a line, let us know what you’re doing in your communities. I love seeing what’s happening in pinball around the globe. If you find yourself in or around Tennessee, check out one of our tournaments. Having fun playing pinball comes first and competition second, so I promise you’ll have a good time.

If you enjoy writing about competitive pinball, hit us up, and we can give you a platform to share your thoughts with the world.

Kineticist: Plug your stuff! Where can folks find you (socials, website, etc.)? Is anything exciting on your radar for the rest of the year?

Eric: You can find us at PinballTN.com and interact with our Facebook Community. We have a Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter too. You can also keep up with all the pinball action in Tennessee by following our streamers, Broken Diode Pinball and Pinball Therapy, on Twitch.

There’s lots to be excited about this year. 

Coming up really soon is Flip Side’s XL Weekend on June 9th-11th, 2023. Beginning with a knockout warm-up on Friday, followed by a 160% TGP matchplay on Saturday, and finishing up with Sunday Shenanigans 144% TGP matchplay tournament.

We have another 200% TGP tournament on the horizon, Hours of Fun III: Sweatin’ to the Oldies will be a classics-only matchplay main event plus knockout warm-up and weekly matchplay on July 27th-29th at Game Galaxy in Smyrna, TN. 

There is also the annual Music City Multicon just outside Nashville in Lebanon, TN, which hosts the Grand OGRE tournament series. The three-day event will be held on October 27th-29th and includes a knockout, group matchplay, and target matchplay tournaments.  

For more updates from Kineticist, be sure to visit kineticist.co or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Interested in being featured in a future interview? Drop us a line at colin@kineticist.co.

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Pages 16 & 17

https://www.glo-mag.com

AUTUMN ALBERTSON

Age:  9

By Stacie Ball | Photo by Leaha Meinika

Most adults probably think they could defeat a 9-year-old in pinball, but don’t be so assured if that young lady is Huntertown celebrity Autumn Albertson!  She has earned a few plaques from several pinball competitions and is the youngest player invited to be in the championship. This year she ranked 14th in the entire state of Indiana for the Women’s Division. This Oak View Elementary student is schooling the world in pinball one competition at a time.

It all started in 2020 when most businesses were closed, and people were going stir-crazy at home. “My brother and I were bored, so my mom decided to look online to see what was close by, open, and fun to do,” Autumn remembered. She discovered her hidden talent at an arcade called Wizards World in Huntertown. She dropped some quarters into a machine called Twister and began her very first pinball game. Thus began a whirlwind of an adventure.

Many games and several quarters later, Autumn decided to participate in the Kid’s Pinball tournaments held at Wizards World. They have categories for all ages and experience levels. Once participants check-in, the officials place their names in a queue. A computer randomly chooses 2 to 4 players and a pinball machine, and the battle begins.

“My first tournament that I played in was a Kid’s Tournament, and I got 1st place,” Autumn recalled. “I played in Kid’s Tournaments for a while and then decided I wanted to play in the Women’s.”

The stakes were a little higher in the Women’s Tournament, but that didn’t scare her. “The tournament itself is the same, but it could last longer because a lot of women with years of experience come from all over to play,” she explained. “It’s challenging going against top players, but it’s a lot of fun!” She was pleasantly surprised to snag two 3rd place plaques, one 1st place plaque, and an Indiana State Championship 5th place plaque.

Autumn is proud of her accomplishments but is staying grounded. “My proudest moment was winning 5th place in the Indiana Women’s State Championship!” she mused. “I knocked out the State Women’s Pinball Champ! These women are tough and amazing at pinball, and just being selected to play in a championship was such an honor.” She stated that it feels great to be the youngest player in the championship, but it hasn’t quite sunk in yet.

Aside from pinball, Autumn is involved in theater and enjoys acting, baking, crafts, painting, shopping, and photography. She loves spending time with her mom, dad, brother, and adorable dog, Bentley. One day, she hopes to become a photographer or an actor.

The Albertsons would like to thank Mike and Trisha Burgess for all they do in youth and women’s pinball. If you are ever at Wizard’s World, Autumn recommends playing El Dorado, Pinball, Jack-Bot, Wizard, and her favorite, Memory Lane. Who knows? You may discover a new talent as you unlock the exciting pinball universe.

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Chef Paul is doing great after having his knee replaced.  That puts our staff count up to 3 new knees, 1 new shoulder, 1 kidney transplant, 2 L5 S1 Discectomy’s, 1 extra foot bone removed and those are just the major items!

Make sure you are following The Dawg, Matt Ogden, of Ogdog’s Pinball Pleasures on Facebook as he will be listing our duplicate games and games The Wizard just doesn’t want to keep.  You can find The Dawg Here:  https://www.facebook.com/Ogdogs-Pinball-Pleasures-145511412198757/?mibextid=ZbWKwL

 

Great story in our local paper: Pint-sized pinball wizards compete in Huntertown tournament

Welcome to the 3rd installment our pinball community spotlight series, where we interview the operators, builders, tournament organizers, and business owners that make the pinball world go ‘round. 

In our first edition, we caught up with Brian O’Neill of Scorbit.

In the second edition, we talked with Andreas Haugstrup Pedersen of Match Play

We’re excited to talk today with Ed Giardina, a long-time competitive pinball player, tournament organizer, and developer of the official IFPA mobile application (available for iOS and Android devices). Ed built the first edition of the app back in 2018 and recently overhauled the app for its 3.0.0 release, including a complete migration of the codebase from Xamarin Forms to .NET MAUI. 

Ed was already an experienced software developer when he first decided to create the IFPA app. However, it should be noted that through the process of building the app, Ed was able to learn enough skills to help him transition to professional roles that focused entirely on building mobile applications. Impressive! 

Besides building the IFPA app, Ed has also created an IFPA Companion Discord Bot, as well as several other pinball-focused projects. 

Kineticist: What’s your pinball origin story?

Ed: I played pinball at arcades as a kid. I grew up in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and there were two arcades in town. The excellent Grand Prix arcade was attached to an F1-style kart track and had all the latest Williams pinball machines as soon as they came out. I lost track of pinball when I went to college but got reintroduced in 2012 when the iPad launched, and Pinball Arcade reminded me of all the great games I used to play. That had me visiting Lanes & Games [in Cambridge, MA] and playing pinball there. Next thing you know, I buy a Super Mario Brothers pinball off Craigslist. Then I accidentally meet Bowen [Kerins] and NEPL [New England Pinball League] players at L&G and the rest is history. 

Kineticist: You launched the initial version of the IFPA app back in 2018 – can you talk a bit about the app’s origin story – why did you want to build it? What were you hoping to achieve with the build?

Ed: The app started over winter break in 2018. My former job had a “shutdown,” and everyone had the week between Christmas and New Year’s off. I had seen some Xamarin Forms demos that really appealed to me. The IFPA website has always been hard to use on mobile, and no app existed on iOS. I wanted to see if I could put an app in the store and make something that’s useful for WPPR-obsessed people like myself.

Kineticist: Why the need for a 3.0 release? For the layperson, what was the impetus to switch from Xamarin Forms to .NET MAUI? Did you consider any other new frameworks, or was it always going to be .NET MAUI?

Ed: There wasn’t an imperative reason for the new version, strictly speaking. Likely the IFPA app would have continued working fine for the next 6-12 months without updates. In the latest version of iOS, some Xamarin Forms features did break and need to be patched with the latest iOS version (16). But none of those features that broke were used in the current IFPA app. 

The reason I pursued the update was multifaceted: I wanted to stay up to date on what Microsoft was doing, and I wanted to put the app on the preferred release path (Xamarin Forms, the old tech, is no longer receiving active maintenance releases with any regularity). Unlike web apps which tend to work the same no matter what version of Chrome you’re on, mobile apps change their underlying frameworks and operating systems regularly, and the corresponding app frameworks like Xamarin Forms/MAUI, Flutter, etc, all respond to those changes with their own releases. 

An unmaintained app will eventually not work or look right if it doesn’t receive regular releases. I did consider other frameworks but the .NET MAUI path was the one of least resistance. It did not require reauthoring all views and view models. While there were a LOT of subtle differences, the fundamentals were the same. Still, it took six months of part time work to get the app migrated and work out the missing pieces. During this time, I filed 20 bugs with the .NET MAUI team (each bug must be accompanied by a reproduction project, which itself can be time-consuming to build). 

Kineticist: This is a little bit of a leading question – but can you talk a little bit about the backend/data structures of the app? How are you integrating and displaying the IFPA’s data?

Ed: The answer is there is no backend. At least not that I manage. The entire data source comes from the IFPA API. Most of the things like notifications and preferences are stored on-device. There’s also intentionally no logging. While that makes it harder to track down errors, I did not own the IP for IFPA and therefore did not want to take the risk of GDPR compliance or other data collection. Also, I thought the community would appreciate one less app collecting data about them or their usage. 

Kineticist: The app seems to largely be an effort driven by you with input from the competitive pinball community. However, we know that the IFPA team is also behind the scenes, providing support as you need it. Can you talk about what it’s like working with the IFPA team and how they’ve supported your efforts?

Ed: Everyone at the IFPA has been great. I’ve only really worked with Josh Sharpe and Brian Shepherd. Both have been supportive of the app. Brian especially has implemented features specific to the app. He helped debug a nasty certificate issue that took out Android usage for a while. I’m grateful for all they do in making the WPPR machine work because without it, there’d be no app.

Kineticist: You’ve made the codebase open-source (and the app is 100% free). Can you talk a little bit about that decision-making process? 

Ed: The goal was always to build something free for the community. I would not have stuck IFPA’s logo and asked for their support if the plan was to keep it closed and stick ads in the platform. Making the code open source was just an extension of that ethos. It means that if I can no longer maintain the project, someone else could step up and take it over. 

It does benefit me somewhat as well. Opening the source means those who’d want to work with me can see a successful project I’ve launched. While no one else has contributed yet to the project (except for the bug reporting, which is very valuable!) I hope that possibility is still out there and someone finds time to try contributing.

Kineticist: There’s something very unique about the pinball community that you and this project are very much a part of – which is this ethos of building things that other people can use and that benefit the community in ways beyond the primary user use case. What is it about pinball specifically, or maybe just the group of people that builds for pinball (like Scorbit, Match Play, Pinball Map, and others) that leads to this kind of culture? 

Ed: Pinball was, I think, and still is, a niche thing. In the 90s, video games were kings of the arcade, but there were definitely kids like all of us who preferred pinball. It’s no surprise that the people still into pinball or gravitating towards it now are nerdy, technical people. Software Development can be a creative pursuit, and scratching your own itch by building a tool the pinball community can use is very rewarding. I think it’s a trend happening all over pinball, for sure, and the industry is noticing and scooping up the creative, passionate people. Stern has hired so many people who are active in pinball and building experiences around it, for instance. 

Kineticist: For anyone who reads this and may be interested in building something new for the pinball community, what advice would you give them? Where would you recommend they go for help or input?

Ed: Start small, and don’t be afraid of not knowing. My first version of the app was the most basic, two-screen display. I took that first step, though, and the feedback and ability to get something into people’s hands was self-reinforcing. 

Kineticist: Can you talk about some of the challenges you’ve encountered in building and supporting the app over the last few years?

Ed: Finding time to work on the app has definitely been challenging. Also, because the Android ecosystem is very fragmented, chasing down and debugging issues specific to Android users. Some of the other sticky points revolve around not owning the data or API and not being able to quickly fix issues there. IFPA has been responsive, but still, the disconnect between the API and the app means resolving issues and building features can be difficult.

Kineticist: Has anything been easier or more enjoyable than you thought it might be in the process of building or supporting the app?

Ed: Asking for feedback has been a joy. Everyone on Tilt Forums is amazing.

Kineticist: What is currently on your roadmap for the app? Any new features you’d like to add or major bugs you’re trying to fix?

Ed: My number one improvement would be a visual overhaul. Right now, the app is very basic. I modeled it after the Mail app on the iPhone. Simple interface, no colors, substance first. But some of my favorite apps are the ones that are just plain attractive. My goal would be to have a more usable and beautiful app. 

Kineticist: Is there anything the pinball community can do to help you with your projects? 

Ed: Let me know on Tilt Forums if there are issues! A lot of the time, a user will leave a negative review, but because I haven’t checked on Android’s Play Store that week, I don’t know about it. 

Kineticist: Let’s talk competitive pinball quickly before wrapping up. You’ve been a tournament player for some time. What draws you to the scene? What do you enjoy about competitive pinball that maybe makes it unique from other forms of competitive gaming? 

Ed: The chance to improve. Pinball tournaments, the WPPR system, even putting your initials in; there’s always the ability to do better. I think moving up the WPPRs, earning that hard-to-get [Stern] Insider achievement, or putting your initials in, are all rewarding experiences. As far as what sets it apart, well, I often think about video game speedrunning, which is a lot of fun to watch and has a big community around it. Speedrunning is great, but there’s only ever one strategy behind it. Competitive pinball has so many moments of greatness. Strategies, situations, everything can change and expectations are routinely challenged. 

Kineticist: Do you have a favorite pinball tournament format to play in? 

Ed: Matchplay or Knockout events tend to be my favorite. Least favorite is Flip Frenzy.

Kineticist: What do you think is the best tournament format for new players?

Ed: Knockouts / Strike tournaments. Three strikes and you’re out seems to be something anyone can understand.

Kineticist: Pretend it’s 2033. What does the pinball scene look like?

Ed: It’s hard to say. While pinball has been getting more popular especially since the pandemic, I don’t want to say it’s back forever. Pinball is hot for home collectors, but in order for it to sustainably grow, locations need to come online that get new people into the game. The pandemic crushed a number of great locations. Will public spaces for pinball grow, or will they follow the consolidation and reduction we’ve seen since the pandemic? I can’t say. 

Kineticist: What have we not asked yet that you would like the pinball community to know about you or your work?

Ed: It might be obvious from my activity on Facebook, but the one thing I want to let people know is: I want to deliver great apps for pinball manufacturers! 

The last four years I’ve learned a ton about what goes into a great app. I went to work for an indoor golf simulator company running their mobile team in 2021, and the parallels to pinball were strong. I’m excited by how plugged-in and online pinball is becoming, and I want to be part of the next generation of creative people making pinball fun for everyone. So, if you’re reading this and you work for a pinball manufacturer, reach out! 

Kineticist: Plug your stuff! Where can folks find you (socials, website, etc.)? Is anything exciting on your radar for the rest of the year?

Ed: For someone who has grown up building things for the internet, my social presence is really low! Social media can be great, but I’ve been on a bit of a break from it. Too much hate and disinformation. I’m on Facebook and I have a website at www.edgiardina.com. But I think the most important links are the Tilt Forums post where we discuss app development. I’m on Pinside too under the username ‘Richthofen’.  

As far as exciting stuff, I just got back from EPC Switzerland! That was a lot of fun. I should be at Pintastic this year, along with hopefully a trip to PinBaltimore! Hey, and if you run a pinball show, happy to talk about the app there. Reach out. Say hi! Have fun and play pinball!

For more updates from Kineticist, be sure to visit kineticist.co or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Interested in being featured on a future interview? Drop us a line at colin@kineticist.co

Welcome to the 2nd part of our pinball community spotlights, where we interview the operators, tournament organizers, and business owners that make the pinball world go ‘round. 

In our first edition, we caught up with Brian O’Neill of Scorbit.

Today, we’ve got a special conversation with Andreas Haugstrup Pedersen of Match Play. For those not familiar with Andreas already, he’s probably best known for his work with Match Play – an incredibly useful piece of pinball tournament software – if you’ve played in any pinball tournaments lately, it’s likely they were run on Match Play. 

Match Play has been in development since 2015, and recently rolled out a massive upgrade to the system, which can be seen at next.matchplay.events. 

He’s a very prolific pinball builder beyond Match Play with his work on PinTips, a collection of user-generated pinball gameplay tips, the OPDB, an open database of pinball game data, and his work with the San Francisco Pinball Department pinball league. 

Kineticist: The first question is a standard – what’s your pinball origin story?

Andreas: I grew up in a very small town in Denmark, and it did not have anything resembling an arcade. The closest I ever got to a pinball machine growing up was playing Pinball Fantasies on my best friend’s Amiga 500. The first time I touched a pinball machine was after I moved to San Francisco as an adult. The company I worked for at the time happened to be renting office space from a large gaming company, which had placed a couple of pinball machines in the lobby on free play. I was immediately hooked and played those machines any time I could sneak away from my desk! Eventually, one of my co-workers invited me to a tournament, and that was my entry into competitive pinball and the pinball community. Nicole Anne Reik-Dunlap, Jon Olkowski, Echa Schneider, and Per Schwarzenberger ran most of the tournaments in the San Francisco Bay Area back then, and they all put a lot of focus on creating a friendly and welcoming atmosphere at their events. I don’t think I would’ve stuck with the hobby for more than a couple of tournaments if it wasn’t for them.

Kineticist: You launched Match Play back in 2015. Tell us a little bit about why you launched Match Play, what the vision was at the time, and how that’s evolved in 2023.

Andreas: I went to Pinburgh in 2014 (last year at PAPA HQ), and it blew my mind. Just loved everything about it. I spent that entire summer talking with Per Schwarzenberger about how fun it would be to run Pinburgh-style tournaments in San Francisco. We have a fantastic local venue, Free Gold Watch, but to run a Pinburgh-style event, you really need software to assign machines for each group and to generate the Swiss pairings that are the heart of such an event.

I had previously created some bespoke software that we used to run our local league. Based on what I learned from that, I hacked together a general tournament app that later became Match Play Events. Per ran the first tournament using the software in January 2015, and I think I opened it up to the public around May 2015.

My goals were pretty simple. As a player, I wanted to spend less time waiting around. As a tournament organizer, I wanted to do less manual labor. And as a nerd, I wanted a historical record of all the tournaments I participated in.

Kineticist: How about OPDB and PinTips? Can you tell us a little more about those projects, what led to them, and where you see them heading in the future?

Andreas: PinTips came first, and like Match Play, it also came out of Pinburgh. One of the challenges of playing Pinburgh is that there are so many different machines, and often you’d be assigned to play a machine you’ve never seen before. So how do you know what to do to score big points?

While playing at Pinburgh in 2015, I learned that some people had these secret spreadsheets containing play strategies for all the various machines. It honestly seemed unsportsmanlike. My friend Jeremy Williams suggested a public website where anyone could submit playing tips. Having all the information public would level the playing field. He suggested the name PinTips. I came home from Pinburgh, and the website came together very quickly, in maybe a week or two.

PinTips has been left to its own devices for a long time as I’ve been focusing on Match Play Events. There are certain parts of the experience that are pretty janky. I’m not sure what the next steps are, but I have a feeling PinTips will somehow merge with Match Play Events for no other reason than that it will make it easier for me to maintain and improve the service.

OPDB is a service I really didn’t want to build. The primary goal of OPDB is to assign stable identifiers (so-called OPDB IDs) to pinball machines, so the people who create pinball apps have a way to identify machines when the apps talk to each other. It’s primarily a service for software to talk to other software without humans being involved. It’s a vital link, but it’s perhaps a bit difficult to wrap your head around the reason for its existence unless you make software.

One example: When Match Play pulls scores from Scorbit, it’s important for Match Play to know that the “Attack From Mars” in your tournament is the same “Attack From Mars” that Scorbit has in their system.

While I wanted this problem solved, I’d hoped to use the existing pinball machine database IPDB, but I quickly learned that the people behind IPDB consider their pinball database private property, and they do not wish to share access with anyone else in the pinball community. It’s a disappointing stance, to say the least.

I had connected with other interested parties on Tilt Forums and went about creating an open pinball database where anyone could use the data for any purpose. I personally typed up entries for well over 1,000 machines. It took me months of work in the summer and fall of 2015!

I don’t see OPDB changing substantially in the future. It’s a pretty niche service, and its value is primarily that it doesn’t change. If you write pinball software, you rely on having this service that’ll continue to function the same way as it always has. It’s been absolutely fantastic to see how OPDB enables all kinds of pinball apps to communicate with each other.

The editorial work mostly consists of adding new machines as they are released, and that work is usually done by myself or Ryan Taylor-Gratzer, one of the people behind the Pinball Map.

Kineticist: Between Match Play, OPDB, and PinTips, do you have a favorite project? 

Andreas: You can’t ask me to pick a favorite child!

Kineticist: One of the threads that seems to tie your projects together is this idea of openness and accessibility – both for your projects and yourself personally. Most of your projects have open, “free as in beer” APIs, and you’ve made yourself extremely available to the community at large whenever they have questions or suggestions. Tell us a little bit about why you’ve decided to take this approach with your work in the pinball community? 

Andreas: For me, the Pinball Map model really lead the way. Ever since Scott and Ryan created the map back in 2007, all their data has been 100% available to the pinball community. Their service runs completely on donations. If you have a dollar (or 10) to spare, I strongly encourage you to give a one-time donation or become a monthly donor. I used to be involved in open-source software communities, so this model has always resonated with me, and working this way feels like an obvious way to support the pinball community.

Our apps are only successful because the pinball community trusts us with all the data they provide. It’s community members who organize tournaments, enter match results, and so on. It’s my responsibility as the keeper of that data to freely give it back to everyone and not lock it away somewhere. I do not own it; the community does.

I’m thankful that I get to collaborate with other app creators who also believe that the pinball community is better off if we all work together. The Pinball Map, Scorbit, Pindigo, Pinball Videos, and the IFPA have all been great partners on the projects I work on.

Kineticist: What do you think it is about pinball that attracts builders who want to help other builders? 

Andreas: Even though it’s growing all the time, the pinball community is still pretty small, and the group of us making software for pinball tournaments is tiny! So it doesn’t take more than a handful of individuals to set expectations for openness and influence others in that direction. Plus, it would make you a rather terrible person if you took work built by the people around you and didn’t share it!

Kineticist: With all the projects that are out there, is there anything you see as missing in the pinball community? Anything you’re hoping someone will build next?

Andreas: Well, personally, I’ve built the things that I wished already existed. Ask other people what they’d like to see! If you’re reading this, write a comment about what you’re hoping developers might build.

Kineticist: Is there anything the pinball community can do to help you with your projects? 

Andreas: The absolute best thing folks can do right now is to transition from the old version of Match Play Events to the new version at next.matchplay.events. The sooner people switch over, the easier it’ll be for me to turn off the old version entirely, and that will free up a lot of my time.

Kineticist: Let’s dig into Match Play for a bit. Do you have any broad usage information you can share? 

Andreas: The number of tournaments still increases almost every month, so annual numbers are not super useful. There are over 1,500 tournaments each month. There are results from over 3.7 million games of competitive pinball in the database.

Match Play is getting really close to 25,000 registered users.

“Group match play” is by far the most popular tournament format, with more than twice as many tournaments as the next one down the list (group knockouts). The least popular formats are Bowling, Card Best Game, and Pin Golf Brackets, along with the newly introduced formats that haven’t had a chance to prove themselves yet: Amazing Race and Target Match Play.

The most prolific organizers are Germain Mariolle from Seattle, who is closing in on 1,000 tournaments(!), Space City Pinball in Houston, and Cary Carmichael in Seaside, CA.

Kineticist: You recently rolled out a new version of the app (next.matchplay.events), which some folks have been testing for most of the last year or so. What are some of the big improvements you’re excited about?

Andreas: On the technical side, the new version is much faster, and it’s built on a foundation that’s easier to extend. That’s why I’ve been able to add new tournament formats pretty quickly. The new version has three brand new tournament formats: Amazing Race, Target Match Play, and Max Match Play!

The other big difference is that you no longer have to switch between modes of “tournament organizer,” “scorekeeper,” and “player.” Everything happens in the same interface. The old version required a ton of clicking around to switch between modes if you were playing in your own tournaments, and that was always super confusing. No more!

Finally, the new version has more stats all over the place. The app will make live predictions in Pingolf and Max Match Play tournaments and generally show more data in many places. I’m always thinking about how to expose more stats and data to players and tournament organizers.

Kineticist: What’s on the roadmap for Match Play in the next year?

Andreas: The big thing is to get the old version of Match Play shut off for good. It’ll be a relief to cut the number of servers in half and not have to worry about how the two versions interact with each other.

The other big project is not something I’ve nailed down in detail yet. For tournament organizers, Match Play offers a free version that lets you run the most popular tournament formats and a paid version where you get a bunch of extra bells and whistles. I’m planning to offer something similar for tournament players. The trick is for me to identify and build features that are non-essential—because players should never feel like they have to pay—but, at the same time, are cool and exciting enough that some people want to pay to support the app. I’m still brainstorming some fun ideas on what these features could be.

Kineticist: Do you have a favorite tournament format to play in?

Andreas: I love anything that involves direct play. It’s hard for me to get fired up about “playing against the machine” in Best Game tournaments. I really need that direct opponent to battle against. For a casual weeknight tournament, I find it hard to beat Flip Frenzy tournaments (and now the brand new Max Match Play tournaments!), where you just get to play a bunch of games really quickly.

Kineticist: What do you think is the best tournament format for new players?

Andreas: I’m a big fan of group match play for new players with a fixed amount of rounds of four-player groups. It’s such a simple setup that you can explain the tournament rules in 30 seconds so the new players can focus on playing games and making friends. And the four-player groups mean that the new player always has two other people to talk to while waiting to play their turn.

Kineticist: If you had to choose your 3 favorite games to play or use in tournaments, what would they be, and why?

Andreas: Jungle Princess / Jungle Queen because that set of baby flippers makes for some fun bounces.

Paragon because it’s brutal but fun and gives people plenty of opportunities to show off their tap passing skills.

Hoops because the music is hopping, and ripping the spinner makes you feel great! Check out Bowen’s tutorial.

Kineticist: Pretend it’s 2033; what does the pinball scene look like?

Andreas: I’m not one to make predictions, but I do have aspirations. I hope in 2033, arcades and other public locations for pinball have exploded in availability. They’re the best way to expose new people to the hobby!

Kineticist: Plug your stuff! Where can folks find you (socials, website, etc.), and how can the pinball community support you? Is anything exciting on your radar for the rest of the year?

Andreas: Match Play Events: https://next.matchplay.events/ (no need to stop by the old version first!)

PinTips: https://pintips.net/ 

Open Pinball Database: https://opdb.org/ 

And recently, I finally got around to setting up a Facebook page for Match Play Events. I’m not great at using social media, but I’m trying to regularly post updates and previews of what I’m working on. I’ve been told that people should like and follow, or Facebook won’t really show you any of the content.

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Some photos courtesy of Orange Photography

For more updates from Kineticist, be sure to visit kineticist.co or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Interested in being featured in a future interview? Drop us a line at colin@kineticist.co.

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Welcome to the first of (hopefully many) pinball community spotlights, where we interview the operators, tournament organizers, and business owners that make the pinball world go ‘round. 

At Kineticist, we’re constantly inspired by these pillars of the pinball community. As part of our fancy new IFPA sponsorship, we thought it’d be fun to take some time to get to know them a little better. 

We kick off this series with Brian O’Neill, co-founder and CTO of Scorbit. Scorbit is a lot of things, but mostly it helps pinball owners and operators connect their machines (from early solid state games to moderns) to the internet. You can log scores, connect with friends, complete challenges, and if you operate, get access to detailed analytics and performance reports.

Besides his work with Scorbit, Brian is a very accomplished competitive pinball player, currently ranked 57th in the world (at time of publishing). For those of you also into the competitive scene, Brian will be traveling to many of the top tournaments this year like IFPA18 in Germany and the North American Championship at District 82. He’s also a frequent tournament organizer in the New England area and growing location operator.

Kineticist: Everyone’s got a pinball origin story – what’s yours?

Brian: So I’ve talked a lot about how Attack From Mars was the game that got me into the physical realm of pinball but not many people know that I was really into digital pinball before I ever got into physical pinball. I used to get a computer magazine in the mail every month and one issue talked about this game Crystal Caliburn. It was a medieval knight themed pinball game. It looked so cool that I saved up money so I could buy it. I played that game obsessively! I even got to the wizard mode once before I even knew the term “wizard mode”. That game kickstarted a love of all things pinball which led to me moving from digital to the analog world of pinball. 

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Kineticist: You launched Scorbit back in 2015, really before anyone was doing internet connected pinball. Can you tell us what that journey has been like building this company and maybe some things you’ve learned along the way?

Brian: There have been so many things I’ve learned, but not what I would have expected. It’s a tale as old as time but finding out who your true friends are was one of the big lessons. Another one that people always say is “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. Yes, I’m flattered there is a certain pinball company that implemented something very similar to what Scorbit had already created, but at the end of the day, I’d love to just work together instead of being competitors. The journey has been wild but I’m glad to have built what we envisioned so long ago. Sometimes when using Scorbit on an old game like Paragon, I think “Wow, we built this thing! It actually works!”

Kineticist: How has the launch and growth of Stern’s Insider Connected platform changed things for Scorbit? Is it expanding the market for you or making things more competitive?

Brian: It’s great that Insider Connected built on what we started and is exposing even more people to the concept of connected pinball, but in all fairness, it’s limited. Stern Insider Connected works on their 19 or so games whereas we work on over 400 titles including all of Stern’s back catalog of SAM, Spike 1 and Whitestar games. The one frustrating thing is the fragmentation of different services it causes. Having a universal place to store your scores and achievements would be something beneficial for the community and something we want to see. That’s why we’ve always had our API open and free for the community to use. Closed systems are never great for the community.

Kineticist: How have your playing, operating, and organizing experiences influenced the Scorbit product?

Brian: Personally, I find it hard to envision how other people use our product. We take in a lot of feedback from people like Neil McRae, Derek Correia and Karl DeAngelo. They have been so helpful in getting other perspectives so we can change and improve our product. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the community helping to improve Scorbit. However, nothing beats thousands of players emailing and posting their views every day online and on our Discord!

Kineticist: What’s your favorite Scorbit feature, and why?

Brian: As a casual player, it’s definitely the achievements that are currently integrated with Jersey Jack games. I can’t wait to expand that product into more titles to give older games new life. As a tournament player and organizer, I love our integrations with Matchplay and Neverdrains (DTM). It makes entering scores fast and easy. Instead of waiting for the game to scroll through all the menus, I have the score immediately which saves so much time. As an operator, I love seeing the statistics on how much play my games are getting as well as the operation status of the games. I look forward to seeing more operator features in the future.

Kineticist: Anything interesting on the product roadmap for Scorbit in the next year that you can talk about? 

Brian: I’m really looking forward to expanding our achievements to other titles in the next year. Additional operator features will also be a priority in 2023. We are always open for feedback for features our users want to see and have already built plenty of features based on previous feedback. The new auto-claim feature we just released came out of previous feedback from our passionate community. 

Kineticist: Operating machines, organizing tournaments, building a pinball technology company – it’s a lot of work! Why do you do it? 

Brian: When working with something you are passionate about, it doesn’t feel like actual work. I’m very lucky to have support from my family to continue to work on all these facets of the pinball world.

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Kineticist: What are some things that happen behind the scenes that the average player or pinball fan might not appreciate?

Brian: Officiating tournaments and making the correct rulings is a really stressful and thankless job. There are always new scenarios that come up when running a tournament and figuring out the best way to resolve the situation can be difficult. I wish there were more players that would sign up to be tournament officials as it helps to understand the other side of difficult situations. 

Kineticist: If someone wanted to get into running tournaments, what advice would you have? 

Brian: Think about what type of tournament you want to run. Is it more casual? Or is it serious? For more casual tournaments, consider using a fun format like pingolf, amazing race or flip frenzy. If you want to run a more serious tournament, then sticking to match play or progressive strikes are great to maximize WPPRs. I tend to run more serious tournaments so in order to keep the fun aspect high, I like formats that allow you to play a lot of pinball. Target match play is a really great format that is very fun but allows for larger WPPRs. 

Kineticist: What’s your favorite tournament format to run?

Brian: I prefer match play based formats because there is a guaranteed minimum amount of play that everybody gets to play before playoffs. For formats like strikes it really sucks when someone travels over an hour to come to your event just to get knocked out in 3 games. 

Kineticist: What’s the best tournament format for new players?

Brian: A format that I never see around here [New England] is goal based pingolf. Unlike score based, goal based pingolf focuses on a specific goal in the game (e.g. multiball, spelling GREED on TAF, etc). It’s perfect for beginners because they don’t have to worry about score but instead focus on the one goal they need to do. My favorite goals are ones that carry over from ball to ball (e.g. rooms in The Addams Family) as opposed to ones that reset every ball. 

Kineticist: As a decorated competitive pinball player, do you have any tips for how to approach playing competitively for new players?

Brian: Focus on learning one game in and out. Practice all your flipper skills on that one game. Try to unlock all the modes, multiballs and features on that game. Watch videos of other people playing that game. Once you learn it, figure out other games that are similar in style to that game. For instance, if you focus really hard on learning Metallica, you might consider learning Guardians of the Galaxy next as the layout is extremely similar. You’ll find that starting Groot multiball is almost the same as starting Sparky multiball. Once you master Guardians, maybe you start to look at all John Borg designed games and notice similarities where your knowledge can transfer to a lot of his other games. 

When I played in the San Francisco pinball league I focused hard on learning Baywatch. It’s an obscure game where not many people have studied all the deeper rules. Whenever I was matched up on that game I would ALWAYS win because I knew the nuances of that game that nobody else bothered to learn. I also don’t know anybody else to this day that can finish the video mode consistently every time. 

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Kineticist: Pinball is very community oriented, particularly when you get into leagues and tournaments. What is your favorite aspect of the pinball community?

Brian: My favorite aspect of the community is meeting new people. There are people that have become some of my best friends that I wouldn’t have otherwise met if it wasn’t for pinball. 

Kineticist: Is there anything in the pinball community that you’d like to see more of?

Brian: I wish we had something in New England that is like what I’m seeing coming out of Green Bay, WI. District 82 is a super special place with 100 perfect working games, has a great community and a large amount of tournaments. I wish we had something like this here. 

Kineticist: Pretend it’s 2033, what does the pinball scene look like?

Brian: I know one thing is for certain. Those damn kids will always be beating us old folks at all the pinball tournaments. I look forward to seeing what kind of talent comes out of the Sharpe households. 

Kineticist: Plug your stuff! Where can folks find you (socials, website, etc.)? Anything exciting on your radar for 2023?

Brian: Follow The Adventurers’ Outpost for more info on tournaments I run at my house. I have already run one tournament with 32 players and look forward to running more big tournaments this year. 

For more updates from Kineticist, be sure to visit kineticist.co or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Interested in being featured on a future interview? Drop us a line at colin@kineticist.co.

Some photos courtesy of Orange Photography

On April 9, 2023, Level 256 located in Asheville, NC will be holding their second consecutive high stakes tournament for a pinball machine. Last July, Tim McCool of Cary, NC won a Led Zeppelin Pro. This year the last person standing takes home a James Bond Pro!

This will be a 10-strike fair strikes tournament (four-player groups: 0/1/1/2 strikes; three-player groups: 0/1/2 strikes) with the following format:

• Random Seeding
• Swiss Pairing
• Rotating Playing Order
• Balanced Arena Draws

There is a $200 entry fee and pre-registration is required to compete in this tournament. Registration ends on 4/8/2023. There will be a maximum of 40 players. Doors will open at 12:00PM for warm-ups and the tournament will start at 1:00PM.

Register at https://www.level256arcade.com/highstakes and contact adam@level256arcade.com with any questions.

1. Quick Overview

The IFPA Australian Pinball Championship is an annual pinball competition organised by the IFPA. As part of the prize package for each IFPA State/Territory Pinball Championship, the Top 4 or 6 finalists receive an invitation into the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship. If any of the Top 4 or 6 finalists are unable to attend the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship, the next finalist(s) from the State Championship will be allowed to participate and serve as the representative(s) of that state, down as far as the 8th placed finalist. The 2024/25 IFPA Australian Pinball Championship location is confirmed for Empire Alternacade + Events in Townsville, QLD for early 2025 (exact dates and times TBC)

All mentions of “State” below also refer to Territory winners.

1. Competition Details
2. How to qualify

There are two ways to qualify for the IFPA Australian Championship.  The main way is to be one of the Top 4 or 6 finalists after the completion of an IFPA State Pinball Championship.

The other way to qualify is to be one of the top WPPR point earners (best 20 results) over the calendar year after State Championships have been completed.  The actual number of players who qualify via this route will depend on how many players will qualify via each IFPA State Pinball Championship.

Once all State Championship finalists have been determined, and the top WPPR point earner positions have also been finalised, the 2024/25 IFPA Australian Championship will run with a field of 48 players.

2. Fees

Entry fee for the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship will likely be approximately $40-$50 per player. This entry fee will go towards any associated costs for the host venue, with the remainder to go towards the event’s prize pool.  In addition, the 25% of the fees collected through the endorsement of events within Australia will also go towards the prize pool for the event.

3. Prizes

The tournament features a guaranteed package of cash prizes. In the event of an overrun beyond expenses, tournament revenue will be retained to finance the next IFPA event. In the event IFPA discontinues its events or is disbanded, any such retained revenue will be donated to charity.

The prize package will be determined based on the endorsement fees collected. All participants who make the final 24 in the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship will be paid out. Here is the prize pool breakdown:

• 1st place – 22% of the prize pool + Trophy + Title of “IFPA Australian Pinball Champion” + 1 of 2 Country Exemption spots for the 2024 IFPA World Championship
• 2nd place – 15% of the prize pool + Trophy
• 3rd place – 11% of the prize pool + Trophy
• 4th place – 8% of the prize pool + Trophy
• 5th through 8th place – 5% of the prize pool each
• 9th through 16th place – 2% of the prize pool each
• 17th through 24th place – 1% of the prize pool each

4. Schedule

All qualifying rounds will be done on one day, with the finals to take place the next morning.

Actual times are still yet to be determined, and will be communicated once known.

III. Format of Matches

1. Seeding of finalists

Once all participants are finalised, the players will be seeded based on their WPPR rank at the end of the calendar year.

2. Machines Chosen

The Tournament Director will notify all finalists of an eligible machine list at least 1 week prior to the event taking place.

3. Qualifying Rounds

The qualifying stage will consist of 4-player matches. 7-5-3-1 scoring in each match.

Players will be split into three pools, according to the final WPPR standings from 2024:

• Pool A: 1,8,9,16,17,24,25,32,33,40,41,48,49,56,57,64.
• Pool B: 2,7,10,15,18,23,26,31,34,39,42,47,50,55,58,63.
• Pool C: 3,6,11,14,19,22,27,30,35,38,43,46,51,54,59,62.
• Pool D: 4,5,12,13,20,21,28,29,36,37,44,45,52,53,60,61.

There will be 5 rounds with 3 matches per round.

Each player will be grouped with each other player in their pool exactly once.

The top 6 players from each pool will advance to the elimination stage. 

Ties for qualifying positions will be resolved by a one game playoff on the Saturday afternoon/night, immediately following the completion of qualifying rounds.

4. Finals

Players are expected to arrive no later than the advertised check-in time.  Anyone failing to arrive in time will be ineligible to compete and the next available reserve will be called.

The elimination stage will consist of best-of-seven (7), head-to-head matches. The loser of a match is eliminated.

Players will be ranked by most pool stage points, then most ACS qualifying points.

In each round, the highest-ranked player will play the lowest-ranked player, the second-highest-ranked player will play the second-lowest-ranked player, and so on.

The higher-ranked player in a match will get the choice of machine for game 1. Choice will then alternate.  The other player in the match will get to choose player order.  No machine will be played more than once in the same match.

A 3rd & 4th place consolation final will be played in a best-of-three match.

This process will continue until there is one remaining player in the tournament, who will be declared the winner.

5. Winners

Winners will receive cash prizes as cash during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of all final rounds. All decisions by tournament officials regarding winners and prizes are final.

First Place will also receive the title “IFPA Australian Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual IFPA Australian Championship Series, or will expire after two years if the IFPA Australian Championship Series is discontinued.

The winner will also earn one of the Australian Country Exemption spots for the 2025 IFPA World Championship, wherever it will be held.

1. Rulings and Malfunctions

All rulings and malfunctions will be based on the rules for the IFPA World Pinball Championship. Those are available HERE, starting at Paragraph V. Please ignore any sections above this as that relates to the format of the World Championship.

Quick Overview

The IFPA Australian Championship Series is an annual pinball competition with players qualifying throughout the entire calendar year. At the end of each calendar year, the top 16 ranked players (or 24) with the most WPPR points from each state will qualify for the playoffs, where they will play for the title of IFPA State/Territory Champion within that area.

From there, these champions, along with the other Top 4-6 finalists (number depending on how many participants) from each State/Territory final, will be invited to play for the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship, details of which can be found below. The remaining portion of the field of 48 will be filled by the top WPPR earners (best 20 results) throughout the calendar year.

All mentions of “State” below also refer to Territory winners.

Competition Details

1. How to qualify

Unlike most tournaments where the qualification process takes place over a couple of days at the tournament site, qualifying for the IFPA State Championship Series is based on results from all the IFPA endorsed tournaments held throughout the year in each eligible state. Utilizing its World Pinball Player Rankings, the IFPA will be tracking results based on where those IFPA endorsed tournaments are held, maintaining separate state rankings made up of those filtered results.

For example, the Queensland State Rankings will be made up of IFPA endorsed tournaments including the Brisbane Masters, Empire Pinball Tournaments, Yaboola Pinball Tournamets, Sunshine Coast Pinball, Park’n’Plunge, Coomera Classic, etc. Those 16 (or 24) players that earn the most WPPR points based only on these subset of events, will qualify for the IFPA Queensland State Championship. Similar to the World Pinball Player Rankings, only a player’s best 20 events within that state will count towards their standing.

No player will be eligible to play in more than one IFPA State Championship, so it is likely that the IFPA will have to move down the state/territory rankings list to find 16 (or 24) eligible qualifiers to participate in the State Championship. It is possible to qualify for an IFPA State Championship within a state that player does not live in, and it is even possible for players that live outside Australia to qualify for an IFPA State Championship should they earn enough WPPR points within a state to qualify.

It is the player’s responsibility to make sure they have an email address on file with the IFPA, or they run the risk of not being contacted for participation in any State Championships they are qualified for. Please fill out an IFPA profile to ensure we have a way to contact you. If you see a green check within your profile information on your IFPA profile page, it means we do have a registered email address on file for you.

While all States will have a minimum of 16 players that qualify for the State Championship, certain states will be eligible to expand their qualifying field to 24 players. Any States that have a minimum of 200 unique players and 50 events held within that state during the calendar year will be eligible for that expanded 24 player final.

1. Fees

An endorsement fee of $1 per player, per event will now be required for events to be endorsed by the IFPA and award WPPR points within Australia.

Tournament Directors are responsible for submitting payment to IFPA after results are approved. WPPR points will not be posted until payment has been received by the IFPA.

The fees collected will be allocated to the prize pool of that state (60%), prize pool of the Australian Championship (25%), mandatory prize pool for IFPA World Championship (5%), with the remaining 10% of the fees being withheld to cover processing fees related to those payments.

Format of Matches

1. Seeding of finalists

Once all participants are finalized, the 16 or 24 players will be seeded based on their State rankings position at the end of the calendar year. In the event that any players are tied with the same amount of In-State WPPR points, we will look at the overall WPPR rank of those players as of the end of that calendar year. Any players tied on the qualifying bubble with the same State ranking position will result in a play-in tiebreaker game to determine who joins the field of finalists for the State Championship. Game and position will be pulled at random by the TD.

1. Machines Chosen

With each IFPA State Championship being held at a different location, each will have a different set of games available for the tournament. Please check with the IFPA State Representative for details on the game list once the location has been finalized for that particular IFPA State Championship.

1. Head-to-Head Single Elimination Format

Players will be placed in a single elimination bracket once the seedings have been completed.

First round pairings (based on 16 entrants) are as follows:

1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, 4 vs. 13,
5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, 8 vs. 9

Second round pairings are as follows:

1/16 winner vs. 8/9 winner, 2/15 winner vs. 7/10 winner,
3/14 winner vs. 6/11 winner, 4/13 winner vs. 5/12 winner

Third round pairings are as follows:

1/8/9/16 winner vs. 4/5/12/13 winner,
2/7/10/15 winner vs. 3/6/11/14 winner

Fourth round pairing are as follows:

Two winners of round 3 play for the State Championship
Two losers of round 3 play in the Consolation Final for 3rd/4th place.

Each match will be a best-of-seven. The higher seeded player will have a choice of machine or position for the 1st game.  For every game thereafter in the same match, selection of machine or order will alternate between the players, until someone has won 4 games. Players must select from whichever machines are available for play at the time of selection, however a machine may not be played more than once in the same match.  This does not apply if there are less than 7 machines available. If that is the case, only after all machines have been chosen can either player select that game to be played for a second time within the same match. Once a player verbally announces their game choice, or chooses position, that decision will be locked in and cannot be changed.

Each player will have the opportunity for up to 30 seconds of practice time before starting every game of every match. This is to ensure that both players have a chance to get familiar with the machine.

The winner of the match advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated.

The 3rd/4th place Consolation Final will be played as a best-of-three instead of a best-of-seven like all other rounds, using the same rules. It is up to the IFPA State Representative as to whether matches will be played out to determine 5th through 16th (or 24th) place.

For any state that is eligible for the expanded field of 24 finalists, the top 8 players will receive a bye, with the 9th through 24th seeds playing in an opening round. The rest of the bracket will play out as above.

1. Winners

Winners will receive cash prizes as cash during an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of all final rounds.. All decisions by tournament officials regarding winners and prizes are final.

Any state with 16 finalists will have the following payout structure:

1st place – 30% of the prize pool
2nd place – 18% of the prize pool
3rd place – 12% of the prize pool
4th place – 8% of the prize pool
5th through 8th place – 4% of the prize pool each
9th through 16th place – 2% of the prize pool each

Any state with 24 finalists will have the following payout structure:

1st place – 28% of the prize pool
2nd place – 16% of the prize pool
3rd place – 10% of the prize pool
4th place – 6% of the prize pool
5th through 8th place – 4% of the prize pool each
9th through 16th place – 2% of the prize pool each
17th through 24th place – 1% of the prize pool each

First Place will also receive the title “IFPA State Pinball Champion” for the state being contested. For example, the winner of the IFPA Queensland State Championship will receive the title of “IFPA Queensland State Pinball Champion”. This title remains in effect until the next annual IFPA State Championship Series, or will expire after two years if the IFPA State Championship Series is discontinued.

Rulings and Malfunctions

All rulings and malfunctions will be based on the rules for the IFPA/PAPA unified ruleset, available HERE.

IFPA Australian Championship

As part of the prize package for each IFPA State Championship, the Top 4 finalists (or 6 for any State final with 24 entrants) will be invited to the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship. If any of the Top 4 (or 6) finalists are unable to attend the IFPA Australian Pinball Championship, the next finalist(s) from the State Championship will be allowed to participate and serve as the representative(s) of that state, down as far as the 8th placed finalist.  If there are less than 4 finalists from the Top 8 from a particular state, that spot will be given back to the National WPPR rankings.

The IFPA Australian Pinball Championship will be held in March 2024 (dates to be advised) in Perth, Western Australia.

Now that the 2022 qualifying season has wrapped up, we would like to congratulate all players who participated in the inaugural IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series and to extend our thanks to the organizers who facilitated these events.

We also want to thank all of the organizers/tournament directors and players who provided feedback and suggestions about what worked well and what could be improved moving forward. Based on that feedback, we are introducing some changes for the 2023 qualifying season that we believe will improve the experience for organizers and participants.

Schedule: Feedback was split on whether it was more convenient or less convenient to hold WNACS events on the Sunday directly following NACS events. We recognize that this depends on the size and scope of the pinball community in each region, not to mention the geographical remoteness of available venues. For 2024, WNACS Day will be held on January 21st, which is the Sunday immediately following NACS Day. For people who are organizing in regions where this scheduling presents a challenge, please feel free to reach out to collaborate on potential approaches that can reduce the burden. 

Qualification:

Qualifying for the IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series is based on results from any IFPA-endorsed tournament held throughout the year in each eligible state/province. Qualifiers will continue to be drawn from open events and women’s events in each state/province. A state must have 2 or more sanctioned women’s events in order to have a 16-player championship. In states/regions where there are fewer than 2 sanctioned women’s events, there will be an 8-player championship. There will not be “super states” that qualify for 24-player championships based on the total number of players and events held in a state/province for the 2023 qualifying season, but we are evaluating the concept for future implementation.

Beginning with the 2023 qualifying season, there will be a 20-event cap for each “side” of the standings (open/women’s). A player’s best 20 events on each side of the standings will count toward their standing. 

All IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series events will be held on the same day. No player will be eligible to play in more than one WNACS event. We plan to have a Women’s North American Championship event that the championships funnel into, and will announce additional details as we have them.

Seeding:

We plan to simplify and automate the seeding process to make it more accessible to organizers/tournament directors and players and to avoid confusion. Our goal is to have a process and infrastructure that more closely resembles NACS. This includes automated seeding and public visibility into RSVPs so that there is increased transparency into which state/province players have declared intent to play in on the IFPA website.

Beginning with the 2023 qualifying season, the following changes to seeding will be enacted:

Qualifiers from the “women’s” side of the bracket will now receive the odd seeds in their respective competitions, and qualifiers from the “open” side of the bracket will receive the even seeds. The goal is to continue incentivizing participation in women’s events even as both types of events remain valuable for the player field.

Players will not be locked into a specific side of the rankings until all participants have been finalized. This will ensure that players who performed well in both open and women’s-only events are afforded the highest possible seed based on which competitors commit to attend.

When organizers/tournament directors have exhausted all potential qualifiers from one “side” of the qualifying standings, they may draw from qualified players on the other “side.” This is a change from the inaugural year, made with the goal of having a full bracket wherever possible. (Note: This applies only for the regions that are eligible for a 16-player championship. Regions without a sufficient number of women’s events will continue to draw 8 participants from the open rankings.)

Fees and Prizes:

The entry fee will stay at $20, to be distributed according to the same percentages as our inaugural year (40% to 1st place, 30% to 2nd place, 20% to 3rd place, and 10% to 4th place). However, any additional cash, goods, or services gathered by organizers can be distributed to competitors based on organizer discretion. Organizers with concerns about entry fees and/or cash prizes related to state or venue restrictions should reach out to the IFPA for guidance.

Communication:

In order to improve communication and to ensure that there is clarity among organizers and players about how WNACS tournaments should be run, the IFPA will provide a shared document that outlines the structure and rules of play well in advance of the tournament date. The goals are to (1) ensure that each tournament is run using the same rules/structure in each state  and (2) to ensure that tournament directors feel supported and well informed in orchestrating their individual events.

The IFPA will also provide draft email language for tournament directors to send to players who have qualified/are close to the cutline for WNACS to help alleviate strain on organizers/tournament directors, as well as to ensure that players have the most up-to-date information.

While our primary means of communication will continue to be email and posts on the IFPA website (which automatically go out through our social media channels), we also recently introduced an IFPA Discord channel dedicated to women’s pinball. We believe that this will facilitate additional instantaneous communication among players and organizers and allow frequently asked questions to be crowdsourced to knowledgeable members of the community. Please note that while the IFPA Women’s Board is a part of the Discord server, we cannot guarantee we will see each and every post, so any communication that requires direct IFPA input should still be emailed to ifpawomen@gmail.com. Anyone who organizes or participates in women’s pinball events can join the Discord channel by joining the IFPA Discord Server and adding themselves to the ifpa-womens public channel.

Women’s State/Provincial Representatives:

Beginning this year, we are establishing a set of women’s state/provincial representatives. These representatives will work in concert with their state/provincial representatives to increase the awareness of competitive pinball and to facilitate the state/provincial women’s championships in their respective states. If you organized a women’s championship in this inaugural year, please let us know in the next few weeks whether you are interested in continuing as an IFPA women’s representative for your state/province.