Pinball Expo 2026 Review: Grading the New Games

• Cirqus Voltaire (American Pinball): A
• Tales of the Arabian Nights (Pedretti Pinball): A
• Fallout (Stern Pinball): B+
• Yukon Yeti (Turner Pinball): B+
• Dungeon Crawler Carl and Ender's Game (Multimorphic): B+
• Bon Jovi (Barrels of Fun): B
• Sonic the Hedgehog (Jersey Jack Pinball): C

The Show Itself

The community and industry are very lucky to have Rob Berk and his team running this event as well as they do.

My small suggestion for folks is to get there one to two hours before the floor opens and, if you're driving in, stay at the show. After that, parking gets tough, which means walking around the building to the entrance, and doing it again at, say, midnight. Even worse if you bought something you need to drop off at your car. Don't worry about food and drink, because the hotel has that covered with its excellent restaurant, the Schaumburg Public House. I gotta give two thumbs up to the Pesto Chicken Flatbread. They also have sandwiches you can grab and go, which are equally tasty. A tad bit expensive, but it beats losing your parking spot or paying for an Uber.

Some small suggestions for show staff: start thinking about expanding outside the show floor into the surrounding hallways, if the convention center permits that. Lower the lights at the start of the show so the lighting on the games stands out, then lower them further four hours before close each day. As it is, the lighting is like any other convention, not an arcade expo. Finally, if badges are good for all three days, wristbands shouldn't be required, and if they are, they should be made of plastic.

Last year, Barrels of Fun dropped Winchester Mystery House at the show, and the lines for it were very long. This year nearly every major manufacturer was at the show, and they all came with new games. Competition is always a good thing for the industry. You might think that would shorten the lines, but it didn't. They aren't Comic-Con lines, but they're lines, and they get worse when people are chasing a grand champion score or playing one-player games.

Pinball is getting really popular, as is the show. There are a lot more content creators now too, holding seminars and upping their game with DSLR cameras on Steadicams or GoPros on selfie sticks. There wasn't really a dud game at the show, either. The only dud I found all weekend was the AI art T-shirt vendor.

The New Games

Stern's Fallout: B+

Stern Pinball brought Fallout to the show and announced AC/DC Remastered, though AC/DC Remastered was only on display at the end of the Stern factory tour. As a fan of the series who has played Fallout 3, Fallout 4 and Fallout Shelter, I think they absolutely nailed this game. It blends the video games and the TV show with video assets from both, including in future code releases, and you have a B+ game from Keith Elwin's team.

So many creative mechs, from the Fat Man launcher to the Vault door opening and even a non-traditional lower playfield that uses magnets for flippers, make the Premium and LE sort of a must. The Pro plays and looks great, but others at the show and I agreed the Premium and LE changes justify the upgrade. I don't have a favorite art package; I really like them all.

The main complaint about the game thus far is the left inlane and outlane area. If the game is not perfectly balanced, you're gonna have a bad time. It's hard to describe, so look at the image below, but if you do a poor live catch, the ball will roll up the inlane and, because there is a gap, roll out. You can argue it's a skill issue, but I'm not crazy about it, and it became frustrating.

Like I said, an unbalanced game feeding the ball to the left inlane will create a fight-for-your-life situation as the ball bounces around off the outlane and inlane post rubbers. It should feed to the inlane. The pop bumper adds to the chaos, and once again you drain from that area. Some of the players in my group also found the shots difficult to hit, but that is most likely a learning-the-game situation. I highly suggest players avoid that area and use the outer double-post junk target to just get the ball out of the danger zone.

American Pinball's Cirqus Voltaire: A

The latest iteration of the American Pinball brand had their first major release, the remastered Cirqus Voltaire, at the show, and it was a major hit. They had a strong presence: you collected tickets, aptly themed to the game, and exchanged them for swag like posters. Whether this is your first time playing this Bally classic or not, you will be impressed.

The art package from Flyland Designs has just the right amount of familiarity, and the creative panache from Brian Allen is just jaw-dropping on the Ringmaster Edition's Crystaluxe Hi-Gloss cabinet decals. They're essentially Radcals, which the industry seems to be moving toward, and they make the game really pop visually while eliminating many manufacturing and quality issues. They even decorated the coin door area; the entire game is just covered in artwork.

I was curious if the original's neon tube would look better than the LED lights, but I actually think the LED lights look better. They're not too bright, with just the right amount of diffusion, which shows the care American Pinball took in recreating this game. I even noticed they used the original stenciling about electrical compliance on the rear of the backbox. The topper also adds to the theme immersion and is mechanized during High-Wire Multiball.

Flippers felt exactly like the original, except on the first day of Expo, when they accidentally had the wrong flipper coils installed. Two things I noticed: the Ringmaster head raised and lowered more aggressively than on the original, though I'm sure that's operator adjustable, and the LCD animations were the only thing I wasn't a fan of. I would have preferred the original's pixelated graphics to recreated ones. Both editions look fantastic, and I'm giving this an A. By the end of the show, it was my favorite game at Expo.

Pedretti's Tales of the Arabian Nights: A

Pedretti Pinball was showing off the newly remastered Tales of the Arabian Nights, a Williams classic and yet another John Popadiuk game at this year's Expo. My first impression is that it's absolutely gorgeous and oh so sparkly, but in a good way. The trim has an evenly distributed metallic flake, if you have an OCD thing about that, but not too much flake! The additional lighting really enhances the Lightning Lamp mode, and the rear of the playfield also lights up with additional artwork to fully immerse the player. Flippers felt fine to me.

Just like Cirqus Voltaire, I got nothing else to say: these remakes are legit and far surpass the originals. The one thing I liked more than the American Pinball approach to remakes was that Pedretti made new animations in the original's DMD style, in color of course, and they look phenomenal. A lot of the original's animations looked muddy, but these are vibrant on the 21.5-inch LCD. Finally, Brian from Flyland Designs has once again knocked it out of the park with his art package on the 30th Anniversary Edition. I'm giving this one an A as well.

Turner's Yukon Yeti: B+

Turner Pinball showed off Yukon Yeti, and once again they're punching above expectations for a new manufacturer and proving that original themes can do well if you offer a great game and package as a whole. Bringing back Dennis Nordman on design and Chris Granner on sound gives us a worthy successor to White Water. I hope Francis Wisniewski from the Pinball Capital gets a copy, because I think it offers a lot for new and competitive players.

The main feature and mech, the avalanche staircase, offers players ball lock stealing, which you typically don't see anymore in pinball. The avalanche creates fun chaos at the start of multiball. The environment of Pinball Expo makes it hard to hear games, but when I played it at Pintastic Pinball and Game Room Expo in April, I thought the music was fine. I've always really liked the artwork from Turner Pinball as well.

A friend asked me what my favorite was at Expo this year, and I said it could be Yukon Yeti. I'm more of a fan of clear, simpler rulesets like those of the EM and early solid-state eras, and Turner Pinball games are mostly that way. Sure, it's not packed with tons of mechs, but it's reliable and fun for both experienced and novice players. I mean, it has an upper playfield! Isn't that what pinball is all about? Easy to play and hard to master.

Companies are creating more elaborate games, which in turn cost more and have more serious issues, whether mechanical or software-related. I often think the industry and community need a reality check, and Turner Pinball provides one, which we should be grateful for.

I do wish Turner Pinball would look at creating licensed games in the future, and they don't have to be major themes like Fallout. I also wish the yeti head swiveled about like on White Water. It moves on the topper but is static on the playfield. Fingers crossed the new factory and the continued success of the company get us to their first licensed game. I'm giving Yukon Yeti a B+.

Multimorphic's Dungeon Crawler Carl and Ender's Game: B+

Multimorphic brought their latest module offerings for the P³ platform, Dungeon Crawler Carl and Ender's Game. My friend's girlfriend, who is fresh into pinball, took an exceptional liking to DCC from reading the first book in her book club.

So when I first played this game by myself, I didn't like it, but keep reading! The upper playfield mech on slip rings, while a mechanical marvel, harms gameplay and makes it hard to visually track the ball. It's absolutely massive, it blocks the player's view of the ball, and the entire left side of the game is taken up by the mech. Other friends had similar views. My first game also had a massive airball from the center drop target that rolled along the upper playfield and drained me, and I saw it airball on other people.

When I came back later with my friends, though, I had a mildly OK game and proved to a doubtful friend that it's probably just a learning-the-game issue. P³ games don't play like a traditional game, nor do the flippers feel normal, and there is only so much they can do. It's hard to do tip passes, for example, but aside from that, the flippers are fine. They also set the game to a separate flipper button for the third flipper, which I always forgot about. A friend also didn't like the blocky feeling of the flipper area on her hands. Because the upper playfield mech takes up a lot of the game's playable space, the game really depends on you successfully making shots with the third flipper.

I remember getting into a Boss Battle while Ian Harrower, the game's software lead, watched me play. It was a moment of, "oh, now I see why this game and the system differentiate themselves from traditional pinball." The mech, otherwise a static playfield object before the Boss Battle, will rotate about rapidly to change the shots. Along with the sound and visuals (two-thirds of the playfield is an LCD display), it gives you the feeling that you are in a life-or-death situation, just like in the series. Even the three other friends in my group were invested in seeing if I could survive. You often hear people describe P³ gameplay as changing on the fly, sometimes unexpectedly, but it's just something you have to play to enjoy.

Artwork for both games features Brad Albright, and for the DCC cabinet, Luciano Fleitas, who does the official artwork for DCC. Audio is just incredible on the P³ system, with callouts from DCC narrator Jeff Hays. His quips got more than a few laughs from my friends and me. The entire package, from the sculpts on, is just incredible. I'm more partial to DCC, but Ender's Game surprised me with how colorful it was, and even though the layout is the same as DCC's, it played similarly but still felt different. I'm giving these games a B+.

Barrels of Fun's Bon Jovi: B

Barrels of Fun brought their new game, Bon Jovi. I'm a fan of his music because I think I grew up as a Boston sports fan (he's close friends with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, so he was all over New England sports for years). Bon Jovi's music is on TV shows like Deadliest Catch, and with such a rich history of classic hits, I think he is worthy of a game. The gameplay is very fast and flowing, with some great visuals on the display. I'm not a fan of the artwork, but it is put together well. The lighting on this game is fantastic.

There are two things that really stand out as negatives for this title, however. First, the code: progressing through a song in that press-your-luck style is exactly like JJP's Guns N' Roses ruleset. It's better than Guns N' Roses in one way, though, because it doesn't lean on multiballs. Others and I feel Guns N' Roses has too many, and to get a good score there you have to play them well. Second, the heart mech has had mechanical issues at the Pinball Capital, and other people have reported the same. That being said, it's a wonderful game. I'm giving this one a B.

The Ones I Didn't Play: 3 Musketeers, Monster League Hockey and Battle Stations

The only game I wasn't impressed by was HEXA Pinball's The 3 Musketeers, which looked to me more basic and not as colorful as other manufacturers' games. I can't really speak to that, however, as I didn't play it. There were long lines for the game, including for their prior release, Space Hunt. I will play it eventually, I'm sure, and I actually quite liked Space Hunt at last year's Expo.

I didn't play Monster League Hockey from Killdozer Studios or Battle Stations from Myth Pinball, because there was always a line on them, so like the HEXA game, I'm not grading them. I'd say both were show darlings; families and couples really connected with them. My friend and his girlfriend did get to play Monster League Hockey, and they said they liked it. I'm a sucker for the Brad Albright artwork because it's neon and it reminds me of '90s arcades. It looked like a lot of fun, and I'm sure I'll play it eventually.

JJP's Sonic the Hedgehog: C

Finally, we end with Jersey Jack Pinball and Sonic the Hedgehog. I loved Sonic as a '90s kid, and I have a Sega Genesis from Sears that came with Sonic the Hedgehog 2. This is Steve Ritchie's last game; he announced his retirement at Pinball Expo. The light show looks great, but for me the artwork isn't ideal, nor is hearing kids doing callouts. I would have preferred Sonic and Dr. Robotnik doing the callouts only. The additional characters remind me of the Dreamcast games, and to me it's Sonic, Tails and Knuckles only.

As for gameplay, I felt that his Elton John played better, and it's one of the best games ever made. It's hard to make a Sonic game to compete against Ryan McQuaid's homebrew, because it's just so good. In fact, I'm probably biased in this review. That game still has long lines when it's at a show.

The magnetic loop shot is pretty cool when adjusted correctly, and the center sling area is pretty frantic and fast. I play JJP's Sonic often when I see it at the Pinball Capital or Chicago Billiard Cafe, but the main problem is the upper playfield. Maybe the code, maybe the layout, I don't know, but a lot of the fun gameplay is focused on the upper playfield area. When you go to the lower playfield, you just want to go back up. The sculpts are great and the topper is OK. I'm just not crazy about Sonic, but not every game is a hit, and over a career as long and storied as Steve's, that happens. I'm giving Sonic the Hedgehog a C.

Steve Ritchie will always be one of my favorite game designers. He's been labeled the "Master of Flow," and you have to have good flow in a pinball game. Nobody does it better!