- 14
- Games
- 1979
- First game
Joe Joos Jr. was a Hungarian-American mechanical engineer and game designer who played a critical role in shaping modern pinball. He began his career at Game Plan in the late 1970s, working on Sharpshooter (1979) alongside Roger Sharpe,…
Read the full bioGames
Bride of Pinbot
19913 ratings so farWilliams
Bad Cats
19892 ratings so farWilliams
Black Knight 2000
198990/100 · 7 ratingsWilliams
Police Force
19892 ratings so farWilliams
Cyclone
19884 ratings so farWilliams
Jokerz!
19881 rating so farWilliams
Pinbot
198680/100 · 11 ratingsWilliams
Dragonfist
1982Stern ElectronicsAlso Design
Orbitor 1
198290/100 · 9 ratingsStern ElectronicsAlso Design
Catacomb
1981Stern ElectronicsDesign only
Lightning
1981Stern ElectronicsAlso Design
Viper
19811 rating so farStern ElectronicsAlso Design
Quicksilver
19801 rating so farStern ElectronicsAlso Design
Sharpshooter
1979Game PlanAlso Design
About
Joe Joos Jr. was a Hungarian-American mechanical engineer and game designer who played a critical role in shaping modern pinball. He began his career at Game Plan in the late 1970s, working on Sharpshooter (1979) alongside Roger Sharpe, and then moved to Stern Electronics, where he led or contributed to several memorable designs such as Quicksilver (1980), Lightning (1981), and Orbitor 1 (1982). Known for his mechanical ingenuity, Joos continually pushed design boundaries, developing features like rotating turrets, multi-level playfields, and backbox games that set Stern machines apart, even though the company eventually shut down its pinball division in the early ’80s.
Following Stern, Joos joined Williams Electronics and took on a more specialized role as a mechanical engineer. He worked behind the scenes on iconic 1980s and early 1990s titles like PinBot (1986), Bride of PinBot (1991), Cyclone (1988), Taxi (1988), and Black Knight 2000 (1989). In many instances, he held patents for the toys and gadgets—like Pin*Bot’s moving visor or Taxi’s catapult—that became signature features, earning praise from top designers including Steve Ritchie and Python Anghelo for his reliability and creativity.
Joos passed away in 1994, and his memory was honored in Williams’ JackBot (1995), which features a dedication acknowledging his vital influence on the PinBot trilogy. While he rarely received top billing, colleagues credited him for bringing ambitious mechanical ideas to life, enabling the gameplay innovation that characterized the late ’80s and early ’90s pinball resurgence. His designs and patents continue to inspire today’s game designers, securing his position as one of pinball’s most influential mechanical minds.
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