Bon Jovi vs Dungeon Crawler Carl vs Ender's Game | Which One?!
Bon Jovi vs Dungeon Crawler Carl vs Ender's Game | Which One?!
Three major new pinball machines. One person who has played them all. In Episode 64 of The Flipside Podcast, Retro Ralph sits down with Jamie Burchell to discuss his exclusive hands-on experiences with Barrels of Fun’s new Bon Jovi pinball machine, plus Dungeon Crawler Carl and Ender’s Game for the Multimorphic P3 platform. Jamie shares his honest first impressions of Bon Jovi pinball, including its fast-flowing layout, lightning flippers, Crowd Surf ball save, Steel Horse Multiball, interactive heart mechanism, upgraded audio system and concert-style atmosphere. Is this really the best-shooting Barrels of Fun game yet, and could it convince Ralph to cancel his Tales of the Arabian Nights remake order? They also break down Multimorphic’s ambitious new releases, Dungeon Crawler Carl pinball and Ender’s Game pinball. We explore the shared P3 playfield, completely different rules and artwork, Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook callouts from Jeff Hays, Ender’s Game audio from Glenn Wächter, and the massive rotating mechanism that changes ball paths and interacts with each game in unique ways. Plus, Ralph and Jamie discuss music-pin fatigue, whether the Multimorphic P3 deserves another chance, the pressures of creating pinball content, podcast anxiety, Pinball Expo plans and the overwhelming number of new pinball machines arriving in 2026. Which game should Ralph buy: Bon Jovi, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Ender’s Game or the Tales of the Arabian Nights remake? LOOKING FOR A NEW OR USED PINBALL MACHINE? LEAVE ME A VOICEMAIL Your message might be played on a future episode: WATCH THE FLIP SIDE PINBALL PODCAST LISTEN ON SPOTIFY LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS RETRO RALPH MERCHANDISE FOLLOW RETRO RALPH X/Twitter: Instagram: For product reviews and other business inquiries: retroralph1980@gmail.com
Kineticist’s take
Jamie Burchell praises unreleased Bon Jovi pinball as Barrels' best shooter; 650 units pre-sold despite dad-rock fatigue.
Synopsis
Retro Ralph interviews Jamie Burchell about his experience playing the unreleased Bon Jovi pinball machine at Barrels of Fun headquarters. Jamie praises it as Barrels' best-shooting game to date, detailing its innovative mechanics including four flippers, lightning flippers, crowd-surf ball save, and a dynamic heart toy. The conversation explores the game's approachability despite Barrels' reputation for challenging shooters, addresses skepticism about the Bon Jovi theme in a saturated music-pin market, and reveals the machine has already sold approximately 650 units despite initial doubts from the community.
Highlights
- Bon Jovi has sold approximately 650 units already
- Bon Jovi is Barrels of Fun's best shooting game they've ever made
- The game features four flippers: two main flippers (lightning flippers), one upper right flipper, and one outlane flipper
- Lightning flippers are one-eighth inch shorter than standard three-inch flippers, creating a wider gap
- Bon Jovi initially was designed as a two-flipper game before feedback prompted four flippers
- Jamie placed a bet with Don Garrison that Bon Jovi will sell more units than Winchester Mystery House
- Barrels of Fun expanded its facility, with new areas Jamie hadn't seen before
- Phil Grimaldi designed the rules for Bon Jovi
Entities
- Barrels of Fun· company
- Flip N Out Pinball· company
- Multimorphic· company
- Bon Jovi· game
- Dune Pinball· game
- Evil Dead· game
- Foo Fighters· game
- Labyrinth· game
- Winchester Mystery House· game
- Don's Pinball Podcast· organization
- The Flipside Pinball Podcast· organization
- Don Garrison· person
- Jamie Burchell· person
- Jessica DiNardo· person
- John Taylor· person
- Karl D'Angelo· person
- Phil Grimaldi· person
- Retro Ralph· person
- P3· product
- Electric Bat· venue
- Eureka· venue
- Tilt Gamez· venue