Episode 119 - Pinball Ranker

New ELO-based pinball ranking site challenges Pinside's dominance with simpler, faster comparative voting.

Synopsis

Connor, a Seattle-based software engineer and Wedgehead A A Pinball Podcast member, launched PinballRanker.com, a new pinball game ranking platform using ELO-style competitive comparison (pick which of two games you prefer) rather than Pinside's multi-category rating system. The hosts discuss how PinballRanker addresses frustrations with Pinside's complexity, time investment, and bias against classic games, emphasizing simplicity and accessibility for casual and location players. The beta rankings (currently limited to ~50 Discord members) show strong preference for classic solid-state games like Mystic, Dune, and Eight Ball Deluxe over modern titles.

Highlights

• Pinside's rating system uses 20+ evaluation categories (cabinet art, sound quality, light show, etc.), making it time-consuming and hostile to location players who can't assess all attributes
• PinballRanker uses ELO ranking (competitive comparison) where users pick which of two games they prefer, building personal and global rankings simultaneously
• Pinside's ranking system is biased against classic solid-state games because they lack callouts and have less artwork, limiting their visibility in the rankings
• A similar competitive ranking site launched 'a few days before' Connor released PinballRanker's beta to the Discord, suggesting independent parallel development
• The current PinballRanker top 10 (as of May 17 recording) heavily favors classic games: Mystic (#8), Dune (#7), Eight Ball Deluxe (#6), Demolition Man (#5), with no modern Stern titles visible in the excerpt
• Jeff Hart suggested the 'this or that' comparison concept to the Discord, referencing Flickchart (later became Popcorn List)
• PinballRanker has no barrier to entry (free, no vouch system required) and works well on mobile, contrasting with Pinside's account requirement and referral system
• Connor has been rapidly implementing feature requests from the Discord community (mark games as not played, snooze feature) within hours to days

Entities

• Demolition Man· game
• Dune· game
• Eight Ball Deluxe· game
• Future Spa· game
• Godzilla (Pro)· game
• Jurassic Park (Pro)· game
• Mystic· game
• Skateball· game
• Pinside· organization
• Wedgehead Pinball Podcast· organization
• Alan· person
• Alex the Waterboy· person
• Caucasian Two Steps· person
• Connor· person
• Jeff Hart· person
• Keith Elwin· person
• Flickchart / Popcorn List· product
• Ko-fi· product
• PinballRanker.com· product