The Pinball Wizard

Tons of fun. Wish there was more.

I started playing and quickly got obsessed. It took me about three days to completely finish the tower, and all the skill upgrades. It was very fun. The daily dungeon is still very nice, but there’s nothing left to work towards after you max all the levels and skills. I’d like to see more tower levels, or maybe character customization, or *something* else to work for. Overall a wonderful game. Very pretty, very cute, very fun. I saw another review saying that the paddles go through the wizard sometimes, and launch it off of the tower. I am thinking that that person may just be bad at pinball. I accidentally knocked my wizard off the tower too, several times, possibly dozens, but it was clear to me that it was because of how I moved the paddles, not because of bad design. The game was very well made.

dude

This is a cute game and I overall like it but guys, why are the game over screens so excruciatingly long. It is literally faster to put a quarter into an actual pinball machine and start from scratch than it is to retry the same level of this video game. Considering that even the slightest hiccup can drop your health to 0 in mere seconds, the fact that you can (and almost certainly will) spend more time waiting for the game to let you navigate a menu that will then *eventually* let you retry a board than actually playing the game is a pretty huge thorn. This type of system would work well in a roguelike, but it just really doesn’t make a ton of sense here. Game flow could be MASSIVELY improved by showing what you’ve earned at the end of each board on a single screen that can then be bypassed with a single tap instead of forcing you to sit through a bunch of superfluous animations after you die. This way, you could allow players to retry instantly without losing progress from the previous levels of their run, and just generally cut back on tedium and frustration. Addressing this and slapping some more songs in this bad boy would give you an A+ game, I think!

Please rethink

1) the most frustrating thing is when the bumpers go through the “ball” and PULL HER BACK IN!!! Needs fixed if I’m going to continue playing. Just wouldn’t recommend anyone playing until fixed. 2) I swear I played floor 1f-3f 10 times before I could finally get through it. The mosters are way too strong for the beginning of the game. Unless it’s a short game, in that case nerf the monsters still and make it longer!! 3) there’s barriers around the “play area” and on 3f I went through it??? Died for no reason??? This games been out for a while, please fix these bugs! On a good note it’s a fun game, cute characters and field designs, wish it wasn’t bugged out. I would also recommend adding more ways to earn more points like secrets that reveals more gems. But I’m more concerned about the things I listed above. I played for maybe an hour and I’m disappointed that I had a bad experience with a game that could be really good. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow. I rarely write reviews but I really want to enjoy this game.

Fun but frustrating

While I appreciate pinball mechanics, mixing in action RPG elements makes for a poor combination here. The fact you can die without losing the ‘ball’ is a bad choice especially when it’s difficult to avoid damage. Also, the amount of damage you incur along when losing the ‘ball’ is a bit too high. Part of the fun in pinball is scoring high, shooting lit routes that open up other bonuses, being able to ‘tilt’ the table and keeping the ball in-play. True pinball fans won’t have much to see, as this appears to be more of a novel recipe for two genres that don’t typically go together. Two stars for the effort. I added another star as the Dev read and responded to my review. Also, I’ve still been playing the game and understand the leveling, but there are some situations where it’s game over seconds after having launched at the wrong place at the wrong time. Hope there’s updates on the way to an otherwise fun and sometimes frustrating take on pinball.

Cool take on a old classic!

I. Love. This. Game. Period. Play this with head phones. The sound design is so wonderful. Ever time a barely or a bad guy is it, the sound seems to come from the direction of the impact. When a series of fast bounces comes into play, you hear shouts back and forth between the left and right ear piece of the head phones. It helps with play as a fast series of bounces is ending, it is hard to tell where the ‘ball’ will be returning from, unless you have the stereo audio. The rogue like aspects of this game are amazing. Seeing the little person run around instead of rolling like a ball is so cute. All the pin ball aspects are there: challenging routes. Unlock bonuses. This often happens by destroying all enemies, lighting all torches, or destroying all the targets. Be prepared to die. A lot. That is kind of what a rogue like is about. But each time, you earn enough xp to come back stronger. Each time playing again, you get a little bit farther. The only downside is the on screen buttons for abilities. Playing without a controller means the buttons often get missed when trying to hit them. It gets frustrating when I time a tap successfully to save from a killer fall, to have missed the button and I died anyway.

Fun, creative game

I’ve never played a game that uses an person as a pinball, much less a wizard, so the concept alone deserve props. The gameplay is pretty enjoyable, especially as you unlock and develop abilities. They add a lot of versatility to the gameplay. The art is also very appealing to look at and cute, though it may give the impression that the game is easier than it actually is. A few qualms though. I’ve accidentally used the spells so many times by accidentally clicking the button when I’m trying to use the bumpers. If I could move the buttons, even a cm upwards, it would really help. I also wish hitting the “ball” had a more satisfying contact response. It feels less like I’m hitting the pinball with pillow coated paddles. Finally, I were multiple wish there were more finite dungeons. Currently, unlocking the full abilities is the only thing compelling me to keep playing the game.

The best game on apple arcade (as of now)

This is the best game on apple arcade as of Jan 2020. It’s very well designed and it looks amazing. The sound design is also very funny and fitting. The physics is also great. There are some flaws too. The game is not very balanced. In the beginning it can be challenging (good), but once you get to level 20 or so (which doesn’t take too long) the game becomes very easy and you can get all of the upgrades pretty fast. At this stage getting game over is almost impossible and you can go through the whole game in 20 minutes or so. With that said, the game was very fun, and it’s still fun. I have a bit more upgrades to do until I 100% the game, and I’ll probably stop once I do that. I hope there were more levels and more upgrades. Looking forward to the next game!

Charming and Engrossing Crossover

I’ve enjoyed this game. The feature of earning XP and improving your perks as you go keeps the gameplay fresh. At times I’ll hit a snag when I can’t beat a particular level of the tower, but then I’ll earn some more XP, increase my abilities, and knock it out. It’s a fun little game which, despite its charmingly unorthodox use of pinball mechanics, still feels like a dungeon-crawling RPG. My only gripe is the inability to customize the location of special powers buttons on the screen. Too often I’ll go hit a flipper and instead hit a power-up button on that side and fall right through to my death. If I can remember to keep my thumbs toward the bottom of the screen it’s not an issue, but it’s hard to focus on precisely where I need to tap in the heat of battle.

Frustrating in the dumbest ways

The game tries to to be more wizard than pinball and it hurts the actual gameplay. Getting killed by enemies on the board is frustrating but understandable, it adds an rpg element to the game, that’s the most forgivable problem. The spells are a cool idea but they end up cluttering up the UI more than they end up being helpful. I’ve lost more health to the game interpreting a tap for a flipper as a tap for a spell I don’t even have the mana for. Why not have casting a spell also activate a flipper? Why not make spells gesture based instead (swipe left for dash and right for orb)? Why not disable spells when you’re in range of the flippers? It’s a pinball game, flippers should be paramount but often times I find the game eagerly casting spells as I slip right past a flipper and lose a chunk of my health. Not as big of a deal but I also feel like the orb is just a worse dash, maybe make the orb stick around longer and function more like a multi ball? Also the hit box on the wizard themselves is a bit hard to interpret? I think it maybe the hat which like, I get it, they’re a wizard, but they’re also a ball so I feel like knowing where they’ll hit and how they’ll bounce is more important. Fun idea, a lot of good executions, really cute graphics with a great color pallet, but I can’t play it for more than a round or so without getting grumpy because of these issues.

Fun, cute, and more fun

Infinitely fun and addicting right from the first few plays. Music and sound are cute and appropriate without being harsh at all, distracting, or annoying. Endless replay value due to the fun factor and being able to start from any level you have already beaten is phenomenal. Need XP or treasure? Frustrated with the level you are on? Start from level 1 and enjoy the ride. I’m not a pinball purist but I have played plenty of pinball, both real machines and virtual, and the point of this game is definitely not to be faithful to pinball physics or some advanced pinball simulator. That said, the pinball part of it is pretty close to a real feel, or close enough that it doesn’t detract from a very enjoyable little game! Love it!

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