I’ve played a ton of different pinball inspired games over the last few years, and even have a pinball machine in my house – like an arcade. So, when I stumbled upon Pin-Crawl at MCM Comic Con London, I was interested in how this game used pinball features to create something completely unique.
Pin-Crawl is a dungeon crawling, rouge-lite that has a bunch of different pinball elements to it, giving you something that you wouldn’t be able to really create on a real life pinball table. In this game, you play as Morgan The Witch and her round, slime pal (who you can choose from a few options) which acts like the ball. The ball themselves have their own abilities, but you can also find different upgrades that allow you to continue to change the way you interact with the field itself.
You are looking to rescue your friends through beating dungeons in the form of pinball machines. There are a lot of little secrets, places that just seem to fit together correctly when your slimy-friend ball is rolling around, knocking up combos and dealing damage. You can even find a bunch of coins pop up! At the end of rounds, you can sue your magic gained to enchant your flippers or give yourself abilities that will help you further in the dungeon. There are boss fights, magic, and a lot of fun pinball moments.
It is worth noting that a lot of pinball physics do not work exactly the same in Pin-Crawl, like juggling the ball between the flippers, due to the way that the game is made. But, a lot of pinball machines don’t have the ability to slow down time or a giant turtle to eat the ball once it’s stuck in in a hole in the grounds, so I suppose it evens out!
You can wishlist Pin-Crawl ahead of it’s release next year on Steam.