You know pinball is experiencing a resurgence when the newest table is announced by the Wall Street Journal. Last week’s brief announcement ended speculation of the much-anticipated HBO-licensed theme, but yesterday’s photo and features reveal have the silverball community battling like Starks and Lannisters to be the first to own the hot new Game of Thrones pinball machine from Stern Pinball.
With the show entering its 6th season and only continuing to gain popularity, the magnitude of securing this license from HBO is huge! Coming hot off the heels of the recent rock-themed KISS pinball machine, Stern continues to show it aims big when it comes to designing popular games. However, as most of us who play games know, a license can only go so far. To be a true success, the game has to be fun. Fortunately, Stern Pinball brought in the big guns with game designer Steve “The King” Ritchie, who has designed more top-selling pinball games in his 40+ years in the industry than anyone else. The “master of flow” looks to have created another fun game full of features that include:
- A “Sword of Multiball” swinging sword device
- A battering ram sliding bash target
- Dragon or White Walker kickback
- Two “superspeed” ramps
- Custom speech from “The Hound” actor Rory McCann
- Standard pinball features such as drop targets, spinners, and pop bumpers
- And premium features such as an upper playfield and and iron throne toy
Judging from the photos and features list released by Stern yesterday, it seems the only area for concern lies in the disparity between the three different models of the game, Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition (LE). Apparently a king’s ransom of $5,995 will only grant you access to the basic Pro model, which is noticeably absent of some of the most desirable features of the game such as the upper dragon playfield, the iron throne, full LED lighting, and custom artwork by Bob Stevlik which will cost you $7,595 for the premium and $8,795 for the LE. But whether you’re a Baratheon, Targaryen, or Stark, there’s undoubtedly something for you to enjoy when you plunge the silverball in the Game of Thrones pinball machine!
