# Homebrew Showcase: Monsters Inc Pinball by Ernie Silverberg

**Source:** Marco Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2025-11-07  
**Duration:** 10m 38s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPDQx7PL9F8

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## Analysis

Marco Pinball showcases Monsters Inc., a fully custom homebrew pinball machine by Ernie Silverberg, presented at Pin DevCon 2025. Ernie discusses his design philosophy, iterative development process using Adobe Illustrator layouts and physical prototyping, and thematic integration of Pixar's Monsters Inc. into playfield mechanics. Roger Sharp briefly evaluates the machine, praising shot geometry and playfield layout while offering design feedback on ball flow and exit paths.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Monsters Inc. is Ernie's fifth homebrew pinball machine — _Ernie explicitly states 'This is number five' and names all four prior games: League of Legends, Beus and Butthead, Fox Machina, and Adventure Time._
- [HIGH] The current playfield is not the final version; a direct-print playfield with minor target adjustments will be completed within a month — _Ernie states: 'This is actually not the final playfield... I do have another playfield that will be a direct print. Um, that'll be done here in the next month or so.'_
- [HIGH] Ernie designed the layout using Adobe Illustrator, not 3D modeling — _Ernie: 'I use I'm not into 3D modeling yet. I'm working on it. I'm learning. But, uh, so this is all done in AI.'_
- [HIGH] Shot geometry and playfield flow are prioritized over difficulty; Ernie favors designs where missed shots lead back to subsequent shots rather than dead-ends — _Ernie: 'I like a shot that say you miss a shot, it leads to another shot. So, it's not like, oh man, you bounced it off a wall and you're you're done for.'_
- [HIGH] Roger Sharp praised the machine's shot geometry and upper playfield ramp design while noting the narrow entry point on the left flipper — _Roger Sharp: 'I think one of the issues with a lot of the games today is you lose sight of the ball... the overall geometry of it is kind of nice.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "Electricity wants to flow."
> — **Ernie Silverberg**, Early in conversation
> _Ernie's philosophy for troubleshooting pinball electrical issues; became an inside joke or teaching moment in the community._

> "It's 100% my best layout that I've done. And it is a very, very fun layout to shoot."
> — **Ernie Silverberg**, Mid-interview
> _Ernie's confidence in Monsters Inc. as his strongest design to date among his five homebrew machines._

> "Nobody likes till. Um, this is actually not the final playfield."
> — **Ernie Silverberg**, Early gameplay discussion
> _Ernie's design philosophy against tilt sensitivity, and acknowledgment of ongoing refinement._

> "I think one of the issues with a lot of the games today is you lose sight of the ball. And then the bigger issue is it's not so much the entry, it's the exit."
> — **Roger Sharp**, Mid-interview
> _Roger Sharp's professional design critique highlighting ball flow and visibility as key concerns in modern pinball design._

> "Money talks."
> — **Ernie Silverberg**, Licensing discussion
> _Ernie's response to whether Disney/Pixar licensing would be possible for a commercial Monsters Inc. pinball game._

> "My wife likes to tell me I have ADHD, which I probably do. And I get hyperfocused on stuff when I'm like in it."
> — **Ernie Silverberg**, End of interview
> _Personal insight into Ernie's creative process and intensity of focus during game design._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Ernie Silverberg | person | Homebrew pinball designer and builder; creator of five custom pinball machines including Monsters Inc., Beus and Butthead, League of Legends, Fox Machina, and Adventure Time. |
| Marco Pinball | person|content_creator | Video host and interviewer; appears to be a pinball content creator and event coverage specialist; filmed this showcase at Pin DevCon 2025. |
| Roger Sharp | person | Professional pinball designer and legend; briefly appeared to play and evaluate Ernie's Monsters Inc. machine, offering design feedback on ball flow, shot geometry, and layout maturity. |
| Monsters Inc. (homebrew) | game | Custom homebrew pinball machine by Ernie Silverberg based on Pixar's Monsters Inc. theme; features door-based shot mechanics, center Mike Wazowski toy, under-bed shot mechanic, and upper playfield ramp. |
| Pin DevCon 2025 | event | Pinball industry convention and developer event where this homebrew showcase was filmed; appears to be an educational and networking event for pinball designers and builders. |
| League of Legends (Ernie's game) | game | Ernie Silverberg's first homebrew pinball machine. |
| Beus and Butthead | game | Ernie Silverberg's second homebrew pinball machine; Roger Sharp previously critiqued it, noting the toilet paper toy was obstructive. |
| Fox Machina | game | Ernie Silverberg's third homebrew pinball machine. |
| Adventure Time | game | Ernie Silverberg's fourth homebrew pinball machine; described as currently only a layout requiring modification. |
| Fiverr | company | Freelance services platform; Ernie used it to hire an artist who has created artwork for his last three games (Fox Machina, Adventure Time, and Monsters Inc.). |
| Disney | company | Entertainment company whose Pixar animation studio created Monsters Inc.; Ernie is a season pass holder and visits Disney parks 4-5 times per year, inspiring his game choice. |
| Pixar | company | Animation studio owned by Disney; creator of Monsters Inc., the IP theme for Ernie's homebrew machine. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Homebrew pinball machine design and construction, Playfield layout iteration and prototyping methodology, Shot design and ball flow optimization, Thematic integration in pinball (Monsters Inc. licensing and mechanics)
- **Secondary:** Professional design critique and feedback from industry legend (Roger Sharp), Art asset creation for homebrew games using freelance services, Pinball community and homebrew showcase culture
- **Mentioned:** Designer creative process and hyperfocus methodology

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Overwhelmingly positive reception of Ernie's machine from both the host and Roger Sharp. Ernie is confident and enthusiastic about his design. Roger Sharp's feedback is constructive and appreciative. No criticism or negative sentiment detected; all critique is framed as professional design advice rather than flaws.

### Signals

- **[design_innovation]** Ernie's Monsters Inc. homebrew features novel shot design emphasizing ball flow, with sequences where missed shots feed into subsequent shots rather than ending play. Upper playfield includes a challenging ramp shot requiring precise flipper timing from the left flipper tip. (confidence: high) — Ernie: 'I like a shot that say you miss a shot, it leads to another shot.' Roger Sharp notes: 'the overall geometry of it is kind of nice' and praises the upper playfield ramp design.
- **[design_philosophy]** Ernie's design process relies on iterative physical prototyping: initial 2D layout in Adobe Illustrator, then screwing parts to playfield and shooting to test feel, with many shots resulting from 'happy accidents' and incremental adjustments until the shot 'feels good.' (confidence: high) — Ernie: 'got parts all over the place... you know, it's kind of a process of screwing things to the playfield, shooting it, saying, Okay, that's cool.' and 'a lot of the shots that I do, some of them are intentional, and then some of them are me just moving something a little bit in a happy little accident.'
- **[technology_signal]** Homebrew designer Ernie Silverberg uses Adobe Illustrator for initial playfield layout design rather than 3D modeling software, stating he is still learning 3D tools. Suggests a common alternative workflow among indie/homebrew designers. (confidence: high) — Ernie: 'I'm not into 3D modeling yet. I'm working on it. I'm learning. But, uh, so this is all done in AI.'
- **[content_signal]** Pin DevCon 2025 featured homebrew machine showcases as content; Marco Pinball documented Ernie's Monsters Inc. machine with interviews and gameplay footage. Indicates growing media coverage of indie/homebrew pinball design. (confidence: high) — Video title and format: 'Homebrew Showcase: Monsters Inc Pinball by Ernie Silverberg' filmed at 'Pin DevCon 2025' with Marco Pinball hosting.
- **[design_philosophy]** Ernie prioritizes shot design for non-expert players. States: 'because I am not a very good player, I like a shot that say you miss a shot, it leads to another shot.' This suggests homebrew designers may balance competitive depth with accessibility differently than commercial manufacturers. (confidence: high) — Ernie: 'because I am not a very good player, I like a shot that say you miss a shot, it leads to another shot. So, it's not like, oh man, you bounced it off a wall and you're you're done for.'
- **[product_launch]** Ernie's Monsters Inc. homebrew machine will receive a second playfield version with direct-print artwork and minor target adjustments to improve shot access. Indicates ongoing refinement of the one-off machine. (confidence: high) — Ernie: 'This is actually not the final playfield... I do have another playfield that will be a direct print. Um, that'll be done here in the next month or so. It's got a couple adjustments.'
- **[community_signal]** Roger Sharp's brief appearance and feedback at the homebrew showcase signals industry mentorship and recognition of indie designers. Sharp praised original design versus remakes, indicating community values for novel work. (confidence: medium) — Roger Sharp: 'it's nice when you see original designs versus some of the games that have been, you know, redone and remade with new themes. And uh it's it's interesting. I I take my hat off to to you and everybody else who takes the time, effort, financial, and otherwise to actually build stuff like this.'
- **[licensing_signal]** Discussion of licensing Monsters Inc. for commercial production. Roger Sharp notes that 'money talks' and raises the critical question of bill of materials and manufacturing scalability versus taking away features. Suggests Disney/Pixar licensing is theoretically possible but financially and operationally challenging. (confidence: medium) — Host asks 'How hard would it be to license this?' Ernie: 'You know, money talks.' Roger Sharp: 'just the financials... what's the bill of materials and how affordable is this to build in scale versus what you have to take away.'
- **[restoration_signal]** Ernie is known in the homebrew community for teaching electrical troubleshooting. Marco mentions Ernie helped him fix a game (taxi) by explaining basic electrical principles ('Electricity wants to flow'). Suggests Ernie has become a mentor figure. (confidence: high) — Marco: 'Ernie taught me how to fix my game... Ernie just said ground, guys... Electricity wants to flow.' This became a running gag about Ernie's troubleshooting wisdom.
- **[collector_signal]** Ernie explicitly states Monsters Inc. is 'a work of art, you know, one off, you know, not will probably never be a commercial game.' He created it as a personal keepsake and tribute to Disney/Pixar, not for commercial production. Reflects the one-off collector mindset of some homebrew builders. (confidence: high) — Ernie: 'because this is a work of art, you know, one off, you know, not will probably never be a commercial game. You know, I wanted something that I could keep and and have almost as a piece of art in the house.'

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## Transcript

work in progress. Marco Pinball Fast Pinball Pin DevCon 2025. I'm here the man, the myth, the legend that is Ernie. What is What is it? Silverberg.
Silverberg. I never knew your last name. Now I know. Now we're best friends.
Ernie. Ernie's not a thing everybody needs to know.
Ernie taught me how to fix my game and I probably You probably didn't even know it.
I probably didn't know.
Yeah, but I went back home and taxi was working after I got took me two weeks to figure it out. Ernie just said ground, guys.
Electricity wants to flow. [laughter]
I mean, I It's true.
It's true. It's true. All right. Instead of talking about taxi, let's talk about this amazing thing here. This is Tell us about your game. So, I wanted to do a Disney inspired theme. Me and my family go to Disney probably four or five times a year. Um, season pass holder. So, I wanted to do something from their uh animated movies. Um, I tried to think what would correlate best to pinball and Monsters Inc. was about the only one because of all the doors and the different things that you can do and going through.
So, that's kind of what what threw it. Um,
the other thing is is because this is a work of art, you know, one off, you know, not will probably never be a commercial game. You know, [music] I wanted something that I could keep and and have almost as a piece of art in the house that's, you know, a tribute to Disney and all their their and Pixar's animated movies. This this Okay, hang on a second.
Thank you. I haven't actually really gotten a good look at this and I'm realizing now
what you have done. [laughter] I'm looking at a fully developed game. This is all you. It's all me. This is not a rethe. This is not a rethe. It's completely from scratch. Um this is going to sound a little bit cocky, but it's 100% my best layout that I've done. And it is a very, very fun layout to shoot. Um if the ball gets sucked, you just shake it a little bit. It's not going to hurt it. There's no tilt. Nobody likes till.
Um, this is actually not the final playfield. [music] So, I do have another playfield that will be a direct print. Um, that'll be done here in the next month or so. It's got a couple adjustments. The layout's pretty much just the same, you know, exactly the same, but had to move a couple targets a little bit further back to open up some shops. Okay. So, you're more seems and homebrew players, so let's let's change it up a little bit cuz I've been asking the same questions a little bit, but for you Oh my god, Roger Sharper's here. Okay. [laughter] Roger Sharp is looking at your game.
What? Say it again.
So Roger Sharp is looking at your game.
Hey, I'm okay with that. Be cool if he could get on here and play it.
Yeah. Yeah.
Should we have Roger come and play?
Mr. Sharp. Mr. Sharp, come on in. Come on in. We're streaming right now. You're you're He's still the talent. So you're here. Come you come in and play. Okay.
We won't interview you, but we'll interview Ernie about his amazing game. All right. So Ernie, by the way, Chad, this is Roger Sharp, by the way. [laughter] Just so you know. Holy smokes.
All right. So, we're changing up a little bit from conception to build. Just like give us a thousand foot view of how you how you move through the idea to this pin in front of us. So, I started off I cut a lower third with just the the slings and the flippers. Um, got them flipping. I
created a layout, initial layout in Illustrator that had the buck up there in the center
in Illustrator. Okay. So, I use I'm not into 3D modeling yet. I'm working on it. I'm learning. But, uh, so this is all done in AI. Um, the initial layout just had the buck and a couple things set up.
I was getting the blinking skill, guys.
That's crazy.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So, then started flipping on it. I had some I got a bunch of I mean I got parts all over the place. So, you know, it's kind of a a process of screwing things to the playfield, shooting it, saying, "Okay, that's cool." Um, that little center orbit is what I started with and built it and then from that where Mike is sitting on top of. So, that's what I started off in the game and the game kind of got built around that.
And then, so there's there's usually a piece that everything gets built around.
Yep. That's in pretty much all my games I've had one thing that I've started with and then kind of built it around that. And then honestly, I've said this before, but a lot of the shots that I do, some of them are intentional, and then some of them are me just moving something a little bit in a happy little accident, like not even meaning to do it, and then it's awesome.
So, so you iterate, you iterate, you iterate, and then the So, the shots have to feel good.
Yep. That's that's the biggest thing. And I for me, because I am not a very good player, I like a shot that say you miss a shot, it leads to another shot. So, it's not like, oh man, you bounced it off a wall and you're you're done for. It's like, oh no, I missed that shot, but it, you know, it came right back to the spot that I needed to to hit another shot.
Hurry up. Put that thing back.
Yeah, that's a tough thing to do though in it.
Mr. Sharp, by the way, is destroying your game.
Oh, no.
He's blowing it up.
Checking out the angles.
Okay, [laughter] so then um once you're happy, when does artwork go on?
Uh, it's kind of, you know, you really kind of need to know your shots. You need to know what when you have your theme, what different areas are being represented.
So like I had that under the under the bed shot on the right side where the Newton ball is. When you hit that, the ball goes under the the kid's bed and the scare scare trainer.
There's a post.
Yeah, there's a post for selecting a mode.
Oh, okay. Go ahead.
Um, so what I do is I break everything up. Every shot goes [music] along with something from, you know, the movie or the theme, whatever you're going after.
Alert clear.
Then, so I the art on this I paid somebody on Fiverr [music] to do.
Oh, really? And I So I I built the layout. I uh did a PDF file. Did a PDF file with everything kind of listed out. And then I've used the same guy for the last three games that I've made. So he's kind of learned how to to do art for a pinball machine. [music] That's
it's kind of just uh like intentional. Yeah, no problem. What do you think?
What?
Some interesting angles um and feeds. I think one of the issues with a lot of the games today is you lose sight of the ball. And then the bigger issue is it's not so much the entry, it's the exit. So, where's it coming out to? Where do I need to go?
And I think that, you know, again, the overall geometry of it is kind of nice. So, um, my my hat off to the upper playfield I know is going to just be a single shot of the ramp and just try to time it so you can actually flip around.
So, it's a weird [music] one where you actually have to to loop it. It's off the tip of the flipper. So, it does
I figured I mean there's others that are similar to that.
I'm just saying in terms of the follow through off of the left flipper to get up there, it's kind of a narrow entry, but [music] uh, yeah. I mean, all in all, sweet. And it's I mean, let's face it, great theme, great visuals. So, uh, nice.
How hard would it be to license this?
Uh, you know, money talks.
Uh, you never know. I think that that becomes one of the issues is, you know, just the financials. I think the more important question is what's the bill of materials and how affordable is this to build in scale versus what [music] you have to take away. So, uh I guess my answer to you is that you know anything is possible in this day and age. So, uh so yeah, I love that money talks. Thank you, Roger.
Thank you.
Awesome. Thanks a lot.
Look at that. Look at that. Thank you so much. Ernie got some great advice from a pinball legend. [laughter]
So, the last time he played one of my games, which was Beas and Buttad, he played it. He's like, "I like the shots, but the toilet paper has to go. It's too much in the way." [laughter]
But no, no, we love it. When you guys come out and play, it means a lot to the people that that create the games.
Well, I mean, in a honesty, I think some of it is just seeing where the thought process is. And it's nice when John Youssi original designs versus some of the games that have been, you [music] know, redone and remade with new themes. And uh it's it's interesting. I I take my hat off to to you and everybody else who takes the time, effort, financial, and otherwise to [music] actually build stuff like this.
We have to live up to legends.
Yeah.
Looking around. [clears throat] around. [laughter] When I design, we're done with companies behind me, so it's okay. What can I say? Anyway, [music]
thank you, Roger. Thank you. So, already No, I'm looking at this. This looks like just a mature playfield. Um, and that's No, I'm not saying anything against the other homebrew people. How what what number game is this? This is your
This is number five.
Five. What do you remember? Your first four.
Yes. So, name them. First one was League of Legends. Second was Beus and Buttthead. Third was Fox Machina.
Oh yeah.
Fourth is uh Adventure Time, which is here, but it it's just a layout and it's it needs modification. Um and then Monsters Inc. Beautiful. Uh if you guys you guys know Ernie, uh amazing. Um I I really got to shoot this cuz I'm so into doing the the the conversation with people. I looked over and I saw a fully a fully laid out [laughter] and I'm not surprised cuz you're that guy.
My wife likes to tell me I have ADHD, which I probably do. And I get hyperfocused on stuff when I'm like in it. I want it to work. I needed to do this and and I I BS my way through a lot of it, you know, until it feels right and then just go with it.
Ernie, thank you so much. I know you got a seminar to get up to.
Thank you.
This is Monsters, Inc. Uh, this is Ernie Silverberg. Um, Marco Pinball. Thank you guys. We'll be back with some more.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 2384d11e-7df0-434b-9a7b-88172e8e9689*