# DPP #67 "There's a problem at the Punny Factory!"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-09-08  
**Duration:** 27m 25s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-67-Theres-a-problem-at-the-Punny-Factory-e2921sc

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## Analysis

Don's Pinball Podcast #67 features an exclusive first-play review of Punny Factory from Pinball Adventures, alongside coverage of emerging boutique manufacturers and new game teasers. The episode covers Stern's Venom production updates, mysterious teaser campaigns from new manufacturers, homebrew developments, and detailed analysis of Punny Factory's design, gameplay, and market positioning as a $6,500 boutique title competing against established Pro-tier machines.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Punny Factory has a limited edition size of 150 machines and has shipped approximately 11 units so far — _Don discussing production numbers and current distribution with Pinball Adventures_
- [HIGH] Punny Factory is priced at $6,500 including shipping — _Don states this explicitly during the review section_
- [HIGH] The Punny Factory machine at Quarter Up Arcade had 1,300 plays on it by the time of Don's visit — _Don mentions this when discussing wear and flipper alignment issues_
- [HIGH] Spooky Pinball's first game was America's Most Haunted, which served as their proof-of-concept with ~100 unit production — _Don uses this as a historical precedent for new manufacturers' launch strategies_
- [MEDIUM] A mystery pinball company (referred to as the 'exclamation point company') is teasing a new unannounced game with visible wireforms and complex components — _Don discusses teaser stickers, backbox photos with LCD reflections showing gameplay elements, and mysterious emails to content creators_
- [MEDIUM] Home Pin's Spinal Tap homebrew game is shipping but had code issues when played at a UK Pinball Fest location — _Don discusses third-hand reports about the game's playability, noting 'there's like no code, right? Like you hit ramps and nothing really happens'_
- [HIGH] Punny Factory features innovative design elements including roller wheels on playfield guides, internal cabinet graphics throughout, and sideways-facing speakers with routed wood resonance channels — _Don describes these features in detail during the design analysis section_
- [HIGH] Road Trip is being developed by Tilt Forums bob (also called Tilt Forums pendulum/mechanism), a homebrew designer who won Twippies for best homebrew last year — _Don identifies this designer and credits his Twippies win_
- [HIGH] Stern is shipping Venom machines and expected them to start appearing at locations by the coming weekend — _Don's production update section discussing current Stern manufacturing timeline_
- [HIGH] Punny Factory had a mechanical issue where balls would eject from the shooter lane, bounce back into the trough, and register as drained, fixable via code update — _Don describes experiencing this during his stream and being told it could be addressed with an update_

### Notable Quotes

> "So these companies you know when they come out they have to release their one game right the game that they put together first the proof of concept you know let's get something out there"
> — **Don**, ~15:00
> _Explains the strategic approach new boutique manufacturers use to establish credibility and learn manufacturing processes_

> "You hit the stand-up targets, you unlock the punny press, and then go in there to either start a mode or to press a punny, of which you're trying to collect 50 of the things."
> — **Don**, ~45:00
> _Describes core gameplay mechanic of Punny Factory, notes it as repetitive ('wood choppy')_

> "It's hard for that to compete. If you were to buy one machine, should you buy Punny Factory instead of one of Stern Pinball Inc. Pros? For most people, that answer is going to be no. and I think that's okay."
> — **Don**, ~75:00
> _Clear positioning statement about Punny Factory's market niche and competitive reality_

> "You know, they got the game out the door. It's functional... I'm glad I got the opportunity to do it."
> — **Don**, ~85:00
> _Overall positive assessment of Pinball Adventures' achievement despite limitations_

> "Like, you know, the entirety of the inside of the cabinet has graphics on it, okay? You know, not just art blades up on the top, the visible part. It goes all the way down to the bottom of the cabinet."
> — **Don**, ~55:00
> _Highlights innovative design detail that demonstrates attention to aesthetics beyond functional requirements_

> "There's a big hole in the middle of the lower third of the play field. Is that for like an LCD screen to drop in?"
> — **Don**, ~8:00
> _Speculating about Road Trip's playfield based on limited teaser imagery_

> "What people have been noticing is the reflection in the LCD panel actually shows some of the gameplay field here. And some of it was obscured a little bit, you know, in post-editing. But there's some ramps, there's some wireforms in there."
> — **Don**, ~28:00
> _Describes how the mystery company intentionally hid game details while leaving clues for detective work by community_

> "It was really nice to have it come up and just glide back and forth. You didn't have to do that slide and kerchunk that you do with Stern Pinball Inc. games."
> — **Don**, ~62:00
> _Evaluates practical quality-of-life improvement in Punny Factory's playfield mechanics_

> "There's not 5,000 of these things being made and trying to be sold. You know, the edition size is 150, and, you know, they may not make all 150, and that's okay."
> — **Don**, ~80:00
> _Sets expectations for boutique production scale vs. major manufacturers_

> "So I don't know if I can award any, like, extra bonus points there. I mean, it doesn't make up for the lack of wire forms of the gameplay. But it was Papa Duke dang interesting."
> — **Don**, ~58:00
> _Balances recognition of innovation against core gameplay limitations_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; traveled to Quarter Up Arcade for exclusive Punny Factory first-play review |
| Andrew McBain | person | Founder/designer of Pinball Adventures; creates Punny Factory; discussed production challenges and design philosophy with Don |
| Tilt Forums bob | person | Homebrew designer developing Road Trip for mystery pinball company; won Twippies for best homebrew last year; based in Florida |
| Dave Sanders | person | Shot designer for Punny Factory; used CAD to design playfield shots |
| Jack Danger | person | Stern designer; created Foo Fighters pinball machine; featured in Stern's making-of video |
| Jeff | person | Owner/operator at Mad Pinball; acquired Punny Factory for touring and location placement at Quarter Up Arcade |
| Jason Knapp | person | Pinball enthusiast and arcade site operator; shared first teaser photo of Road Trip playfield |
| Keith Ellin | person | Designer of Iron Maiden pinball machine (mentioned as comparison point for deep code and gameplay) |
| Ben Heck | person | Mentioned in relation to homebrew pinball; Don references conversations with him about code and manufacturing |
| Pinball Adventures | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; released Punny Factory as first title; planning second game concurrent with Punny Factory production |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Established boutique manufacturer; first game was America's Most Haunted (~100 units); model referenced as template for new manufacturers |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; currently shipping Venom machines; released Foo Fighters; Punny Factory positioned as competing against Stern Pro-tier games |
| Deep Root Pinball | company | Failed boutique manufacturer; referenced as cautionary example of big ideas that 'totally fizzled out' |
| Home Pin | company | Homebrew game company; created Spinal Tap; currently shipping units with noted code issues |
| The Electric Playground | company | Custom topper manufacturer; makes Godzilla and Twilight Zone toppers; featured at Quarter Up Arcade |
| Quarter Up Arcade | venue | Bar and arcade in Akron, Ohio; currently hosting touring Punny Factory on location play ($1 per game); 21+ on Sat/Sun evenings, all ages earlier |
| Mad Pinball | company | Pinball distributor/operator; acquired Punny Factory for touring northeastern Ohio locations |
| Mystery Pinball Company | company | Unannounced boutique manufacturer dropping teaser campaign with exclamation point stickers and backbox photos; planning announcement by Pinball Expo |
| Punny Factory | game | First release from Pinball Adventures; $6,500 MSRP; 150-unit limited edition; simple single-playfield layout with punny press mechanism; currently touring at Quarter Up Arcade |
| Road Trip | game | Upcoming game by Tilt Forums bob for mystery company; themed around road trip/convenience store; teaser shows three stand-up targets and lower playfield layout only |
| Venom | game | Stern game currently in production; shipping out; expected to appear at locations by the coming weekend |
| Foo Fighters | game | Stern game designed by Jack Danger; featured in Stern's recently released making-of video |
| Spinal Tap | game | Home Pin homebrew game; shipping completed; had code/gameplay issues when played at UK Pinball Fest location |
| Iron Maiden | game | Stern machine designed by Keith Ellin; referenced as primary competitive comparison for Punny Factory in Pro-tier pricing |
| Pinball Expo | event | Upcoming industry trade show where new manufacturers expected to make announcements and reveal games; teased by multiple sources in this episode |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Boutique pinball manufacturing landscape, New game announcements and teasers, Punny Factory first-play review and analysis
- **Secondary:** Stern production updates and new releases, Design innovation and manufacturing challenges, Game pricing and market positioning, Pinball Expo announcements and upcoming reveals
- **Mentioned:** Homebrew pinball development

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.62) — Don is generally positive about Punny Factory as a first effort and proof-of-concept, appreciating its innovative design touches and solid shot mechanics, but pragmatically acknowledges its limitations in gameplay depth and market competitiveness against Stern Pro-tier titles. He's encouraging about the boutique manufacturer landscape while being realistic about customer value propositions. The tone toward emerging manufacturers is hopeful; toward the market dynamics, analytical and balanced.

### Signals

- **[product_launch]** Punny Factory is Pinball Adventures' debut title with limited 150-unit production run; approximately 11 units shipped; currently on location tour at Quarter Up Arcade (confidence: high) — Don confirms production numbers and touring status; discusses edition size and current availability
- **[machine_intel]** Mystery boutique pinball company conducting orchestrated teaser campaign with exclamation point stickers, backbox photos with hidden gameplay details, and direct outreach to content creators; expected announcement by Pinball Expo (confidence: high) — Don discusses multiple teaser drop points, backbox photo with LCD reflections, emails to content community; references upcoming Expo reveal
- **[product_launch]** Stern Venom currently shipping and expected to reach locations imminently; making-of video released on YouTube for Foo Fighters (confidence: high) — Don's production update confirms shipment status and expected location appearance timeline
- **[design_innovation]** Punny Factory features roller wheels on playfield guides for smooth extraction, internal cabinet graphics throughout entire interior depth, sideways-facing speakers with routed wood resonance channels, and support rails allowing playfield to stand independently (confidence: high) — Don describes each feature in detail, evaluates functionality and aesthetics
- **[product_concern]** Punny Factory experienced ball ejection bounce-back draining issue during play; fixable via code update; Spinal Tap homebrew reported to have minimal code depth (confidence: high) — Don experienced the issue during stream, was told it's addressable; third-hand reports on Spinal Tap's code state
- **[product_concern]** Punny Factory's very target became stuck during play; required manual freeing; flipper alignment issue on test unit (attributed to 1,300 plays of wear) (confidence: high) — Don describes experiencing both issues; contexualizes flipper issue as wear-related rather than design flaw
- **[market_signal]** Punny Factory priced at $6,500 puts it in direct competition with Stern Pro-tier games (TMNT Pro, Iron Maiden) despite simpler gameplay; positioned for niche buyers wanting rarity/eclectic game rooms rather than mass-market appeal (confidence: high) — Don explicitly compares pricing and gameplay depth; analyzes target customer profile
- **[business_signal]** Pinball Adventures met production goals on Punny Factory and is proceeding with second game concurrent with first; positioning as successful boutique launch pattern following Spooky Pinball's model (confidence: high) — Don discusses talks with Andrew McBain about goals being exceeded; mentions concurrent production plans
- **[community_signal]** Multiple new boutique manufacturers (Pinball Adventures, Tilt Forums bob's mystery company, Home Pin) launching first titles using low-edition-count proof-of-concept model; contrasts with failed ventures like Deep Root Pinball (confidence: high) — Don frames this as broader industry pattern; references Deep Root as cautionary tale; discusses Spooky as template
- **[event_signal]** Pinball Expo expected to feature major reveals from boutique manufacturers; mystery company and Road Trip game development expected to be announced or showcased (confidence: medium) — Don references Expo multiple times as anticipated reveal venue; mentions expectation of announcements
- **[operational_signal]** Quarter Up Arcade in Akron, Ohio successfully hosting touring Punny Factory on $1 per play; blended bar/arcade model with age restrictions (21+ evenings, all ages daytime); features multiple toppers and games for collector appeal (confidence: high) — Don describes venue experience, hours, pricing, and game selection in detail
- **[gameplay_signal]** Punny Factory prioritizes shot accessibility and clean mechanics over gameplay depth; 50-pun qualification requirement creates grindy progression; lacks wireform complexity compared to established Pro-tier titles (confidence: high) — Don systematically analyzes gameplay progression, describes it as 'wood choppy,' compares to Iron Maiden's depth

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## Transcript

 once again it is time don's garrison's pinball podcast episode number 67 coming to you we've got an exclusive first play review of the punny factory from location and it was on stream a scattering of other news and information including the mystery pinball company what let's go What's going on, everybody? Coming to you in from your Thursday. Man, I back out here on the road. Recently came back from Quarter Up Arcade, where I got to play exclusively Puny Factory. And I have so many news and views on this. A quick recap that I'll get to in a minute. But we've got some other information, too, to go to. Like, as this week has been going on, we've been getting these little nugget drops. Not any of the heavy hitters from the big companies, but, man, wouldn't you know that, you know, people like Tilt Bob are dropping teaser information now. I think this is all part of the road and the lead-up to Pinball Expo, where we're going to get to see more and more of these games and accessories and things released. I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of that in the coming weeks or so. So let's start with a trip through our buddy Jason Knapp's arcade site, where he went ahead and shared this teaser picture of Road Trip. And, man, it's a pretty juicy look up the skirt here of this game. So we can see, like, the bottom half of the play field in this photo shot here. And so we get an idea of, you know, the theme here and some of the integration of what's going to be on there as well as the art. And, you know, what I don't know is really any other information about this. Now you can go check this picture out yourself. On first glance, you know, there's no real ball guides or anything. the whole bottom pop situation. Slings are not even in place to see what kind of in-lane activity we're going to have going on. But you get an idea of some inserts. And there's a big hole in the middle of the lower third of the play field. Is that for like an LCD screen to drop in? It's kind of shaped like that. Looking at the art, though, and the roads that are drawn around here for this pinball machine themed after a fun road trip, hopefully there's a stand-up target where you can get some Funyuns or something and a convenience store to shoot. but it looks to me like, you know, those little rollout carpets that you give to toddlers when they're playing with the little matchbox cars and already has like all the streets and roads on them. I say toddlers, like I don't have one at home that I'm playing with also. But that's kind of what like this thing looked like at first to me, you know? So I don't know if this is like a first draft of the art. I don't know if this is final art. We don't have that information yet, but good old Tilt Bob down there in what I believe is Florida. Cool guy. This is the guy that home brewed elf you know won twippy for best homebrew last year met the guy played his game seems like a you know solid dude and everything so you know with these companies you know when they come out they have to release their one game right the game that they put together first the proof of concept you know let's you get something out there you know for tilt bob it's road trip for mystery pinball company who knows what it's going to be uh for spooky pinball it was uh america's most taunted, you know, an original theme. So they weren't, you know, tied down with licensing or, or having to meet deadlines or anything, but it was the machine that was, you know, the proof of concept, you make about a hundred of them, you sell what you can sell, and then you use that experience to build and go forward. And, you know, Spooky took it and just took off with it. Right. So I think that's the model these guys are looking to, to, to go after, you know, it takes some time to set up a, a factory and production. And, you know, there's things in pinball that you're not going to learn, especially with pinball manufacturing, that you can't learn any other way except by doing. You know, I've been in talks with Andrew McBain at Pinball Adventures. You know, he's successfully getting his first game out there. I was talking to him, you know, and he's planning on, you know, doing an edition size of 150 punty factories. I'll get to my review on that and my thoughts later. But, yeah, just talking to him, it's interesting to hear. And maybe I should have him on again to really kind of go into it now that they're later in production. But it's interesting to hear about the sort of issues that just come up that you never would have thought of, you know. Like, you know, when it comes to, you know, a certain screw or bolt or some component that's maybe a little hard to source. Or, like, that's your limiting reagent as far as making this machine, you know. Lamination issues, you know. We put screws in this area and then found out six steps down the line that they're causing a problem and needs to be redesigned. You know, things like that are interesting. So Tilt Bob's got a new game coming out. Road trip. We don't know when it's going to come out. I imagine we'll know more by Expo, though. And just, you know, all we have really is a first look at the art. No idea about the rules. I can see there's three stand-up targets. Who doesn't like those? You know, so that's interesting. This mystery company, though, the exclamation point company that I've been calling it, the dude that's been going around teasing, you know, like, hey, there's something new coming, you know. And he was at Texas Pinball Festival dropping off these mysterious exclamation point stickers. I saw one show up at Electric Bat Arcade just chilling there, so he's got operatives out there. Well, now dude is emailing folks in the content community, and even Nap Arcade had a little post about it. We got a teaser pic of a backbox, and initially when I scrolled through here, I was like, okay, great. There's components in a backbox that mean absolutely nothing to me. That's interesting. But what people have been noticing is the reflection in the LCD panel actually shows some of the gameplay field here. And some of it was obscured a little bit, you know, in post-editing. But there's some ramps, there's some wireforms in there. So, I mean, that's always exciting, right? I'm a wireform guy. I like my wire ramps. I like my vehicles and tracks. And so, you know, I'm curious to hear more about this. It's too early to comment, but there are a lot of components in this game. So we'll look and see if we can hear some more. Dude even emailed me and said, you know, more to come. So we'll see. What was this teaser post? Now that Labor Day is over, the work begins. All right, all right. And then there's another picture of a bunch of lockdown bars in a powder coating factory that have this kind of almost like a raisin purple powder coat that's on here. So we'll see what ends up coming out. I don't have any other information other than that. But, you know, it's interesting that we are having even more confirmation that some new game is going to be released by some company at some point. how about that for nailing down all the details what else is going on home pin has created a game also uh spinal tap it's it's wrapped up and they're shipping them out how many they're shipping who they shipping them to who in the heck really even knows what a bombshell interview from that australian pinball podcast where they had the dude on there and you know his like on one hand disdain for the United States On the other hand he planning on going to Expo So I don know I just going to be a casual observer in that show and see what going on So there was just a pin fest in the U.K., and I guess there was a spinal tap that was on location. And now I've only heard, you know, like third-hand mutterings about how this thing played. But, you know, apparently the shots weren't terrible, but, like, the code was just – there's, like, no code, right? Like you hit ramps and nothing really happens. So we're going to take a big wait and see there. You know, but it is interesting to see these companies like follow the same kind of course that we saw with Spooky, right? You know, come out with 100 to 150 games, do an original theme so you're not tied up with marketing and licensing, get it out there, and then use the proceeds to go on and go forward. So, you know, I've been doing discussions with Pinball Adventures there, and, you know, they're very happy with, you know, the amount of games that they've made. They've already kind of exceeded their goals, and they're already on to their next game. which they can build concurrently with Punny Factory. I'm going to save that here for a little bit. You know, but it's interesting to see, you know, like, are these companies going to launch or fail based on this? You know, I guess it's kind of neat to look back and see what we've seen. You know, Haggis is on their third game now. You know, I don't know that their production numbers ever hit, you know, major goals. They seem to be just kind of doing their own thing at their own pace. You know, but their first game was Celts. You know, America's Most Haunted was a first from Spooky. Punny Factory is the first from Pinball Adventures. It's kind of the war of the boutiques. Let's see what's happening. There is a huge step, though, that separates companies with big ideas and big expectations that end up totally fizzling out, hashtag deep root, and then companies like the ones that we're seeing that are actually successfully getting games out. So maybe this mystery company and Tilt Bob will be the next kind of pinball adventure boutique. I'm encouraged to see what they come out with. I want to see the creativity behind what they have. They're not going to make a game that's going to compete with Iron Maiden or Jurassic Park or something from Stern. But can you have something that's serviceable and fun to play and show like, okay, you guys can get this done. Let's see what you have next, right? So I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with that. Speaking of Stern, let's transition to Big Daddy Stern and the big new factory. Production update-wise, I know Venoms are on the line. Venoms are being shipped out. Venoms should be on location. Heck, this weekend I would expect they'll start showing up. I'll be driving through October or October. I'll be driving through Chicago again here in a couple of days. Maybe there'll be one on location there already. We'll check out with Interium. But I would expect to see them soon. Also interesting is Stern News. They released the making of video for the Foo Fighters. Stern's Foo Fighters, Jack Danger's Danger Post-loving cross-shot having alien terrestrial incumbent United States prisoner area 51 having shooting fun pinball machine game. They got that little featurette video out there, and those are always interesting for me to see. You know, when I came across them first, you know, a couple months ago, I just sat there and binge-watched all of them. And, you know, they create a lot of interest in these games that I wasn't really following before. Like, I appreciated Munsters and A Whole New Light after watching their making-of video. I think these things are cool. I'd wish they'd come out a little closer to, you know, when the games release. But, you know, it's out there. Go check it out on YouTube. More Jack Danger is always what the world needs. All right, let's transition once more, and let me tell you a little story about a game called Putty Factory. So this was the premier release from Pinball Adventures. Canada's own Andrew McBain and his company put together this machine and put it out. Now, it's probably a theme that nobody, including the world, was really asking for, but this dude obviously felt passionate about it. Dave Sanders did the design for the shots and everything. So, I mean, how is it, right? So far, I think they've released or shipped out about 11 or so of these machines, and you haven't heard a whole lot about them just because there's not a whole lot of them out there. But Jeff from Mad Pinball, my distro of choice, he got one of these, and he's been touring it around northeastern Ohio, different arcades, and currently it's at Quarter Up Arcade in Akron. You can go and play this thing, dollar play, and see how it is. So I showed up over there after driving from Wisconsin for 10 hours to go play me some Puny Factory and hang out with my boy Jeff and maybe get a hot dog at the bar. So, yeah, it is very much a pinball machine. I will say that. You know, 0-10 rating, maybe we'll get to that in a second. But let's break this thing down. I went there. I played a game on it with Jeff. Went ahead and set up my streaming equipment, took the glass off, and then they just kind of, like, let me go for a full hour. So I streamed this game in, you know, bar Wi-Fi, and it's up there. There's a one-hour stream of me playing the heck out of some Puny Factory. Now, the game that I was playing was not without some issues, but what I'd like to do is kind of systematically kind of go down, you know, through layout, through shots and everything, and kind of, you know, rank it that way. So the first thing I noticed was that, you know, hitting the shots themselves felt pretty good. I mean, you know, the game shoots well. Any shot that I wanted to make, I was able to make, and if I didn't, it was more due to my own skill level than feeling cheated by the machine, you know. There wasn't an instance of me hitting a stand-up target and then flying over the flippers, for instance, or me hitting what I thought would be a good shot up a ramp, and there just wasn't enough oomph to get up there. I didn't feel that kind of rejection. Part of that may be because there's no ramps in the game, right? It's a fairly simple layout. Left to right, there's kind of two orbit shots that go up into locking gates, three roll-in targets, three pop bumpers, and then the big toy in the middle is the punty press. There's a very target that's over there between the orbit and the pop bumper nest on the left side. And there's three stand-up targets, one in front of the punny press and one on either side of it. And then there's about 14 other stand-up targets spelling out punny factory on the left and right sides of the playfields. And that's about it. There is, well, I guess there is technically one ramp because there is a Vuck in the punny press up through this little cool transparent tube that feeds over to this little zigzaggy ramp that feeds the right flipper. So, yeah, that's essentially the game. As you play it, you know, the code-wise, you hit the stand-up targets, you unlock the punny press, and then go in there to either start a mode or to press a punny, of which you're trying to collect 50 of the things. So for shots, I think the shots are fine. They feel good. You know, so that speaks to Dave Sanders' design. You know, he used CAD or whatever to design this, so the shots are set up where they feel fair, you know, and it was actually a fairly fun game to shoot. I liked the feel of the very target when it was working. As I was playing, it eventually did get stuck in the back, and I had to lift the play field to get it unstuck. But then I played a game afterwards and it was working fine again So know so that is the shots Now the layout is fairly simple You know it a single level game with one Vuck that goes over to a ramp that feeds the flipper but that really it You know, there's no big, you know, plastic ramps to an upper play field or anything like that. Because of the locking gates up at the top, you don't really even get a full orbit shot. It half orbits up into the middle there. It would have been nice to see that unlock. I did share some of these thoughts with the creative team who is hard at work on their next machine, and they will implement these design tips. You know, so as far as the shots, they felt good. The layout, you know, it's not, you know, it's not Iron Maiden, right? There's not wire form ramps crisscrossing everywhere. I think that definitely would have added to, you know, the fun of the game for me. So, you know, it comes in, you know, with kind of a mid-moderate grade, you know, as far as that. Let's see, what else can we talk about? Okay, so innovation-wise, there are some new things with this machine, some other things that hadn't occurred to me. I was playing the engraved edition, of which there were only ten of these made. They have that Baltic birch plywood, and it's actually, like, routed and engraved in the side, and then has, like, this epoxy kind of dark purple clear coating, like, black, smoky black, kind of almost purplish clear coat that's on it. And looking at the cabinet, I mean, the plywood they're using is absolutely top shelf. Like this would be cabinet quality stuff, you know, like probably the best kind of plywood you could build, you know, furniture and things out of. And so, you know, it was glossy. It was fun to touch it. It was fun to look at it just from a woodworking perspective. In the backbox, there aren't speakers that are facing out through a metal grill like we're used to. They actually face sideways. And then there's a groove routed into the wood itself that then emanates out towards the player from the backbox edges, which was innovative. You know, I didn't have a problem with the sound itself. I was playing in a noisy bar, so it was a little bit hard to hear, like, a lot of the music. But the call-outs and sound effects were coming through. So I would like to, you know, play that in, you know, kind of a quiet, controlled environment to really get, like, the feel. Because I feel like that wood would really resonate the sound. You know, so there was some innovation there. The entirety, okay, and not just the sidewalls. I mean, the entirety of the inside of the cabinet has graphics on it, okay? You know, not just art blades up on the top, the visible part. It goes all the way down to the bottom of the cabinet. And then the bottom of the cabinet, I'm talking about where the bass speaker is. That whole thing has graphics on it. So the whole thing has, like, factory-looking graphics or warehouse graphics inside. Like, you lift the play field, and the graphics go all the way down. Why did they do that? I have no idea. Is it cool? Heck, yes, it is. Now I'm jealous, and I want my whole Iron Maiden inside of a cabinet to have graphics in it for crying out loud. What the heck? Like, you know, something that, you know, I didn't know I wanted until I saw it. And, you know, it serves no functional purpose other than just be, like, kind of cool when you lift the play field, you know. So I don't know if I can award any, like, extra bonus points there. I mean, it doesn't make up for the lack of wire forms of the gameplay. But it was pretty dang interesting. Another innovation that was touted early on in the teaser videos for this was these roller wheels on the guides for the play field, like when you lift it up and pull it out. And, you know, I was like, okay, is this, you know, really a solution in search of a problem? But when I lifted the field, it was really nice to have it come up and just glide back and forth. You know, you didn't have to do that slide and kerchunk that you do with, like, you know, the Stern games and such, where you have to kind of chunk them back into place and pop them forward to get to the different service positions. It was interesting having to just kind of roll and glide like a nice cabinet. So, you know, after all, these things are in pinball cabinets. why not implement some of the innovations and things that we see with regular cabinetry, right? Let's make it a little easier so we're not just pinching fingers and such. Speaking of that, the bottom of the play field itself has these big rails on it. So instead of just the service rails that you're used to, there's rails that run like the length of the play field underneath, or at least, you know, side to side, to the point that you could actually take the play field out and set it down just on its own because it could be supported by its own brackets. I thought that was cool. So, you know, you can look at Punny Factory and see that this is a fairly simple game. Stand-up targets, three drop targets, no big ramps, you know, one Vuck, and a theme that's, you know, questionable on, like, whose dream theme was this besides the creator. But when you take a step further and, like, look at what they've created and some things that they've implemented, it's a good first attempt. It's a good proof of concept of a game. Let me make sure I covered everything. Oh, let's talk about the sculpts and things that are in there. So the big, you know, main mechanism is the punny press that's in the middle there. You know, you shoot the drop targets and side targets to activate it, and then the insert will flash, and you shoot in there for the buck, and that's how you press a punny, right? Now, you'll get the code in a minute, but the actual press itself, the building, you know, feels like a good, you know, it's like resin molded. Like they created a silicone mold, and then they poured these things individually. so it's not just a 3D printed machine thing that you would see from just somebody's homebrew, like my own. I 3D print things all the time. But they actually made some sort of cast and cast poured this thing. The barrels that are also in the game as toys or sculpts, they're solid. I had the glass off. I was able to put my greasy fingers all over all this stuff, and then I cleaned them off afterwards. But they feel robust. They're not just simple 3D prints. I guess there's a couple of the boxes in the back that have slots in them so that the light can shine through. He said those were 3D prints, but they're all hydro dipped and they look to be of reasonable quality. So that was interesting. Art and animation. The animation, it didn't come from a major animation studio, I don't think. I think it's serviceable. It matches the theme. I'm not running back to play this game because of the animations, but there are animations there on the screen. The kind of cartoony sound effects were fun. you know, in a Scooby-Doo kind of way, you know, hitting pop bumpers and things and hearing the boings and the springs, you know, um, so it's, it's, it's serviceable. Um, now the code itself, right? So, um, there are some multi balls in here. I was able to play a few of the modes. Um, I didn't get enough time to really play it and get into understanding exactly what I'm supposed to be doing for all the modes. Um, but the fact that you have to, you know, qualify each press of the, the punny press in order to get a punny, and then you're supposed to do this 50 times is like the most wood choppy of wood choppy things I could possibly imagine. Um, you know, so that wasn't fun or engaging at all. I don't think I'm going to go through making 50 puns on this game in order to get to any kind of wizard mode. It was satisfying for me though, when I did get one, you know, because I did the shots, I hit all the standup targets, I qualified it, hit the press. Like it was still fun to hit the press. Um, you know, opportunities for improvement, uh you know the the press shot in the middle with the Vuck there no protection around it but I told going forward there will be scoop protectors So you know I could see that as a bonus What else? Oh, so I was having some problems, and you can see this during the stream. And this was relayed to me that it could be fixed with a code update. But as the balls would eject into the shooter lane, they would then bounce back into the trough, and then it would register as a drained ball, which was, you know, upsetting, right? to go ahead and start your game, ball jumps out, jumps right back in, drains, and then now you're right back into another one, ball two, and you didn't really get to play. So that was an issue, and I'm told that that could be fixed with the code update that they have out now. So we'll see on that. The very target got stuck, so as I was playing later in the stream, I'd hit the target. It wasn't hard to hit, and it was satisfying when it was working, but it was trapped up there and stuck, so it had to be freed up by hand underneath the play field. So that was kind of a drag. I will say after I was playing the stream, I put the glass back on and got everything, you know, lifted the play field or whatever. And I played a few more games on it. And then I didn't have any of those issues for some reason. So I don't know if just jostling everything kind of got it to reset. There's a couple of practical things which were a little weird. When you open the coin door, there's like one button inside the cabinet that activates the menu. And then you have to use the flipper buttons and the start button to cycle through and select things. You know, so that was a little kind of counterintuitive. It didn't have that typical four buttons on the coin door that we're all used to. The volume control was on the amplifier in the middle of the cabinet, so you did have to reach in there to adjust the volume, which I did eventually. After I texted Andrew and he told me where the heck it was. But I'm told that they're looking at implementing easier ways to do that, and in fact, with their next game, they've already kind of implemented that anyway. We'll see that at Expo. So I guess all in all, this is a pinball machine. It came out from Pinball Adventures. If you want one, you can buy one and you can get one. So there's that. It was fun to shoot, but I guess it comes down to who is this game for? Should you buy Puny Factory? The nuts and bolts of this, the Puny Factory is $6,500, including shipping from Canada. It's made out of good birch plywood. It's got some innovative things in there. The shots feel good. The gameplay is not deep. And at that price point, you're kind of going right up against a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pro or use Iron Maiden. And those are games that, although Punny Factory's shots felt good, Keith Ellin designed Iron Maiden, right? It's got a kicking soundtrack and awesome animations and theme integration and pretty deep code and multiple shots and multiple flippers and all these things. So it's hard for that to compete. If you were to buy one machine, should you buy Punny Factory instead of one of the Stern Pros? For most people, that answer is going to be no. and I think that's okay. If you already have a pretty diverse game room of things and you wouldn't mind something a little eclectic, I think this would fit into it. Go try one out at the expos. Go try playing them. If you have a location and you already have all the latest Stern pros online, you want something different, especially if you have an arcade or a barcade that recruits more savvy pinball players that want to play things that are a little rare and obscure, this definitely fits that. So talking with Andrew, you know, he's already kind of, you know, met his goals as far as his first game. They've learned a lot by making it, and they're going to implement those changes in their next game and continue to get better. You know, but it's important to remember that with something like Puny Factory, there's not 5,000 of these things being made and trying to be sold. You know, the edition size is 150, and, you know, they may not make all 150, and that's okay. You know, they got the game out the door. It's functional. I think some of the issues that it was having, especially with one of the flippers that was misaligned on the right during the machine that I played, this game has also had 1,300 plays on it. So I think it was just due for a flipper adjustment, flipper rebuild. So I won't hold that against the designers of the game. But, yeah, what a quirky little title. That was fun to go and play. And I'm glad I got the opportunity to do it. So thanks, Jeff at Mad Pinball. Thanks to the folks at Angelique Zac Stark Game Supply and the Quarter Up Arcade folks in Akron, Ohio. If you want to go check it out, it's still there on location. Also what they have, they recently had the electric pinball folks had their Godzilla topper that was on tour there. And one of their Twilight Zone toppers is also there on their Twilight Zone. So I got to check one of those out in person. So that was fun. The electric playground, right? The guys that make the toppers. I would like to talk to those guys more in the future. But yeah, I'll plug that little arcade. It was a cool place to hang out. It's a bar. It's 21 and over. Saturdays and Sundays. earlier in the day. It's all ages. But I was there on, what, like a Tuesday? And there was a little six-year-old running around with their parents, and no one seemed to mind. So make of that what you will. Moving on. Let's see. What else do I got? Oh, I got some fun stuff coming up. I've got a podcast that I'm going to appear on more about that soon, but that'll be hitting pretty soon. I'm going to be a guest on another podcast show. I'm very excited about that and can't wait to talk more about that. I have another interview I'm going to be doing with a pinball accessory maker that I'm extremely excited about. We'll have some new news for that. All of this is in the road to the lead-up to Pinball Expo. So thank you so much for listening. Gosh, we hit over 500 followers on the Facebook page. I'm exceedingly humbled by that. Thank you, everybody. I like the community that we're building and the fact that we're just, you know, having fun here in pinball, meeting a couple times every week, hanging out, you know, get your coffee, get your macchiato, get your cheeseburger in paradise, your margarita, find your La Chica or salt, and let's do this thing, man. And if you would like to have any of, you know, stuff from me, I love sending things out. People like getting stuff in the mail. I got stickers. I got T-shirts. If you're interested and you want to represent, you want to get some expo gear and wear, you want to throw stickers up in your local laundromat, you know, go ahead and e-mail me at donspinballpodcast at gmail.com, and I will get at you, and, you know, we'll figure out shipping and all that business. Otherwise, join the Facebook page. Throw a follow on there. We're dropping comments and things all the time. I've got a Discord available, and I'm streaming on YouTube. I might even get some Big Lebowski footage up like later tonight, we'll see We've come to the end of another episode Thank you so much for everybody for joining Don's Pinball Podcast at gmail.com I love reading your comments, I'm getting inundated and it's amazing Expo's going to be awesome, I'm going to be there with booths and events and there's going to be panel discussions and more pinball content that you can stomach my friends So all that and more is coming up soon Thanks for listening everybody and be sure to wash your britches. I don't know what I'm supposed to say at the end of these things. Let's fade out.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 4af11e08-55fc-48d0-911d-3e5e032cb080*