# Spooky Pinball Officially Welcomes Back Ben Heck & Eric Priepke

**Source:** Knapp Arcade  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2022-08-10  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/spooky-pinball-officially-welcomes-back-ben-heck-eric-priepke

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## Analysis

Spooky Pinball has officially welcomed back Ben Heck and Eric Priepke as programmers. Ben Heck's return was previously reported on July 12th, but Eric Priepke's return is newly confirmed here. Eric previously worked on Rick and Morty pinball and Cactus Canyon Continued code, while Ben has reportedly been working on code for a new Spooky game for several weeks.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Ben Heck has been working on coding for a new Spooky game for several weeks — _Author heard this 'last month' — secondhand information, not official confirmation_
- [HIGH] Eric Priepke previously did software work for Spooky on Rick and Morty pinball — _Directly stated as background on Eric's prior work_
- [HIGH] Eric Priepke created the Cactus Canyon Continued code — _Directly stated as Eric's prior accomplishment_
- [HIGH] Ben Heck's return was reported on July 12th — _Author references their own prior reporting_

### Notable Quotes

> "Spooky Pinball officially welcomed back Ben Heck and Eric Priepke to the company, adding some serious programming horsepower."
> — **Author (Knapp Arcade)**
> _Lead statement framing the news as a significant talent acquisition for Spooky_

> "the return of Eric Priepke was news to me"
> — **Author (Knapp Arcade)**
> _Indicates Eric's return was not previously publicly reported; demonstrates information discovery_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Ben Heck | person | Pinball designer/engineer returning to Spooky Pinball; reportedly working on new game code for several weeks |
| Eric Priepke | person | Software programmer returning to Spooky Pinball; previously worked on Rick and Morty pinball and Cactus Canyon Continued code |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer welcoming back two key programmers |
| Rick and Morty | game | Spooky Pinball title Eric Priepke previously contributed code to |
| Cactus Canyon Continued | game | Homebrew/fan continuation pinball code project created by Eric Priepke |
| Knapp Arcade | organization | Source of this reporting; pinball industry news outlet |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Personnel moves at Spooky Pinball, Game development and code quality
- **Secondary:** Upcoming Spooky Pinball games, Talent and programming expertise in pinball industry

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Tone is celebratory about the rehiring of experienced talent; phrase 'adding some serious programming horsepower' indicates approval. No criticism or concern expressed.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Spooky Pinball reinforcing internal programming capacity by rehiring experienced talent (confidence: high) — Explicit description of hiring as 'adding serious programming horsepower' indicates strategic staffing for development
- **[personnel_signal]** Ben Heck returns to Spooky Pinball after period of departure; Eric Priepke also returning as programmers (confidence: high) — Official announcement by Spooky Pinball; Ben Heck's return previously reported July 12th
- **[product_strategy]** Ben Heck actively working on code for new Spooky game in development (confidence: medium) — Author heard 'last month' that Ben has been working on coding for several weeks; secondhand but specific timing

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## Transcript

A little while ago Spooky Pinball officially welcomed back Ben Heck and Eric Priepke to the company, adding some serious programming horsepower.

I reported the return of Ben Heck to Spooky here on July 12th, but the return of Eric Priepke was news to me. Eric previously did software work for Spooky on its Rick and Morty pinball machine and earlier created the Cactus Canyon Continued code.

According to what I heard last month, Ben has already been working on coding for a new Spooky game for several weeks.

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: aee7a486-9f5a-4675-9231-b42601cb2d00*