# Puck Yeah! Epic Hockey Pinball | Monster League Hockey Pinball

**Source:** LoserKid YouTube  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2026-01-12  
**Duration:** 55m 49s  
**Beat:** Pinball

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

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## Analysis

Jake Danzig discusses Monster League Hockey, his homebrew head-to-head pinball machine that became the breakout hit of Pinball Expo 2025. The game features simultaneous two-player hockey gameplay with custom FAST electronics, artwork by Brad Albright, and has generated overwhelming demand—exceeding 100 pre-orders and leading to a production deal with an undisclosed manufacturer. Danzig explains the design philosophy, team collaboration, and challenges of transitioning from homebrew to commercial production.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Monster League Hockey surpassed 100 pre-orders at Pinball Expo 2025, far exceeding Danzig's minimum threshold for pursuing production — _Jake Danzig stated: 'by the end of Expo um my minimum count of 100, well that's we far surpassed that'_
- [HIGH] A manufacturer deal has been struck for Monster League Hockey to go into production — _Jake Danzig: 'We did talk to a few different manufacturers. Uh we have made a deal so far and so it's looking like it's actually going into production.'_
- [HIGH] The game layout and dimensions were based on Alvin G Soccer Ball rather than Joust — _Jake Danzig: 'the layout of this game is pretty much based on' Alvin G Soccer Ball, and when asked about Joust inspiration: 'pretty much zero other than simply being head-to-head'_
- [HIGH] Brad Albright has been involved with the project for over two years — _Jake Danzig: 'I was in talks with Brad for about I think a little over two years now. So, this project has been going on a little bit longer than a lot of people think.'_
- [HIGH] The game was originally planned to debut at Pinball Expo 2024 but was delayed to 2025 — _Jake Danzig: 'we had actually planned on debuting the game at Expo, not last year, 2025, but 2024. But as with everything in pinball, there's always delays.'_
- [HIGH] Monster League Hockey experienced some minor issues at its Expo debut that have since been resolved through playtesting — _Jake Danzig: 'it did have a few minor issues, but those issues kept popping up... As of right now, with all the play testing we've been doing, haven't been having any of those issues.'_
- [HIGH] The game uses FAST electronics with completely custom code across 300+ lines of call-outs — _Jake Danzig: 'It uses the fast system uh with all custom code... I wrote, I don't know, maybe 300 lines uh of call outs'_
- [HIGH] The game will require licensed asset replacement for production, including sponsor logos and NHL-style border logos — _Jake Danzig: 'I got some licensed assets in the art that's obviously going to have to be replaced with something else... we're just going to wipe the slate clean and get rid of anything licensed'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I wanted a party game because everybody tends to go up to pinball and with their friends or family and they're all taking turns. Well, video games have had something for decades now and that is, you know, simultaneous play."
> — **Jake Danzig**, early in interview
> _Core design motivation—addresses fundamental difference between pinball and modern multiplayer gaming_

> "There was not just simply people playing it the whole show. There was a line to play it the entire show."
> — **Jake Danzig**, discussion of Expo reception
> _Demonstrates unprecedented demand at Pinball Expo 2025 for a homebrew game_

> "Everybody was coming up to me, not asking if it was for sale. Instead, they were all asking, 'When does it go into production?'"
> — **Jake Danzig**, discussing Expo reception
> _Shows shift in community response from collector interest (Dukes of Hazard) to demand for commercial availability_

> "I'm not interested in making a few of these or 10 or 20. It's just really not worth the hassle. But I said if we can get at least 100 people on the list, then we'll shop it around to some manufacturers"
> — **Jake Danzig**, discussing production strategy
> _Reveals Danzig's threshold for pursuing manufacturing partnerships_

> "It's there's something about head-to-head pinball that is just so addictive and just partyesque, right? And this is a segment of the the industry that really hasn't been tapped in years."
> — **Josh RP**, closing discussion
> _Host acknowledges untapped market segment and Monster League Hockey as a potential catalyst for revival_

> "I've owned the game for like two years, never once had it at home... To this day, it's still never been brought home."
> — **Jake Danzig**, discussing post-Expo logistics
> _Illustrates the intense demand and busy schedule for the game immediately following Expo_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jake Danzig | person | Homebrew pinball designer; creator of Monster League Hockey and Dukes of Hazard; based in Chicago area; known for party/multiplayer-focused game designs |
| Monster League Hockey | game | Head-to-head hockey-themed homebrew pinball machine; designed by Jake Danzig; breakout hit of Pinball Expo 2025; in production deal with undisclosed manufacturer; uses FAST electronics with custom code |
| Brad Albright | person | Professional pinball artist; created artwork for Monster League Hockey, Portal, and Winchester; worked with Danzig over 2+ years on MLH project |
| Glenn Wetner | person | Nashville-based audio engineer and crew lead; primary audio engineer for Monster League Hockey; co-led team including Eric Clotsz, Joe Farnsworth, and Austin Carrian |
| Joe Farnsworth | person | Nashville-based coder; part of Glenn Wetner's Nashville production crew for Monster League Hockey |
| Eric Clotsz | person | Nashville-based crew member; part of Glenn Wetner's team for Monster League Hockey assembly and audio work |
| Austin Carrian | person | Nashville-based coder; handled initial code development for Monster League Hockey |
| Katie Helm | person | Coder working on Monster League Hockey post-Expo polish and refinement; based near Jake Danzig |
| Lonnie Min | person | Described as 'absolutely instrumental from day one' on Monster League Hockey project; involved in production planning |
| Antuinette | person | Voice talent for Monster League Hockey callouts; helped with promotion and community outreach; mentor to Maddie; co-founder of Bad News Babes pinball league |
| Maddie / Mads Pin | person | Voice talent and community representative for Monster League Hockey; Antuinette's protege; featured on playfield plastic; appears in game artwork; attended Expo in full character costume with 3D-printed accessories |
| Nikki Green | person | Community member featured on Monster League Hockey playfield; founder of Bad News Babes all-female pinball league in Chicago |
| Christopher Franchie | person | Community member; owns Barlo (French bulldog) who is featured on Monster League Hockey playfield |
| Aaron Davis | person | FAST Pinball representative; provided boards and technical support for Monster League Hockey |
| Josh RP | person | Host of Loser Kid Pinball podcast; interviewed Jake Danzig about Monster League Hockey; wearing custom Loser Kid hockey jersey on episode |
| Scott Larson | person | Co-host of Loser Kid Pinball podcast; present during Monster League Hockey interview |
| Loser Kid Pinball | organization | Podcast hosted by Josh RP and Scott Larson focused on pinball content and news; custom hockey jerseys created in MLH style |
| Pinball Expo 2025 | event | Annual pinball collector/enthusiast show where Monster League Hockey debuted; generated overwhelming reception with line to play throughout entire event; homebrew section featured |
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Upcoming pinball event where Monster League Hockey is scheduled to appear; described as next stop for the game after Expo |
| Dukes of Hazard | game | Previous homebrew pinball machine by Jake Danzig; initially intended for personal use only; won awards after being shown at shows; similar pattern of unanticipated demand to Monster League Hockey |
| Alvin G Soccer Ball | game | Classic head-to-head pinball machine; Monster League Hockey layout is primarily based on this game's dimensions and cabinet |
| Flipping Out Pinball | organization | Pinball retail/service shop run by Zach Sharpe and Nicole Mini; provides new/used games and accessories; endorsed by Loser Kid Pinball hosts |
| Zach Sharpe | person | Owner/operator of Flipping Out Pinball; recommended by Loser Kid hosts for acquiring new Stern games and pinball products |
| Southwest Pinball Collectors | organization | Facebook group where Jake Danzig met Josh RP; community of regional pinball enthusiasts |
| FAST Pinball | company | Electronics platform provider; Monster League Hockey uses FAST system for custom code implementation |

### Signals

- **[machine_intel]** Monster League Hockey has secured a manufacturing deal and is moving into commercial production following overwhelming demand at Pinball Expo 2025 (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig confirmed: 'We did talk to a few different manufacturers. Uh we have made a deal so far and so it's looking like it's actually going into production.'
- **[community_signal]** Monster League Hockey generated unprecedented enthusiasm at Pinball Expo 2025, with a continuous line of players throughout the entire show and daily inquiries post-Expo (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig: 'There was not just simply people playing it the whole show. There was a line to play it the entire show... ever since Expo, people have still been contacting me daily asking me if they can get on the list.'
- **[product_strategy]** Monster League Hockey transitioning from one-of-a-kind homebrew to commercial production will require replacing licensed assets (sponsor logos, art references) to reduce licensing complexity and broaden appeal (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig: 'I got some licensed assets in the art that's obviously going to have to be replaced... we're just going to wipe the slate clean and get rid of anything licensed'
- **[design_philosophy]** Jake Danzig deliberately designed Monster League Hockey as a simultaneous-play party game to fill a gap in pinball—moving away from traditional turn-based single-player mechanics toward competitive multiplayer experiences (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig: 'I wanted a party game because everybody tends to go up to pinball and with their friends or family and they're all taking turns. Well, video games have had something for decades now and that is simultaneous play.'
- **[design_innovation]** Monster League Hockey features novel head-to-head mechanics including power plays (via penalty box/drop target sequences), fight modes (monster meter-based), and ghoul frenzies; scoring occurs by getting ball into opponent's trough (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig detailed multiple gameplay modes: power play (3-bank drop targets + lock = goalie removal), fight mode (monster meter build via spinners), ghoul frenzy (hit all switches to activate timer stop)
- **[personnel_signal]** Monster League Hockey represents significant collaboration between homebrew designer (Danzig), Nashville-based production team (Glenn Wetner/crew), professional artist (Brad Albright), community voice talent, and local coders (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig credited Glenn Wetner, Eric Clotsz, Joe Farnsworth, Austin Carrian, Brad Albright, Antuinette, Maddie, Aaron Davis (FAST), Lonnie Min, and Katie Helm as essential contributors
- **[technology_signal]** Monster League Hockey uses FAST Pinball electronics platform with completely custom code, including 300+ lines of original callouts from multiple voice talent contributors (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig: 'It uses the fast system uh with all custom code... I wrote, I don't know, maybe 300 lines uh of call outs and then between Glenn and Antuinette and some other guys involved, they wrote uh plenty more'
- **[rumor_hype]** Josh RP mentioned Stern's next game is designed by Gomez and Jack Danger, with confirmation of designer involvement (confidence: high) — Josh RP: 'Stern's next game, Gomez did confirm it's him and Jack Danger designing it.'
- **[market_signal]** Jake Danzig set 100 pre-orders as minimum threshold to pursue manufacturing partnerships for homebrew games, indicating capital/effort barriers to transitioning homebrew to production (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig: 'I'm not interested in making a few of these or 10 or 20... But I said if we can get at least 100 people on the list, then we'll shop it around to some manufacturers'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Monster League Hockey experienced a dramatic shift from collector interest (asking 'is it for sale?') to producer demand (asking 'when does it go into production?'), unlike previous homebrew Dukes of Hazard (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig: 'With Monster League hockey, that really wasn't the case. Everybody was coming up to me, not asking if it was for sale. Instead, they were all asking, "When does it go into production?"'
- **[historical_signal]** Head-to-head pinball machines have not been manufactured since the mid-1990s; Monster League Hockey represents potential revival of a dormant game category after 25+ year gap (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig: 'I took a look at pretty much every head-to-head game I could find, and there haven't been any made since, I think, the mid or early 90s'
- **[operational_signal]** Immediately following Expo, Monster League Hockey was routed to arcades for charity events rather than returning home, indicating high demand for venue play and limited personal possession time (confidence: high) — Jake Danzig: 'I brought it back and directly took it to an arcade for a special one-day event... The very next day, I loaded it up, took it to another arcade, and did the same thing'

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## Transcript

Thanks for tuning in to the Loser Kid Pinball podcast. I am your host Josh RP. With me, my co- captain Scott Larson and Scott, we've got an awesome guest on today. We're going to talk about something very unique to the hobby and the creator of it. Um, I'm excited for this episode. We got new games releasing here soon. If you want this Stern's next game, Gomez did confirm it's him and Jack Danger designing it. Who are you going to call to uh get that? I'll call Zach and Nicole Mini at flipping out pinball. Uh I actually just got a a kit for my friends Cactus Canyon. So, we're going to be putting that in soon. Uh they're really good about getting new games, used games, uh any sort of accessories on your games. They're always really good to work with. So, message uh Zach at Flipping Out Pinball and he'll be able to help you out. Agree. So, the gentleman joining us today, I've known him for quite a few years. We met through Southwest Pinball Collectors. It's a Facebook group. Uh, really awesome dude. Makes cool comics about him and his dog. And he's now made an epic homebrew that seemed like was the focus point of the homebrew pinball expo community this year. Uh, Jake Danzig joins us. Jake, how are you doing? Doing good. How are you guys doing? Great. And I've got to tell you, this game was so cool and the way that you guys presented it under the the canopy with the black light and you you got jerseys for everyone. This was such a cool experience. What made you decide this is something I want to pursue and make? Um, well, that's kind of a long story. It was a little bit of a progression. Um, I wanted a party game because, uh, everybody tends to go up to pinball and with their friends or family and they're all taking turns. Well, video games have had something for decades now and that is, you know, simultaneous play. Rather than, you know, taking turns going back and forth like the original Super Mario, now you can play at the same time. And I just always thought pinball would be so much more fun if we had a few games like that where you can battle it out with your friends and you know other friends and family can be standing around and actually watch what's going on. So there was that. And I actually when I first started I was just going to go regular NHL and just pick a couple teams. uh say like the Jersey Devils versus the uh New York Rangers, something like that, or possibly the Blackhawks. But the deal is I also wanted to make it multiball and I always wanted to start the game off with two balls in play and that way if both both players right when you start a game, they automatically both have something to do right away. So I have to make sense of certain things and having two balls in play on a hockey game just doesn't make sense to me. So came up with the idea of well I could make it fantasybased hockey and then I can play by whatever rules I want but still keeping it somewhat grounded in hockey. So that's where the monster league hockey came in. Now this has been done uh before with the game joust. Now, Joust was never mass- prodduced or a big hit, but it does have some very interesting rules in that you are simultaneously trying to hit drop targets on your side. Also, you're trying to make the other other person drain. And so, how much of an inspiration did Joust play on your concept? Uh, pretty much zero other than simply being head-to-head. Uh, there were some other games that had some inspiration. uh obviously um Alvin G soccer ball which is actually what uh the layout of this game is pretty much based on. There are some differences especially with the the inserts. All of the inserts are specific to this game. Uh so I I took inspiration from that and from its uh sister game football. Um, I took a look at pretty much every head-to-head game I could find, and there haven't been any made since, I think, the mid or early 90s. But, um, they actually had them back in the EM days. And believe it or not, there's actually one where, um, instead of having a bend in the middle of the playfield, instead the entire playfield rotates up and down. So, it goes, you know, levels back and forth, which is kind of crazy, but I guess it worked for them back then. But, um, I like the layout of the Alvin G Soccer Ball, but, uh, made some differences and some changes there. A lot of code changes. So, it's got all completely brand new electronics. It uses the fast system uh with all custom code. Um we had three three people on the call outs. That would be Antwanette, Glenn Wetner, and uh Maddie. Uh Maddie also did a few. Uh Antuinette did uh did a ton of call outs. Um, I wrote, I don't know, maybe 300 lines uh of call outs and then between Glenn and Antuinette and some other guys involved, they wrote uh plenty more of them and uh they got them all recorded I think in one day pretty much where uh Antwanette and Maddie and her dad all traveled to Nashville and did a recording session with uh Glenn and the guys there. What made you decide to go with Glenn and his team? I know that like saw was really impressive. Was that something you just saw and you're like, "Hey guys, I love what you did here. This is what I want you to do with this." Uh, no, actually, I mean, I'm glad I went with them. But, um, and I love Saw. What a fantastic game. I mean, that just that should blow anybody away. But uh no, how all that happened was I was actually just looking for one person just for audio and that was it. Um that's what I was looking for at the time. And I kept asking Glenn and uh he wasn't didn't seem too real big on it at the time, but he also had some other projects going on and he was pretty busy. And so, um, I think I met him one day at Expo in person and he was like, "You know what? Give me a few." And, um, let me talk to some other guys and see about it. And then he ended up getting back with me and said, "Hey, instead of just me doing the audio, how about all of us jump in and we can help do um audio, some assembly, uh, and the code." And um uh Joe Farnsworth just happens to be a coder. That's one of the Nashville guys. So I thought about it for a bit and I was like, "Yeah, sure. Let's let's go with that. We'll give that a try." So I was going to be using some some guys in um Tampa, but um they kind of did their part and then they got it got the game up to Nashville and the Nashville crew took it from there. And um just so everybody knows, the Nashville crew is um the guys that Bill saw. That's Glenn Wetner, um Eric Clotsz, Joe Farnsworth, and of course, I'm going to have a brain fart right at the worst possible time. A few moments later, Austin Carrian is the coder. Okay. when when you're doing a head-to-head game there, you have to worry about the dimensions because a standard pinball machine is is pretty much a set uh dimension. But when you're doing a head-to-head, how do you decide how deep you need to go versus how wide? Because if you go too shallow, then you're going to have kind of like the Black Knight syndrome where you're you're getting all the shots that are so close to you. uh versus, you know, something too long where there's too much ball time cuz you want a little bit of a a riskreward in what you're you're doing, especially when you're interacting with someone else. So, how did you decide how to set up the dimensions of the game? Uh, well, that's a pretty good question. And, um, uh, thankfully, we basically used the cabinet and layout of Alvin G Soccer Ball. So, we decided to pretty much leave it leave that the same, leave the dimensions the same as that. Um, now we did have the option of adding in custom sculpts for the game. Uh, where we might have had to drop it a little bit further. That wouldn't have been a deal breakaker. But um the problem with that was I really liked Brad Albbright's art for the game. Um so much so that I just didn't want to cover up any one bit of it. So I axed the sculpts uh decided against those. So the uh playfield level is basically the same as an Alvin G soccer ball. And how did you choose like the shots? Because when you're when you're designing it, there is some point of is is the entire process to get them to the other side to actually score on your opponent or is there any way of scoring on your side of the playfield? How you score in the game is by getting the ball into the opponent's ball trough. However, there is more to do in the game than ju than doing just that. Uh there is a power play, there is a fight mode, there's a Google frenzy. Um I just got done uh play testing it for a little bit earlier today and um I was specifically going for power plays and then going for the fight mode. And the power plays help out tremendously. All you got to do is knock down the three bank of drop targets three times and then lock the ball behind them and that'll create a power play. And so when you get that, what happens is it will automatically drop the opponent's goalie. So they have no goalie to really defend it, you know, defend against a goal with. All they got the flippers, but if you make a dead center shot, you know, they can forget it, you're going to get a score. You feel very fortunate to get Brad Albbright to do the art on this because I mean the dude has been busy this year. He did Portal, he did Winchester and he's just knocking it out of the park and your game is not has looks fantastic as well. Uh yes, I am very fortunate. Uh however, what you might not know is um I was in talks with Brad for about I think a little over two years now. So, this project has been going on a little bit longer than a lot of people think. And um matter of fact, um we had actually planned on debuting the game at Expo, not last year, 2025, but 2024. But as with everything in pinball, there's always delays. So, things happen. uh family issues happen, life happens, you know, work issues come up. So, decided to delay it to 2025. And um a really big part of me wishes I would have delayed it until this year. Um the game um it played fantastic. Everybody had an absolute blast on it at last expo. However, that was its um real first debut. And I wish we would have still would wish we would have had a little bit more time to um make sure everything was in proper adjustment uh polish the code and everything. So, um, there it did have a few minor issues, but those issues kept popping up and, uh, so when Expo was done, I was a little bit relieved so we could get it back in the lab and get back to work on it because, um, its next stop is Texas Pinball Festival. And as of right now, with all the play testing we've been doing, haven't been having any of those issues. So, I think it's going to be in even better shape at TPF than it was at Expo. Now, I noticed when I played there seemed to be a little bit of a time after you scored to go through your animations and to get stuff that seemed to take up a lot more time than I would have anticipated. Is have you considered shortening the the time between the ball draining and being able to plunge again? Uh, no. Uh we're not looking to shorten the animation uh sequence, but we are looking to simply have the fast forward option. You just hit both flippers and you skip all that. Um basically like just about any modern game has that. We just hadn't got that coded in yet. Now, when you decided on presenting this game, I you chose some very um I guess colors, intense colors. So, you have the neon colors, you have the purple colors. How did you decide how the this game was going to look and and be presented? Cuz you you heavily leaned into um you know, kind of that uh that glow-in-the-dark toxic uh blacklight type look. Uh yeah. Um Brad had a very heavy h hand in that. Excuse me. Um, I told him basically what I thought the color palette should be and that is uh green and purple. Um, kind of like this here. Ah, you can see it. So, I wanted uh basically green and purple and to have those colors represent each of the teams. And I said other than that, green and purple and then black and then obviously since you're on ice, you know, I was afraid there was going to be a lot of white. And I was honestly too much of it. But um Brad took care of that. So it doesn't look like you're just playing on a white playfield by any means. Um uh other than me giving Brad what I wanted for the color palettes and a few assets and letting him know a few things I wanted in there, I said, "Hey, Brad, you're the artist. You're the professional. Uh do your thing." So, and he certainly did. and he came up with a few ideas such as having a Kraken as one of the goalies and he's busting up through the ice. Um just little things like that that I absolutely loved. It looks really great too and I love that like you used the community and brought them in as well like with Nikki Green and Antonette. You've even got Christopher Franchie's dog on here as well. Yep. I mean there's just so many throwbacks. It's it is awesome. Is there any other Easter eggs I am missing on this playfield? Uh there's there's a couple other people. Uh there's uh Mads Pin or Maddie. Uh she's on a Playfield plastic. Uh she she came into the game a little bit late in the art process, but the reason she's in there is she's kind of Antuinet's protege. Um, I'm sure you guys have met both of them. Um, so Anuinette called me up one day and and requested if Maddie could be in there. Uh, I told her I wasn't sure at the time because Brad was pretty far along in the art, but uh, I hit Brad up and I asked him about that and he said, "Well, there was one spot left and so she's got a very prominent spot on one of the playfield plastics." And um I am so glad that Antinet asked me about that because uh both Maddie and her dad have been absolutely fantastic. Um watching over the game, helping with promotion. Uh Maddie even did up her hair with monster league hockey, airbrushed into it. Uh so they've been absolutely great. Maddie even dressed up as her character uh that's on the playfield. dressed up as as her character as she's depicted for Expo. They brought hockey sticks and 3D printed parts and the whole get up. I I was impressed they were able to walk around cuz that th those are definitely extreme hairstyles that take up a lot of space. Yeah. Yeah, they are. uh regarding Easter eggs. So there's um there's Nikki Green, Antuinette, uh Maddie, there's uh Barlo, who's Christopher Franchie's little um French bulldog. There's uh my little girl Jesse, and there's there is actually me on the playfield as well. Um much to my chagrin, I did not really want to be on there at all. But um believe it or not, I had brainstorm and brainstormed and thought about so many different things we could do with this game. One of the most important things just kind of went way over my head. I just didn't think about it. And that was just simply putting Jesse in the game. Well, that was also Antuinette's idea. She called me up and um so I was talking to her about being in the game and certain things and she said, "Oh, well, you got to be in there, too." I'm like, "What? No, I I I don't want to be on the game. That that's not my thing." And she said, "Well, you know, Jesse could be with you." And I was that was just a total face palm moment. I was like, "Uh, duh. I can't believe I didn't think about that." So [sighs and gasps] So, for those listening, Jesse's your dog. Yes. Um, Stafford, Shire, Terrier, mix, uh, something. Not really sure. She looks like a pitbull. So, um, so we got me on there as a referee. And, uh, when I talked to Brad about, uh, putting me and Jesse on the playfield, I just kind of assumed that he would have her right next to me because if you see any of our pictures, that's where she always is. Always right by my side. Well, when he sent me um some of the concept art, uh he had me about the center of the ice and then Jesse way over on the side. And so I I called him up and I was like, I uh I guess I just kind of assumed that uh Jesse would be right next to me. And he said, "Well, that's no problem. He he draws in layers. He can move assets around. It's no big deal." But then I said, "Well, let me think about a little bit because if you move Jesse, then you've got a just an open spot with no art over there." So about an hour later, I called him back up and I said, "Brad, you know what would be awesome and hilarious? Keep Jesse back over there, but have her biting one the legs of one of the monsters." And that's what he did. And now that's like my favorite thing on the game. All right. So, I if you're at a show and you have some people coming up and they say, "Okay, how do we play and tell us what we're supposed to be doing in this game?" Go and instruct them how to uh how to do it. [snorts] Uh well, I I would tell them if uh for their first play, just simply hit the start button and bang away. Just uh get your get your ball into the other goal. said, "For the second time around, if you really want to see what else the game has besides just constantly shooting for the other goalie, I would say uh rip the outer spinner." And basically, once you keep doing that and get enough spins, you'll build your monster meter up and you'll go into a fight mode once you fill it all the way up. Um, if your monster meter is higher or more filled than the opponents, uh, basically what that means is you're going to start with a number of like 150. But if your opponent only got like say 20 spins, then their their number might only be 20 or so. So, what you want to do is in the fight mode, uh, you want to hit the inner spinner or actually, I'm sorry, the inner or outer spinner as many times as you can, and it's going to knock out your opponent. So, if your opponent uh didn't get very many spins, they're already starting at a lower number. They're at a disadvantage. So, you can win a fight real easy if you're the one that fills up the monster meter first. Okay? Okay. And so once a fight starts, you basically just have to rip the spinners to see who knocks the other person up. Rip the spinners and don't worry about losing a ball down the down the ball trough because it's just going to kick it right back out until the fight is over. Okay. And how how much can you pre um like how much points can you get or or part of the meter that you can fill before you start a a fight? Is it can you only fill like 25% or 50% or can you all the way up? No. Uh one of the monster meters there's one meter for each player. One of those meters has to get all the way full before a fight will start. So, you're if you start the the mon if you start the fight mode from your monster meter filling all the way up, uh your opponents could be only half full or 34 full or uh however it is. But if theirs is much less than yours, they're already going to start off the fight at a disadvantage after that. Uh besides starting the fight mode, there's also the ghoul frenzy. Um that's activated by hitting basically every switch, like every standup target, every drop target, the saucers, the rollover targets. Uh you hit every one of those and the spinners a certain amount of times and it's going to start a ghoul frenzy where the timer is going to stop. um drop targets uh or the goalie targets go down and basically you're wanting to still hit every switch you can during the ghoul frenzy. Um aside from those two things, there's there's also uh shooting for the penalty box to get a power play. Just keep hitting the three bank drop targets, lock a ball in there, and it's going to make scoring on the other p the opponent much easier. So, that's what I like to do because the goalie the goalie is a single drop target right in front of the flippers. So, it stops a lot of the balls, but you can if you get a power play going, they lose their goalie. There's seven inserts that are surrounding uh the goalie. So once once you get your goalie drop target hit seven times, you've lost your goalie. Does it reset after you score or once you've lost your goalie? Okay. No, it resets on each ball. Okay. Or or on each goal. How has the reception been taking this around to the shows and whatnot? Uh, it's only been at one show uh so far. Apparently, I didn't learn my lesson the first time with uh Dukes of Hazard. Um, I wasn't We built that game and I'm not going to go on about that because uh we're talking about monster league hockey now, but uh anyways, with the Dukes of Hazard, I wasn't even going to take that to any shows at all. And it it's not because, you know, I was being selfish or anything. It's just because I didn't think anybody was going to care. Um, Dukes of Hand Hazard is kind of my thing and it doesn't really translate with the pinball crowd as much as maybe I would like, but um, I just didn't think anybody was going to care. I was just going to get it built up and brought it home and and that would be that. But some friends talked me into um, uh, debuting it at an arcade. We did that and I went there and I was like, "Holy cow, there was just a line to play it the entire day." I was like, "People seem to really like this." That was not what I was expecting. So, ended up taking it to shows and it actually won several awards and people really loved it and I was like, "Well, that's that's pretty cool." But, um, when it came to monster league hockey, now this I did know this people was going to like. Um, I I knew it was going to be like a party game, you know, kind of like Pac-Man Royale when you're playing with your friends or family, but um I was absolutely not prepared for the reception that it got. Um, during Expo, there was not just simply people playing it the whole show. There was a line to play it the entire show. Um, and on top of that, we were in the homebrew section, which most people understand, those are all one-of-a-kind games. So, as with Dukes of Hazard, every once in a while, somebody would come by and ask me, you know, is it for sale? Would I consider selling it? Well, with Monster League hockey, that really wasn't the case. Everybody was coming up to me, not asking if it was for sale. Instead, they were all asking, "When does it go into production? and I was I was just honestly flabbergasted by it. So, we decided to start an interested list. And uh I told some of my partners, I said, "Hey, I'm not interested in making a few of these or 10 or 20. It's just really not worth the hassle." But I said if we can get at least 100 people on the list, then we'll shop it around to some manufacturers and we'll see what happens. We'll um during Expo um really started filling up that list and by the end of Expo um my minimum count of 100, well that's we far surpassed that. So, um, I'm really surprised and humbled by it. I'm really glad a lot of people really love it. And, uh, ever since Expo, people have still been contacting me daily asking me if they can get on the list. So, we got a pretty sizable list going now. Um, we did talk to a few different manufacturers. Uh we have made a deal so far and so it's looking like it's actually going into production. That's that's amazing, Jake. That is so cool. So, okay, now people are been hearing about this. If you've played it, it's amazing. How do you get on the list then? Is how how are you going to sell these bad boys? Uh how to get on the list is just contact me directly. uh whether be through phone, text, Facebook, messenger, uh email, um pin side, uh we I know who I knew who I'm texting after this episode. [laughter] I can provide uh all those links at the end of the show if you like. So, I guess one of the big questions I have um where this was built as just a homebrew and as a project for something yourself and now it's is expanded into this, how how does that work when you have like teams of people? It that was a good question. And uh yes, this was a team of people. This was not just me by any means. Um you know what? Let me run down the list of everybody that was involved. Uh, I think I already mentioned um Joe, Eric, Austin, and Glenn as part of the Nashville crew. There was also Lonnie Min who's been absolutely instrumental from day one on this project. uh Brad Albbright, uh the artist, Nikki Green, Antuinette, Maddie, um even uh Aaron Davis with FAST helped provide uh so many of the boards and support. Um in addition, after we brought it back to Expo or brought it back from Expo, um I still wanted a little bit more code uh to go on it. But I didn't want to let the game go back to Nashville. I figured, you know, it's I've been through this. I I've owned the game for like two years, never once had it at home, so I wanted to bring it home and um do what I can here. Well, to this day, it's still never been brought home. I brought it back and directly took it to an arcade for a special one-day event uh where we charge uh charged $1 per play and gave all the money to charity. The very next day, I loaded it up, took it to another arcade, and did the same thing all over again. Uh after that, we simply stuck it in a lab with my coder, uh new coder now, Katie Helm, and she's helping polish up some more code on it. and going to have it ready for Texas Pinball Festival. Now that I spit all that out, I forgot what your question was. Just how do you get on the list and like this is obviously they want to buy it. How can they do it? Yeah. And we're obviously in the first stages of this. Like I assume we're probably still years out from this becoming a into your home situation. Yeah. to get on the list, uh, contact me, uh, directly. And, um, uh, you did have one other question. Um, oh, regarding the the custom build homebrew process. So, when I started this, I was building it with uh, spitting out numbers. 95% customu only or but um a certain percentage I kept in mind because as time went by I saw more and more and more the potential that this game had. So we started designing a little bit more for the commercial side so that way not so many changes would have to be made going into production. Now, I didn't obviously didn't develop it 100% with uh going into production in mind from day one. Um just didn't expect this kind of reception. Um had I really known uh yeah, there would have been some changes right off the bat. I mean, just such as starting with the art. Um I got some licensed assets in the art that's obviously going to have to be replaced with something else. Um, some of those licenses are um such as uh you know how in hockey like you watch an NHL game around the rink there's a white border that has sponsor logos all over them. Yep. Okay. Well, this game uh has something similar. Uh there's eight uh what looks like sponsor logos going around the art blades. Well, all eight of them are different. Uh, four of them are simply things that I like, such as CocaCola and the Biscuits, which is the animatronic band located in Logan Arcade in Chicago. The other four are charities that I give to. So, I would really like to keep um keep those all those logos. Um, and I do know I could get three or four of those of them because they're actually owned by friends of mine. Um, Project Pinball being one of them. Uh, however, uh, just in the mindset of going into production and some of these logos, a lot of people just won't understand. Uh, a lot of people from out of town, they have no idea who the biscuits are. Um, they're not going to know what the Bad News Babes is, which is, by the way, an all female pinball league started by Nikki Green in Chicago. So, I decided, well, even though I'm sure I could get some of these loss for these logos, I decided, you know, it's best for for production purposes, we're just going to wipe the slate clean and get rid of anything licensed. So, we just don't have to worry about it. But, uh, I'll always have mine. It'll be special to me. That's amazing. You know, I know a podcast with a logo that, you know, if if you're looking for sponsors around the rim of the rink. [laughter] Yeah. Yeah. Uh, if I was going to put a a podcast as one of the sponsor logos, um, yours would be just about at the top. Yes. Well, Josh Josh is wearing our uh our hockey sweater. Yeah, the hockey jersey, baby. I've never had hockey jerseys. We got two different styles. We got this white one with the loser kid logo, and then we have a black one with the uh uh the black and red. Yeah, loser kid attacks. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Well, I'll tell you what the one bummer thing about this jersey is is it pretty much means I don't get to wear my New Jersey Devils jersey anymore cuz I'm basically stuck wearing this one now. I I'm sure they'd understand if you uh wore the Devils occasionally. Yeah, you can make a hybrid one. [laughter] There you go. Maybe put the devils on the sleeve or something. Yeah, not a bad idea. No, seriously, this game is so awesome. And I think one of the things was is like two two or three expos battle stations and it just was so fun. And I think you hit it right on the head. It's there's something about head-to-head pinball that is just so addictive and just partyesque, right? And I want to see more of this. And this excites me that you're putting this into production. I know we're probably years out, you know, because pimp pinball is easy, right? [laughter] Right. We we found that out. Yeah. Yep. And so, u but I I think this is a segment of the the industry that really hasn't been tapped in years. And granted, it's probably a harder segment. It's not it's not cookie cutter, right? Like a lot of these pinball companies want something that can fit in their style of box. And so to take on this project, I'm just I'm so excited that a company took you on and is making this. Yeah. And you know what? I'm glad you brought that up because um it was at uh Pinball Expo. I don't remember four or five years ago um maybe that um the first time that I saw Battle Stations. Uh that's a game that's built by Brian Smith and my game actually has a lot to thank Brian Smith for a little bit of the inspiration. um wasn't the first head-to-head I ever seen or played by any means, but uh when I was there at Expo with my friends and we went over and tried that game, we all had so much fun, such a blast that uh that's the only game I wanted to keep playing. So, I played it with one friend and then another and then another. I'm like, this is fun. you know, playing, you know, a traditional pinball machine where you're just taking turns, somebody's always waiting, and then personally me, I don't so much mind waiting, but I don't I just hate it when I get on a game that I'm good at and the person I'm playing with isn't and I'm making them wait. So, um, that just makes me feel a little uncomfortable. So when you get to play a game like this at the same time, that's fun. That's that's a party. One fun option that you had is you actually have a monster monster league hockey playlist that I downloaded. And so I'm wondering about the origin of that and what inspired you to do that. Another good question. So I like a lot of different music. I really do. Um, everything from old country to punk to heavy metal. Um, my favorite music of all is actually the original rock and roll 50s. Um, all that. That's my favorite music. Um, however, uh, there's been a lot of music, especially rock, um, especially, you know, last several years that have had plenty of representation in pinball, but, um, punk has certainly never really got anything, never got its due in pinball. And there is so many fantastic songs. There really is. So, I was like, you know what? I love this music. Um, let me figure out a format. And um I started building a playlist, but uh I had u I had my own criteria and that was I wanted it to be the because there's a lot of different t uh types and styles of punk. Well, the punk music that I was looking for was I wanted it to be upbeat and either happy or at least a happy sounding songs. Um, turns out that was a little harder to get a hold of than what I imagined. Have you heard of SCA music? Yeah. But I I also know that a lot of SCA isn't really my thing. So, yeah. It didn't uh it didn't all just have to be, you know, upbeat and happy sounding. It also had to be songs that I liked cuz if it was going to be a one-of-a-kind game, I didn't want to be stuck listening to stuff that I didn't really like. So, so I decided, you know, I I ran through just countless hours of music while I was at work and picked out what I could. And um at some point, [snorts] I just kind of ran out of punk music that I thought was acceptable. So, I decided to uh switch lanes just a little bit and go with um some rockabilly and uh glad I did the Yeah, glad I did that. So, that provided a little bit more music. Um there might be a few wingers in there, but that you might question, but there's always a method to my madness. Such as there is actually one Slayer song in there. However, that's not a regular Slayer song. That's actually a a punk cover. Uh there's a few more um uh songs as similar to that, such as there's um I believe there's two or three songs that are original 50s rock and roll, but they're but they're covered by punk bands. And then there's actually even one Johnny Cash song that's covered by Social Distortion. Have you checked out me first in the Gimme Gimmies? Because they're they're very punk and then they're upbeat, but it's a lot of covers. It's a lot of like the Johnny Cash and like just a lot of you know what I'm saying? Like it's they're really really good and I think they might fit the style of what you're looking for. Yeah, they it might I think I've heard of them but I don't think I've ever listened to them before. We'll have to text you so you can check them out. Absolutely. I'll do that. [snorts] And um uh regarding the music too, um I might have possibly made a mistake in making the the banner and our flyers, listing out some of the bands, not all of them, but some of them. But um when I made all that, that was really for a one-of-a-kind custommade game. So, I could basically do whatever I wanted. Well, now that it's going into production, we have an ultimate solution to the music. So, what we have is because obviously I am not going to even attempt to license 61 songs by 18 different bands. All the music is getting ripped out. What is replacing it, however, is some proprietary software to where you can load in whatever music you want. That's cool. That's awesome. So, so it'll be your style of hockey while you're playing this. That's absolutely. So, will it be like Bluetooth or are you going to have to like download it to the game? Like, how is that going to work? Can you talk about that? Uh certain details we're still working on and I don't want to give you the wrong information right now. I I can respect that. I can respect that. Um we're we're actually it's not that it's not that we um it's not that we don't have it yet or anything. It's just that we haven't decided on the best the absolute most universal solution to getting it to the game. uh whether it be like streaming directly from iTunes or whether you download it such as uh MP3 into an SD card. Um whatever we do, we just want to make it easy and most universal for all of the buyers. That makes sense. Now, in addition to that, you also have your your Monster League jersey is really great. And are you interested in in developing any sort of merchandise so people could buy a jersey? I I got a pen. I bought a pin at the expo. So I still have that to my lanyard. Any other ways that people can buy it? Buy the art so they can display it in their game room. Um well actually uh Brad Albbright has some art that he can sell directly. Um he has my full blessing on it. I told him he did such a fantastic job that anything that he wants to make regarding monster league hockey is fine with me. Um the only caveat was if it depicts uh other people such as Nikki Antuinette or whoever that um you know it's it's got to be okay with them as well. And so far everything is everybody's cool. So um so Brad Albbright has some art. Uh, I have myself I've got enamel pins for sale. As far as any other merchandise goes, to be honest, um, I've put most of my free time into simply developing the game and getting it uh, ready for TPF and then ready for production. I haven't really put a lot of thought into merchandise. Um, I spent a few minutes about a month or so ago thinking about it and honestly just right at this point. I I don't know what people would want. Um, I do know Brad has sold um a good handful of the art prints that he's made. Uh, they're pretty cool by the way. Uh, you can check them out on his website. Um, he's made them in 3D of which he does in a lot of his stuff. So, you use the old school red and blue 3D glasses um to really make it pop. So, I got one of those. Got it hanging up on the wall over there. Um another guy sent me a picture that uh he owns an arcade uh somewhere in Canada and he's already got it hanging up on the wall uh in a spot where he says he wants to put a monster league hockey pinball machine as soon as he can get one. Awesome. It sounds This thing is so cool, man. Like, it's so cool. This has all came together just and obviously you've been doing it for years. So, you know, it's not been just straight one easy thing, but it's it's cool to see a product that you you've you've had an idea and come to fruition and people have just embraced it so much that like now they it's getting being it's being built, you know? So, I have a lot of a lot of the crew to thank for a lot of the ideas that I didn't think of. Um, Antuinette came up with so many great ideas such as, you know, putting Jesse on the playfield. Um, she I was not going to ask her or Nikki uh to do any voice work for the call outs because I figured, you know, they're both busy. neither of them live close to Nashville and um I just figured that um it wasn't going to be an option, but um uh Antuinette volunteered. I was like, "Wow, really? You can make your way to Nashville and get that done?" She'd say, "Yeah." So, uh she was big on that. Very instrumental there. Um and she volunteered. I did end up uh asking Nikki, but due to work scheduling and such, she couldn't make it at the time. But um it worked out pretty well. Um almost all the call outs are uh three three characters. Um there's a funny guy like a funny human guy like a sports commentator whose name is Steve. Um you could say I named him after Steve Ritchie if you want. Um probably where I got the name from maybe. Who knows? Uh then there is a monster um named uh Francis. I specifically picked his name Francis just so I could write a line. I lighten up Francis and take a lot of my cues from um movies and nostalgia such and things like that. And then uh the third main character for the call outs was Antuinette. Well, uh, you might say, "Well, how can she be in the commentating booth and skating on the ice at the same time?" Well, that would be a good question. And I wrote a very specific line just for that. It's because Antuinette is a girl so talented, she can be in two places at the same time. I I was thinking of monster cloning would be uh what? Yeah, I I love the Lightning Francis lines. It's from Stripes. It's still one of my favorite ones to send out if someone's going over the top. So, yeah. I tell you what, I wrote so many lines and then so many months uh went by after recording and then once I finally got my hands on the game and I started hearing certain call outs and I was just cracking up and I was like, "Who wrote this?" And Antoinette looked at me and she's like, "You did, duh." And I go through my list. I'm like, "I'll be damned. I actually wrote that." forgot all about it. Okay, but here's the best part about the uh the lighten up Francis because the character in Stripes, he's like, "My name is Psycho." Like, "You call me Francis and I'll, you know, I'll assault you. I'll cut you." That that that's what it's like, "Lighten up, Francis." [laughter] Yeah. So, you should at least have one of those lines in there. Yeah. Um Yeah. Like I was saying, I I have so many people to thank for so many of the I the ideas. Um uh Antuinette um she was one of the very few people that I asked for any additional possible music uh for the game and she gave me a few good tips and I used some of them. And um um I I really it was really important for me to keep this game familyfriendly. Uh just as I did with Dukes of Hazard. I just um I I'm not a super huge PC guy. I'm not some angel by any means, but if I'm going to have a game out in public, I just something that I made. I didn't want a bunch of swearing or anything inappropriate. And that that's by the way one of the first things I told Brad is the two main characters of this game. They both happen to be pretty girls, but I didn't want them over sexualized or nothing like that. I just wanted them to be like normal girls playing hockey and he was all on board on that. But um uh what the music what I was getting at with uh Antuinette uh she gave me the name of this band that surprisingly I'd never heard of before. Um The Mummies. I got to listening to them and I picked out a few really great songs, but the one best song that I absolutely love was just full of fbombs. I'm like, I want to put this in the game so bad, but I'm going to be breaking my own rule. So, I ended up talking to her and a bunch of the other guys and they're like, "Dude, if it it's probably going to be a one one game only. You know, people at the shows, they probably really can't hear it. It's so loud in there." I was like, "All right." Okay. So, I got that song and the rest of the mummies songs in there. So, um, like I said though with regarding production, there's not going to be, uh, any music other than what Glenn Rec Glenn Wetner composed. So, load whatever you in want in there, whether it be familyfriendly or not. Well, and honestly, Glenn's fantastic at music. He's done our outro music. He's done the intro music for our market video that we do. Glenn's just he's multifaceted and amazing and talented when it comes to sound and so uh it's great that you had him on in on the team as well. Uh absolutely. He's a great friend. Um love the guy to death. Um Glenn bringing the rest of the rest of his crew in on this game was one of the best things that it could have happened. Um so I have to thank him a whole lot. Uh, thank Austin for all the code. Uh, thank Brad for constant um Easter eggs and cool stuff in the artwork. And um, uh, he added something on the art blades that was a total surprise to me. And he showed the uh, show showed them to me online. I was like, "Does this look okay with you?" And I took a look at it and was like, "Well, it's not what I had in mind, but I absolutely love it." So, um, on the Art Blades, besides the sponsor logos, it's it has people in the stands. Well, all those people are actually movie monsters from a lot of the classic movies, uh, such as Alien, stuff like that. But they're all in like shadow form detail, you know, because they're kind of hidden back in the stands. So, that turned out fantastic. Um, there's a only about one thing that um I had to give Brad a little bit of grief for, and that was for putting a darn spider on the playfield, but it's a spider with a head cl um the head of a clown and surrounded by balloons. I'm like, it's hilarious, but it's a spider, but whatever. Let's keep it. And yes, I hate spiders. That is hilarious. Well, remind us again, how do you want people to get a hold of you if you want them getting a hold of you, Jake? Email is danzig9609gmail.com. You can find me on pinsside just simply by the last name Danzig. That's den zig. Uh you can text me at 480309-6206 or my most preferred way of communication is actually just Facebook Messenger. You can find me on Facebook uh by Jake Danzig. Awesome. And just a really quick shout out to Brad Albbright. He did our art for [music] our shoes and he also did the goat illustration. So Keith Owen's goat. If you want to check out his artwork, all bright illustration.com. Uh, if you want to get a hold of us, we are loser pinball podcast@gmail.com. Also at all the socials, loserkidpinball on everything. Uh, I think that does it for us. If you want if you want swag, silverballsswag.com/loserkid. Scott, will you give us our final words? Absolutely. Go check out Monster League Pinball at uh, sorry, Monster League hockey at [music] Texas Pinball Festival and we'll see you there.

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-06-06 | Item ID: b779a3ff-d9aa-4eea-9388-d922c54c2345*