# Pokemon Pinball by Stern is good

**Source:** Nudge Magazine (website feed)  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2026-02-13  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.nudgepinball.com/articles/pokemon-pinball-by-stern-is-good

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## Analysis

A Nudge Magazine review praises Pokémon Pinball by Stern as a successful game launch, highlighting its accessible yet deep layout design by George Gomez and Jack Danger, innovative code architecture by Tanio Kleiss, Josh Henderson, and Andrew Wilkening that translates Pokémon RPG mechanics into pinball, and nostalgic artwork that resonates emotionally with players. The author contextualizes the game's significance against skepticism about the theme and production challenges, characterizing it as a rare moment of genuine joy in contemporary pinball.

### Key Claims

- [LOW] Pokémon is bigger than Star Wars and Harry Potter combined (according to Seth Davis) — _Author relaying conversation with Seth Davis at sushi restaurant; anecdotal and unverified_
- [MEDIUM] Jack Danger almost broke as a designer during Pokémon Pinball development (revealed via recent Facebook post) — _Author reference to a Facebook post by Jack Danger; indicates significant development stress_
- [HIGH] Pokémon Pinball features three custom moving sculpts, a bash toy, and a playfield magnet on Premium and LE models — _Author direct observation at game reveal event; factual description of physical features_
- [HIGH] The left orbit returns to right flipper via wireform; back battle arena opens to give orbit return to right flipper — _Author hands-on playfield analysis at reveal event_
- [MEDIUM] Andrew Wilkeling literally learned to read by playing Pokémon Yellow — _Author relaying statement from Andrew Wilkeling during code walkthrough; anecdotal claim_
- [HIGH] Star Wars Fall of the Empire features overlapping rulesets (missions, Jabba modes, Millennium Falcon, Vader modes simultaneous) that players can approach multiple ways — _Author citing game design principle and personal experience; used as reference for Pokémon code design_
- [MEDIUM] Pokémon Pinball includes four distinct biomes (desert, ocean, forest, electric) with different Pokémon populations and trainer battles — _Author relaying early code walkthrough; code described as extremely early state_
- [MEDIUM] The Pokémon Company was extremely particular about how Pokémon is presented in the pinball adaptation — _Author inference from artwork quality; not directly stated by manufacturer_

### Notable Quotes

> "the vibes for pokemon are GOOD"
> — **Author (Nudge Magazine)**, opening
> _Sets positive tone for entire review; reflects broader community sentiment at reveal event_

> "It wasn't always looking like a slam dunk... This is the game that almost broke Jack as a game designer"
> — **Author (Nudge Magazine)**, early section
> _Acknowledges significant development challenges and designer stress during production_

> "A throwback design that works for beginners who don't know anything while retaining enough interesting geometry and ball returns to make it fun for the freaks who play every game"
> — **Author (Nudge Magazine)**, layout section
> _Describes design philosophy balancing accessibility with competitive depth_

> "It feels meaty and thicc when you hit it (think gong from kong, Mandalorian ball sack, or the oft-compared Junkyard dangle) plus it has the bonus of being a giant Meowth head, the most annoying character in pokemon, so it was fun to try and smack the hell out of it"
> — **Author (Nudge Magazine)**, bash toy discussion
> _Playful description of bash toy feedback and mechanical feel; uses comparative reference games_

> "You start the game with all four types... You're a nondescript trainer (brutally too true to real life for this guy, but hey)"
> — **Author (Nudge Magazine)**, code section
> _Self-deprecating humor while describing game starting state and rule mechanics_

> "Seeing this art brought me back to that time in my life. Like I said, I was surprised by how emotional it got me."
> — **Author (Nudge Magazine)**, art section
> _Personal emotional connection to artwork; reflects nostalgic resonance of Pokémon IP and art direction_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Pokémon Pinball | game | Stern Pinball release being reviewed; features three tiers (Pro/Premium/LE), designed by George Gomez and Jack Danger, with code by Tanio Kleiss, Josh Henderson, and Andrew Wilkeling |
| George Gomez | person | Veteran pinball designer, co-designer of Pokémon Pinball; previously designed Deadpool and numerous other titles |
| Jack Danger | person | Co-designer of Pokémon Pinball (layout/toys); designer of Foo Fighters and X-Men; reportedly experienced significant stress during development |
| Tanio Kleiss | person | Code programmer for Pokémon Pinball; also known for Foo Fighters code; led code walkthrough explaining RPG-to-pinball mechanics translation |
| Josh Henderson | person | Code programmer for Pokémon Pinball; participated in code architecture walkthrough |
| Andrew Wilkeling | person | Code programmer for Pokémon Pinball; learned to read playing Pokémon Yellow; alongside Raymond Davidson created ruleset for Star Wars Fall of the Empire |
| Raymond Davidson | person | Described as 'pinball wunderkid'; co-creator (with Andrew Wilkeling) of Star Wars Fall of the Empire ruleset; referenced as inspiration for Pokémon code design |
| John Borg | person | Veteran Stern pinball designer; present at Stern Pinball facility during author's game reveal visit |
| Seth Davis | person | Source of claim that Pokémon is bigger IP than Star Wars and Harry Potter combined; encountered by author at sushi restaurant |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Pokémon Pinball; held game reveal event visited by author |
| The Pokémon Company | organization | IP rights holder for Pokémon; described as extremely particular about how Pokémon is presented in pinball adaptation |
| Star Wars Fall of the Empire | game | Stern Pinball game by Andrew Wilkeling and Raymond Davidson; referenced as design precedent for multi-mode ruleset structure in Pokémon Pinball |
| Foo Fighters | game | Stern Pinball game; designed by Jack Danger and Tanio Kleiss; referenced as example of their previous work |
| X-Men | game | Stern Pinball game; designed by Jack Danger; referenced as example of his design work |
| Deadpool | game | Stern Pinball game; designed by George Gomez; referenced as example of his previous work |
| Junkyard | game | Referenced for comparison to Pokémon Pinball's bash toy feel and dangle mechanics |
| Godzilla | game | Referenced comparatively for city-themed playfield layout concept; author uses as metaphor for biome design |
| Data East Waterworld | game | Historical reference example of poor mechanical design (ball-catching device that stops play); used to justify Pokémon Pinball's mechanical philosophy |
| Nudge Magazine | organization | Publication source of this review; author writes about pinball with casual, irreverent tone |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Playfield Layout Design, Game Code Architecture and Rules Design, Mechanical Features and Toys
- **Secondary:** Development Challenges and Designer Experience, Artwork and IP Presentation, Theme Accessibility vs Collector Appeal
- **Mentioned:** Comparison to Reference Games (Star Wars, Foo Fighters, X-Men), Community Reception and Hype

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Strong positive review with genuine enthusiasm for game's design, code, and artwork. Author acknowledges previous skepticism but concludes game delivers on quality. Playful, irreverent tone maintains credibility by not appearing overly promotional. Minor caveats about IP restrictions and early code state do not substantially detract from positive assessment.

### Signals

- **[product_launch]** Author attended Pokémon Pinball game reveal event at Stern Pinball facility; reports positive community vibes and hands-on gameplay experience (confidence: high) — Direct account of visiting Stern Pinball, playing game, interviewing designers (code walkthrough with Tanio Kleiss, Josh Henderson, Andrew Wilkeling)
- **[design_innovation]** Pokémon Pinball features novel playfield paths with unexpected ball routing (wireform returns, figure-eight ramp with cheat shots, movable bash toy, playfield magnet, three custom sculpts) (confidence: high) — Author detailed description of left orbit, battle arena returns, left ramp figure-eight geometry, bash toy design philosophy
- **[gameplay_signal]** Game designed with overlapping RPG-inspired rulesets (four biomes, Pokémon collection, trainer battles, type mechanics) that balance beginner accessibility with advanced play depth (confidence: medium) — Author analysis of code walkthrough with programmers; comparison to Star Wars Fall of the Empire as precedent for multi-mode ruleset structure
- **[personnel_signal]** Jack Danger reportedly experienced significant stress during Pokémon Pinball development (described as 'almost broke Jack as a game designer' per Facebook post) (confidence: medium) — Author reference to 'recent facebook post' from Jack Danger; indicates challenging development process for designer
- **[licensing_signal]** The Pokémon Company exercised strict oversight of art direction and IP presentation in pinball adaptation; author infers this resulted in high-quality nostalgic artwork (confidence: medium) — Author speculation that 'Pokemon Company are extremely particular about how Pokemon is presented' but notes positive result in artwork quality
- **[sentiment_shift]** Initial skepticism from pinball community about Pokémon theme (author expected 'old angry boomer pinballers' to dislike unfamiliar IP) contradicted by positive in-person vibes at reveal event (confidence: high) — Author's pre-reveal skepticism vs. post-event observation: 'the vibes for pokemon are GOOD'; notes good reception despite generational IP divide
- **[design_philosophy]** Designers intentionally prioritized mechanics that affect gameplay (magnet, movable bash toy) over purely aesthetic toys (ball-catching Pokéball); philosophy justified by historical reference to failed Data East games (confidence: high) — Author discussion of design choice to avoid non-functional toys: 'they didn't skimp out' on functional mechs; justification via Data East Waterworld comparison
- **[content_signal]** Nudge Magazine review adopts irreverent, casual voice with cultural commentary, self-deprecation, and humor; positioned as authentic player perspective rather than promotional puff piece (confidence: high) — Author's playful tone throughout (Prius joke, Meowth 'thicc' description, love life metaphor, Epstein commentary); maintains credibility through caveats and honest skepticism
- **[community_signal]** Author notes generational divide in pinball: older players dismissive of modern pop culture themes (Pokémon, Harry Potter, Wheel of Fortune) while younger players endured unfamiliar older themes (Wizard of Oz, Elton John) (confidence: medium) — Author commentary: 'a lot of old angry boomer pinballers are probably gonna be pissed about a theme they don't understand... WE have had to endure 18 million themes that we don't relate to'
- **[gameplay_signal]** Left ramp figure-eight geometry allows players to intentionally miss full shots and still score via return path, adding skill variability and creative shot options (confidence: high) — Author observation: 'you could often cheat made shots by hitting them partially up and then having them drain down the return at the junction of the figure 8'

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## Transcript

Pokemon Pinball by Stern is good
Unfortunately for the haters, they nailed this one.
Let’s not bury the lede, I’ve been to several game releases at this point and let me say : the vibes for pokemon are GOOD. It makes sense, right? It’s the biggest IP in the world (supposedly, according to Seth Davis while I was in line for sushi it’s bigger than Star Wars and Harry Potter combined), everyone loves a Jack Danger game, and, well, it seems like the general world may be ready for some joy.
That being said, let’s put things in context. It wasn’t always looking like a slam dunk. Or mega ball or whatever pokemon metaphor we wanna use. This is the game that almost broke Jack as a game designer (as we learned from a recent facebook post) the world needs joy because its in a more precarious place than its ever been (see our last couple articles) and honestly a lot of old angry boomer pinballers are probably gonna be pissed about a theme they don’t understand. Nevermind the point that WE have had to endure 18 million themes that we don’t relate to as young people not from the dust bowl era (Wizard of Oz, Elton John, uh, Wheel of Fortune)
So I wasn’t sure what I was gonna walk into. But like the many trainers before me, I sucked it up and I put on a weird little baseball cap, and I grabbed a couple of softballs that I painted half red, and drove my 2008 Prius to the toughest Poke-Gym around, Stern Pinball. Sure, they confiscated the softballs at the gate when i told them I was gonna try and catch John Borg with them — but other than that it was an all around p sick day. So let’s get into it.
The Layout
I know that the development of this game was fraught. But veteran pinball designer, George Gomez (Deadpool, a million others) and Jack Danger (Foo Fighters, X-men, etc) did create something legit fun and flowy. A throwback design that works for beginners who don’t know anything while retaining enough interesting geometry and ball returns to make it fun for the freaks who play every game (me). We weren’t really privy to the design iterations, but I know after talking to some employees that there were various mechs talked about in the game.
The fact that we have three custom sculpts that move, a bash toy, AND a playfield magnet on the premium and LE is pretty obvious to me that they didn’t skimp out. And I like the decision to keep the mechs focused on things that effect gameplay (like a magnet and movable bash toy) rather than stuff like a pokeball that catches the ball and does nothing else. People always say that they want that kinda stuff (Y NOT SHARK EAT BALL?) but the games from the 90s that did that (think Data East Waterworld) all suck ass to shoot. You don’t wanna be chained to one thing that stops the ball.
But that’s as much time as we’ll spend on mech talk because we don’t talk pinball economics or BOM or any of that shit. Because we actually PLAY pinball we don’t just look at it here, so how does it play?
It’s a really fun design that lends itself to being a flow beast, busted up by staccato fights in the “battle” arena which also doubles as where the team rocket balloon comes down to fight. It’s a surprisingly good bash toy. It feels meaty and thicc when you hit it (think gong from kong, Mandalorian ball sack, or the oft-compared Junkyard dangle) plus it has the bonus of being a giant Meowth head, the most annoying character in pokemon, so it was fun to try and smack the hell out of it.
The layout is novel. Paths don’t always go where you think they will. The left orbit leads to a clean return from a wireform to the right flipper, while the back of the battle field (in the center of the game) opens up at times to give you an orbit return to the right flipper. The left ramp has fun, figure eight returns — which were great for gameplay, since you could often cheat made shots by hitting them partially up and then having them drain down the return at the junction of the figure 8. That ramp also is where you’ll catch your pokemon.
The Code is (gonna be) good
Tanio Klyce, Joshua Henderson, and Andrew Andrew Wilkening gave us a walkthrough of their outline for code for this game. These guys have basically taken the original gameboy experience and ported an extremely interesting version of it into pinball. At it’s heart, pokemon is a super simple RPG. You collect pokemon, sure, but its basically rock paper scissors with different types. That basic idea is fun to play with in pinball where multiple simple overlapping rulesets can work to bring new players in while simultaneously giving more advanced players fun stuff to work with.
Star Wars Fall of the Empire does this very well. I routinely score between 1.5 -2.5 billion on that game, but routinely come back because of how many DIFFERENT ways I can do that. For FOTE heads (we’ll work on the nickname), that game is cool because you’re doing missions, jabba modes, millenium falcon stuff, and vader modes all at once. You’re sort of always working through something (sort of like my love life).
Andrew Andrew Wilkening, alongside pinball wunderkid Raymond Davidson, were the brains behind that ruleset. So it was super fun to talk to Andrew and hear him talk about how he literally learned to read by playing Pokemon yellow. I don’t know if that’s a sweet story or a sad critique of our education system, but hey! The guy loves frickin pokemon.
We’ll have an interview with Andrew, Tanio (of Foo Fighters fame), and Josh in the future, but let’s be real and get into it.
You start the game with all four types. You’re a nondescript trainer (brutally too true to real life for this guy, but hey) who wanders through four different biomes (think Godzilla’s cities) finding new pokemon and battling your pokemon against various trainers. Just like they game! Unlike Godzilla, the different worlds (desert, ocean, forest, and uh, electric? I don’t know) will determine which pokemon populate and which battles you’ll face. Evidently, you’ll be able to travel back and forth, collecting pokemon and becoming the very best and singing that song at the top of your lungs.
Obviously, the code was in an extremely early state, but even so I can tell you that the different mode types do feel distinct and I can’t wait to explore the beautiful map.
The art
I have a feeling that Pokemon Company, the IP holder for Pokemon, are extremely particular about how Pokemon is presented. Sometimes that can be a bad thing, but in this case it resulted in art that actually gave me nostalgic butterflies in a way that surprised me. For real. When I was in maybe fifth grade, Pokemon was syndicated on tv before school for me. I was at that weird age inbetween being an adult and kid, so I’d watch a tape of an X-files episode I had while I waited for pokemon to come on. I was up, alone, eating cereal and loved getting lost in stories. That was important to me. Seeing this art brought me back to that time in my life. Like I said, I was surprised by how emotional it got me.
I could go on, but they’re already gonna call me a shill, so I might as well quit while I’m behind. Enjoy a couple more pics of charizard spinners and such. The times might be fucked up, but at least we got a pokemon pinball before the apocalypse. Now prosecute everyone associated with Epstein and let’s have a proper country. A boy can dream!

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: bc0bbfe0-383a-45f2-8a29-30aac548184c*