# Homebrew Showcase: Pinball in Wonderland at Texas Pinball Festival 2026

**Source:** Marco Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2026-04-06  
**Duration:** 15m 1s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqb3r1g6VLg

---

## Analysis

Marco Pinball showcases "Pinball in Wonderland," a homebrew Alice in Wonderland-themed pinball machine developed by Cayman Kai and the Austin Pinball Collective over two years. The team discusses their design process using VPX, collaboration with Ernie Silverberg's kit ecosystem, hardware (FAST boards, MPF, GDAU), and iterative playfield refinements. The project features custom artwork by Ray Hensel and is transitioning from whitewood to a new cabinet, with code development and sound design remaining as primary next steps before a target Chicago Expo completion in October.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The project started two years ago, inspired by seeing a whitewood at TPF, and brought on Omar approximately one year ago. — _Cayman Kai, lead designer, during intro segment_
- [HIGH] Alice in Wonderland entered public domain, which motivated theme choice and coincided with other manufacturers developing similar titles. — _Cayman Kai, explaining theme origin_
- [HIGH] VPX modeling took approximately six months before the game could flip in simulation. — _Cayman Kai, discussing design timeline_
- [HIGH] The team brought an unfinished whitewood to TPF last year (2025), got it flipping for the first time just two minutes before the show floor opened. — _Cayman Kai, describing first public appearance_
- [HIGH] Playfield was cut by Bob Nice from Ramps Manufacturing and brought to TPF 2026. — _Cayman Kai, discussing recent milestones_
- [HIGH] The original cabinet was a Street Fighter 2 arcade that cost significant time and money to adapt; team is planning to source a new cabinet. — _Cayman Kai, on cabinet strategy_
- [HIGH] Target completion is Chicago Expo in October with code, music, and sound as remaining primary work. — _Cayman Kai, discussing next steps_
- [HIGH] Ernie Silverberg provided a kit instrumental to the project's development. — _Cayman Kai, crediting Ernie Silverberg_

### Notable Quotes

> "I wanted to design a Taylor Swift pinball machine. But the boys weren't into it."
> — **Cayman Kai**, ~5:00
> _Reveals early theme brainstorming and collaborative decision-making process; humor element in design origin_

> "It felt like being naked, you know, next to a bunch of people dressed in suits."
> — **Cayman Kai**, ~19:30
> _Describes the emotional experience of debuting an unfinished whitewood among polished homebrew machines at TPF 2025_

> "I remember in the talk somebody was talking about how they just got a piece of plywood and started putting stuff on it. That terrifies me."
> — **Cayman Kai**, ~11:30
> _Validates VPX-first design approach vs. rapid physical prototyping; design philosophy contrast_

> "You need to be multifaceted. You need to know electronics, you need to know mechanical aspects of the game, you need to know design, you need to understand the storyline."
> — **Omar**, ~28:00
> _Newcomer perspective on the skill diversity required for homebrew machine development_

> "Measure twice, cut once. He measured like five times."
> — **Cayman Kai / Marco (host)**, ~24:00
> _Illustrates Omar's precision and diligence in translating digital designs to physical playfield_

> "It's really cool to see people believe in you, you know, when like some honestly there's many times I didn't believe in myself. But you know when other people believe in you like even when you don't believe in yourself it's amazing what you can do."
> — **Omar**, ~34:00
> _Reflects on community support and collaborative ethos as critical to project success_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cayman Kai | person | Lead designer of Pinball in Wonderland, founder of Austin Pinball Collective, initiated the project two years ago after seeing a whitewood at TPF |
| Omar | person | Rapid prototyping specialist on Pinball in Wonderland, joined the project approximately one year ago, handles 3D printing, CAD design, and playfiled measurements; casual pinball player new to the scene |
| Andrew Duncan | person | Lead coder and wiring specialist for Pinball in Wonderland; did all wiring work and managed scoring system implementation; not present at TPF 2026 showcase (birthday conflict) |
| Ray Hensel | person | Artist for Pinball in Wonderland; Cayman Kai's best friend from Tallahassee; not primarily a pinball person but brought unique artistic perspective to the project |
| Ernie Silverberg | person | Provides homebrew kits instrumental to Pinball in Wonderland's development; maintains Discord community that served as resource and support network for the team |
| Ray Ford | person | Originally part of Pinball in Wonderland design team; strong pinball player who contributed to layout and shot design; no longer actively involved |
| Joel Miner | person | Cayman Kai's boyfriend; helped rewire the playfield for the new cabinet transition |
| Bob Nice | person | Operator of Ramps Manufacturing; cut the new playfield for Pinball in Wonderland and delivered it to TPF 2026 |
| Austin Pinball Collective | organization | Community organization founded/co-founded by Cayman Kai; helped design a museum; active homebrew/pinball advocacy group in Austin area |
| Pinball in Wonderland | game | Homebrew pinball machine theme: Alice in Wonderland; using FAST boards, MPF, GDAU; whitewood debuted at TPF 2025; new playfield cut and ready for transfer at TPF 2026; target completion Chicago Expo October 2026 |
| Texas Pinball Festival 2025 | event | Where the team first saw whitewood inspiration; location of Pinball in Wonderland's debut (unfinished whitewood) |
| Texas Pinball Festival 2026 | event | Marco Pinball Pin DevCon 2026; location of Pinball in Wonderland showcase featured in this video |
| FAST | company | Hardware platform provider for Pinball in Wonderland; Aaron from FAST mentioned as significant help to the project |
| MPF | product | Software/firmware platform used for Pinball in Wonderland game logic and control |
| GDAU | product | Software component used alongside MPF for Pinball in Wonderland |
| Ramps Manufacturing | company | Manufacturer of custom playfield for Pinball in Wonderland; operated by Bob Nice |
| Marco Pinball | company | Source of this video; homebrew loot crate provider; community organizer for Pin DevCon and homebrew showcases; mentioned as source of some Pinball in Wonderland ramp components |
| Nick Nitel | person | Homebrew community member who assisted Cayman Kai at TPF 2026 |
| Jesse Bowden | person | Austin Pinball Collective member who helped fix a pop bumper at TPF 2026 |
| Chicago Expo | event | Target deadline (October 2026) for Pinball in Wonderland near-completion with code, music, and sound finalized |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Homebrew pinball design process and workflow, VPX virtual pinball development and iteration, Theme selection and IP licensing (Alice in Wonderland public domain), Hardware stack (FAST boards, MPF, GDAU), Playfield art design and custom fabrication, Community collaboration and support networks in homebrew
- **Secondary:** Project management and interdisciplinary team building, Cabinet sourcing and adaptation challenges

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[design_innovation]** Alice in Wonderland theme translated into pinball mechanics via collaborative whiteboard mapping (Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts, rabbit hole funnel ramp, etc.); unique artistic approach from non-pinball artist Ray Hensel bringing fresh visual perspective unconstrained by conventional pinball design conventions. (confidence: high) — Cayman described whiteboard process mapping theme elements to pinball mechanics; Omar designed 'rabbit hole' funnel ramp as thematic element; Ray Hensel's non-pinball background cited as reason for uniqueness
- **[community_signal]** Large collaborative ecosystem including kit provider (Ernie Silverberg), hardware partners (FAST/Aaron), fabricators (Ramps Manufacturing/Bob Nice), fellow community members (Nick Nitel, Jesse Bowden), and external skill contributors (artist, musician). Model demonstrates homebrew viability through distributed expertise rather than single-person projects. (confidence: high) — Extensive credits to 15+ named contributors; Cayman emphasized 'surround yourself with smart people' ethos; Omar's entry as non-pinball outsider who learned on-the-job validates accessibility
- **[design_philosophy]** Team's strategy of debuting unfinished whitewood at TPF 2025 to gather real-world player feedback led to significant playfield refinements (pop bumper repositioning, piece relocation). Playfield photos show evidence of modifications based on that feedback. (confidence: high) — Cayman: 'I mean you can see the holes in our playfield from where we moved the pop bumpers after TPF last year... that really helped us finalize our playfield and feel confident'
- **[product_launch]** Pinball in Wonderland progress: (1) Initial design phase with theme/mechanics brainstorming (2) Six-month VPX modeling phase (3) Kit acquisition from Ernie Silverberg (4) TPF 2025 whitewood debut and feedback loop (5) New playfield cut and delivery to TPF 2026 (current state). Remaining: cabinet replacement, code iteration, music/sound design. Target: Chicago Expo October 2026. (confidence: high) — Timeline explicitly stated by Cayman: two-year project, six months VPX, TPF 2025 debut, playfield cut recently, Chicago Expo October target
- **[technology_signal]** Homebrew team using FAST boards (electronics), MPF (game logic firmware), GDAU (audio/visual), and VPX (design simulation). This stack represents accessible, modular toolchain for non-manufacturer homebrew builds; Ernie Silverberg's Discord community serves as knowledge base for similar projects. (confidence: high) — Cayman listed FAST, MPF, GDAU as the hardware/software platform; credit to Ernie's Discord and Aaron from FAST for support
- **[licensing_signal]** Alice in Wonderland public domain status directly influenced theme choice. Cayman noted coincidental timing: 'it had just come into the public domain, which is, I think, why two other manufacturers did the same thing.' Suggests multiple manufacturers capitalizing on same IP availability window. (confidence: high) — Cayman: 'Alice in Wonderland because it had just come into the public domain, which is, I think, why two other manufacturers did the same thing'
- **[personnel_signal]** Team actively recruited non-pinball experts (Ray Hensel the artist, music/sound contributor, Omar with 3D printing background) into homebrew roles. Strategy reflects intentional effort to diversify skill sets and avoid insularity in design process. (confidence: high) — Cayman: 'she was able to just kind of come up with ideas on her own without being constrained by so much experience in pinball'; Omar entered as 'casual player' and non-expert; musician friend recruited for sound
- **[operational_signal]** Original Street Fighter 2 cabinet proved costly to adapt and repurpose; team learned that cost-cutting in one area (cabinet source) generated unexpected expenses elsewhere (customization/integration labor). Team pivoting to sourcing purpose-built pinball cabinet for next phase. (confidence: high) — Cayman: 'this was a Street Fighter 2 cabinet, which you know, in the end has cost us a lot of time and money trying to figure out how to work with this cabinet... we're going to probably get a new cabinet'
- **[community_signal]** Texas Pinball Festival and Pin DevCon serve as critical infrastructure for homebrew showcase and feedback loops. Marco Pinball organization provides event structure (homebrew showcase areas), community loot crates with components, and platform for emerging builders to present work. (confidence: high) — Video frames TPF 2026 Pin DevCon homebrew showcase; Marco Pinball mentioned as organizer; loot crate referenced as component source
- **[rumor_hype]** Cayman briefly mentions that 'two other manufacturers' are also developing Alice in Wonderland machines, likely capitalizing on recent public domain status. No names given, but signal suggests competitive convergence on same IP theme. (confidence: medium) — Cayman: 'it had just come into the public domain, which is, I think, why two other manufacturers did the same thing'

---

## Transcript

All right, there's your camera. Welcome everybody. Homebrew area Marco Pinball Pin DevCon 2026. Oh, and who is this? Omar. He's a part of our design team. All right, so uh intro introduce yourselves. Hi, I'm Cayman Kai. I'm the lead designer on uh this project. I'm also uh one of the founders of the Austin Pinball Collective. Um and I helped to design the museum. Um we started this project two years ago and we brought Omar on just recently within the past what year I think. Yeah, I think it's been a year now. So, where's the camera? Hi, camera. Turn around or remove it. Hi, my name's Omar. Thank you. My name is Omar and uh like I said before, I think I'm the rapid prototype uh department. The rapid prototype. Yeah, the rapid prototype. Oh, rapid. I think you said rabbit. Yes. Yeah. So, like anything that we need to come up with on the spot, that's just kind of my thing. Okay. So, like if we need to get a fixture going or if we need to get a ramp going, if we need to hold something here, hold something there, I'll go in and like I'll make something in CAD and then I'll 3D print it. Okay. So, let's get to the origin. Let's obviously you're a fan of Alice in Wonderland. I always have been. I had an Alice in Wonderland costume when I was like 2 years old. Okay. So, was this always a dream of yours to kind of make an Alice in Wonderland themed, um, pinball machine or no? Well, honestly, um, about two years ago, you know, I mentioned to someone that I was interested in designing a homebrew pinball machine. I saw a whitewood at TPF and I got inspired. Um, and one of my fellow community members, he also said he wanted to create one. So, I told some of my friends I was thinking about it. And my friend Andrew, who is still on the project with us, he's not here today. Today's his birthday. Happy birthday, Andrew. Um, but he said, "Hey, I'd love to join." And he does coding. So, um, you know, we had a couple different people. We had Ray Ford, who was originally on our project. He helped design a lot of the layout and shots because he's a great pinball player. Um, and I'll be honest, I wanted to design a Taylor Swift pinball machine. Who who does it? But the boys weren't into it. So, um, we thought of Alice in Wonderland because it had just come into the public domain, which is, I think, why two other manufacturers did the same thing. Um, but that was one we could all agree on and there was a lot of fun ideas and themes we could come up with. So, that's that's what we went with. Okay. And where did Omar, where did you come in on the project here? So I think I think the reason why I decided to hop on on this project was because I needed something to problem solve, you know? So I'm I am really big on problem solving and this was just a good opportunity for me. I like I like I told Cayman, I am a casual player. Like this isn't really my my environment, but like I'm starting to thrive in it. And like the more I'm immersed in it, the more I'm like I want to start my own project. I have all these great ideas and then I'll start pitching in. I was like, "Okay, what if we do this?" You know, like for example, the left ramp that you see there, that one was all me. So, in in my head, I'm thinking, "Okay, what's Alice in Wonderland theme, right?" So, and I started that is wicked actually. Yeah. I started I started thinking about the rabbit hole. It's like, "Okay, down the rabbit hole." So, let's just let's make like a little funnel. And to me to me that kind of fits the theme of this project, you know. Who was the lead designer on this? That's me. I started this. Okay. And how when you got started because we this is the uh there going to be other homebrew people kind of watching this. So we like to go through the process and talk about where were you when you first con like conceived this idea and how did you get started? Sure. So you know the first meeting we had we had you know five people at first that were interested and just showed up to this meeting that I arranged at my house. I baked cookies made food and cookies for people. They'll come to your meetings. I've learned that one at work too. Um, so you know, we that's when we chose the theme, something we all agreed on. And then what we did is on one uh we got we got a big whiteboard and on one side we wrote down different themes and aspects of Alice in Wonderland like the Cheshire cat, the Queen of Hearts, you know, the cards, Alice, all these different things. And on the other side we wrote down all of these different aspects of pinball. So um you know, like kickout holes or ramps or drop targets and then we started kind of connecting ideas from, you know, Alice to what could it be in pinball? Um, and then from there we started getting acclimated to VPX, virtual pinball studio. Okay. Um, we modeled it in there. That took a while. That probably took the longest. Took us about six months because we didn't really know what we're doing. And we were having a good time. You know, we meet once a week. We drink, hang out, and, you know, design a pinball machine together. Um, nobody's getting paid here, you know. We're just having a good time. Now, can I ask you just We'll stop right there for a second. Yeah. Did you feel like it was worth it to do it in VPX as opposed to maybe just napkin drawing out things or did what what were the what were the benefits and the and the advantages and disadvantages of doing it that way? Oh yeah. I mean honestly I I still don't think I could imagine it any other way. Um because you can you can put things in place and then you can shot test it really quick. I remember in the talk somebody was talking about how they just got a piece of plywood and started putting stuff on it. That terrifies me. Some people we all have different processes though. Yeah, they're all different problems. Okay. So, after um getting it flipping, you said it took about 6 months to kind of get it flipping. And was it like designed in like art or was it just we just want to get physics and just want to get the table laid out? Oh, just the physics, just the table. I mean, I tried my hand at art for the first run and it was absolutely ugly. So, um but it at least kind of gave the artists an idea of where we wanted to go with it. Kind of mapped it out. Um, so after after we had a pretty good design in VPX, we felt good about, um, then we talked with Ernie and we got one of Ernie's kits. Um, and he has been instrumental in helping us get this off the ground. Ernie Silverberg. Oh, yes. Ernie. Ernie Silverberg. Yep. And where were you in this process? Were you uh on board with this so far? Yeah. I So the meetings. In the meetings. Yeah. So like whenever I hopped on, at first I was very overwhelmed because Oh. Oh, come on. This is It's just pinball. It's a lot. I mean, and you can even talk to Cayman now, like uh the wiring and the coding, that's still all Andrew. So, like, shout out to Andrew. He did a great job in getting our game up and running and then especially getting the scoring cuz the scoring is new. This is the first time we're showcasing it. However, uh I to me this was a good challenge to take on. I felt like I felt like this was a good opportunity for me to like hone my skill set because I was really big into 3D printing when I first started. So I said I need an excuse to use these 3D printers, you know. So essentially that's that's that's when I was on board. I was like, I love this. Let's do it. Even though even I I'm telling you this now. Even though there have been times where you would tell me, "We need to make a rail or we need to make the scaffold or we need to make these covers for the drop targets." I just faked it till I made it. I was like, "Yeah, I can do it. Absolutely." Oh, dude. And then it worked out, you know, cuz I practiced, practiced, practiced, and then this is the product that we brought. All right, I'm going to get back to you guys in a second, but I want to ask Erica, how did you manage to get the ball shot like that? That's amazing. You know, now you Oh, I thought you were going to die. You were You were literally going to die. I was going to die. Uh, no. That was fun. I've been shot on the right is really hard to make, but I've been I did it once and I felt really proud. It feels good when you Oh, she Sorry, I distracted you. Played like three games. I'm not very good at pinball. All right. So, um, what uh what pinball like um hardware and software are you using to enable your game? Yeah. So, we're using FAST boards. Uh we're using MPF and GDAU. Okay. Um yeah, that was, you know, being in Ernie Silverberg's group, his Discord, you know, we kind of saw what some other people did. That was really helpful. Last year, we brought the game to TPF. That was our goal. We started it two years ago, right after TPF with the goal of having something to bring the following year. So, that was last year. We got it flipping for the first time ever for two minutes before the show floor opened, which was terrifying. Um, and you know, we were the only Whitewood last year and all the other homebrews were beautiful and polished. So, it felt like being naked, you know, next to a bunch of people dressed in suits. But I'm really glad that we did because we saw how it's it's amazing to see other people play it and they they do things that you wouldn't have expected, you know, cuz you design it a certain way, you think it should go this way, you see people do something different. So that's why I mean you can see the holes in our playfield from where we moved the pop bumpers after TPF last year uh where we moved some of the other pieces around and that really helped us to finalize our playfield and feel confident. Um and really shout out to Omar cuz he did all the measurements to get it into the file to get it cut and I would not have trusted myself with that. Measure twice, cut once. That's right. Measure five times. Yeah, he measured like five times. Is this whitewood? So is this like your your beater whitewood? Will you be replacing it with another after you're like really happy with how it's going or Oh, whoa. Okay. Um, we don't have a camera on this, but they actually have an amazing Holy smokes. An amazing topper. Yeah. Let if Cayman can Yeah, that'd be cool if we can give her plenty of space. She's going to lay the the actual Oh, this is gorgeous. Wow. Oh, that is beautiful. So, who who worked on this? Uh, so our artist is one of my best friends in Tallahassee, Ray Hensel. Uh, she did such an amazing job and she's not really a pinball person, but of course I dragged her into this, too. Um, and I think that's why it's it's so unique, right, is she was able to just kind of come up with ideas on her own without, you know, being constrained by, you know, so much experience in pinball and doing things the way that other people do. So, it's super unique. I think it's a She did such amazing job and we love it. This is beautiful. Wow. So So what's the next steps for you guys to um I mean obviously get the playfield lowered and all that stuff, but um where are we in the project? Like what percentage are we in the project? Um so we just got this playfield cut. We picked it up from Bob Nice uh from Ramps Manufacturing. He made it for us. He cut it for us and brought it here. And he did I think he did a really great job of doing justice to her amazing artwork. So, next up is we're going to uh take all of the pieces off and put it on the new playfield. We're thinking about getting a new cabinet. Um, this was a Street Fighter 2 cabinet, which you know, in the end has cost us a lot of time and money trying to figure out how to work with this cabinet. Uh, but that's the thing, you try things, you know, and you learn. Maybe I, you know, try to skimp in one place, you it cost you elsewhere. So, um, yeah, we're going to probably get a new cabinet. The code has a long way to go. That's the biggest thing. But now I think that we've got work on the code. You can iterate on the code. Exactly. I think now that we've got the really the hard pieces done here for the most part, you know, doing the code. One of our f one of our friends who's also not in pinball, but we're dragging in is interested in doing the music and sound for us. Um so we're hoping to have it mostly finalized by Chicago Expo in October. Yeah. Um Omar, you came in on this without knowing much about pinball. How much do you know about pinball now? I know more terminology than I did when I first started. So, I mean, I I honestly I could tell you maybe I couldn't quite tell you how to put one together, but I can tell you, "Oh, that's a pop bumper. Oh, that's a drop target." Let me rephrase it. Um Um What did you learn about pinball? Obviously, Cayman's a player, but what did you learn about pinball that you didn't know going in that you know now? You go, "Oh, that was like a a moment where you're like, "Oh, yeah." uh you need to be multifaceted. Yes, 100%. You need to know uh electronics, you need to know uh mechanical aspects of the game, you need to know design, you need to understand the storyline that you want to put in the game in order for the game to work. So all of that, you know, even even now, like I think that that it's it's it's just I I'm I'm very impressed at myself that we were able to put this together, you know, it's just uh yeah, like I said, I'm still learning. It's definitely a um it's definitely an ongoing thing. So I'm I'm just going to continue learning and I'm going to try to be one of the best in terms of the homebrew community. So nice. came in, let's give a quick shout out to the people who were helping work on this because obviously you don't need to we want to let homebrew people know that you don't need to do it in a vacuum in in your room by yourself. You don't need to learn all the facets. You obviously leverage some people, you know, some smart people. You know, the saying is you don't have to be smart, just surround yourself with smart people. Um, so let's give a shout out to who people you want to give a shout out to work on this game. Yeah, absolutely. So, our lead uh coder and he did all the wiring, Andrew Duncan. He's not here. He was here last year. Uh could not do this project without him. It's his birthday. Shout out again. Happy birthday, Andrew. We love you. Uh Ray Ford was originally a part of this project as well. Um and then my boyfriend Joel Miner helped us to rewire the playfield. Thank God. Uh Omar came onto this project. Oh, there he is right there. Um, and then you know along the way too, you know, our artist Ray Hensel who stepped in and did this amazing art. Bob Nice who helped us to cut this playfield. And then along the way, you know, in the Discord, we've met Ernie, you know, Aaron from FAST has been a huge help. Uh, Marco, we got one of their homebrew loot crates and I think that's how one of our ramps came about actually. Um, you know, and then everybody in the Discord that's answered our questions and has been so friendly. Uh, you know, everybody here, the homebrew community, Nick Nitel, you know, he came over and was helping me earlier. So, um, Jesse Bowden from the APC actually just helped me fix a pop bumper. So, you know, so many people step in and help. I'm sure I left somebody out. Anybody else you can think of that we need to thank? I think you got everybody hopefully. But, yeah, really grateful. It's really cool to see people believe in you, you know, when like some honestly there's many times I didn't believe in myself or or you know that it wasn't going to happen or you know it wasn't going to be fixed in time or we weren't going to get it together. But you know when other people believe in you like even when you don't believe in yourself it's amazing what you can do and here it is. Omar Haymon, thank you so much for letting us uh stream and show off this beautiful This is Pinball in Wonderland. I'm here. Hi. This is Pinball in Wonderland. Thank you guys so much. Thank you. Have a great show.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v4)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: de9e7926-43ac-4d30-8940-c441587c80ca*