personmerged64 mentionsFirst seen Mar 18, 2007Last seen Jan 8, 2026
Profile
Pat Lawler is a legendary pinball game designer with a 40+ year career spanning Williams, Jersey Jack Pinball, and Stern. He designed iconic games including The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, Whirlwind, Funhouse, Earthshaker, and numerous others, known for exceptional game feel and innovative design. After his tenure at Williams, he founded Pat Lawler Design consulting and has created contract games for Stern and Jersey Jack, including his final credited game Toy Story 4.
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Relationships
designedToy Story 4Pat Lawler designed Toy Story 4, marking his final credited design for Jersey Jackmedium
designedWilly WonkaPat Lawler designed Willy Wonka pinball gamemedium
works_atJersey Jack PinballGame designer and later head of game design at Jersey Jack Pinballmedium
works_atWilliamsLegendary designer at Williams who created multiple iconic gamesmedium
achievementDesigned Dialed In at Jersey Jack Pinballhighfrom 2013
achievementDesigned Toy Story 4 for Jersey Jack Pinballhigh
achievementDesigned Willy Wonkahighfrom 2019
achievementFounded Pat Lawler Design consulting companyhigh
achievementDesigned Whirlwindhighfrom 1990
achievementDesigned The Addams Familyhighfrom 1992
achievementDesigned Twilight Zone
Claims (28)
factualmedium
Pat Lawler forced removal of the Subway system and drop bank target from Guns N' Roses whitewood, which would have significantly improved the game's playability.
Pat Lawler established a design facility in Chicago rather than relocating to New Jersey where manufacturing occurred
Recent Mentions (0)
No mentions
Contradictions
Existing: Pat Lawler designed Banzai Run in 1988 and invented vertical playfield design (mention 12)vsConflicting: Multiple other mentions credit different designers with iconic games and describe Lawler's career without reference to Banzai Run or vertical playfield invention being his signature contribution
Unresolved
Existing: Pat Lawler designed Whirlwind (mentioned in contexts 0, 5, 22)vsConflicting: TOPCast 16 credits Banzai Run (1988) as his creation, but the timeline and context suggest this may be confused with another designer's work or misattributed
Resolved
kept_existing · Mar 2, 2026
Existing: Pat Lawler designed Whirlwind at Williams (mentioned in multiple contexts as a classic Williams game)vsConflicting: TOPCast 16 states Pat Lawler created Banzai Run (1988) and brought a prototype to Williams to secure employment, with mention of inventing vertical playfield design
Resolved
accepted_new · Mar 2, 2026
Related Glossary Terms
No linked glossary terms
Created contract games for Stern through Pat Lawler Design consulting