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Pokemon Pinball Explanation | Stern Pinball Media Day

Fox Cities Pinball·video·14m 21s·analyzed·Feb 13, 2026
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Stern's Pokémon Pinball emphasizes accessible design with competitive depth, four biomes, and future content roadmap.

Summary

Jack Danger and Tanyo present Pokémon Pinball at a Stern media day, detailing the game's design philosophy of accessibility for casual players combined with depth for competitive play. The game features four biomes (forest, lake, mountains, desert), team-based Pokémon selection, discovery/catch/train/battle mechanics, and multiple multiball modes including Team Rocket sequences. Story modes, combo systems, and future content (tier 2 modes, additional multiballs, Pokémon Arena wizard mode) are discussed, with emphasis on teaching both pinball and Pokémon mechanics to new players.

Key Claims

  • Pokémon Pinball features 180+ Pokémon characters

    high confidence · Stated in knowledge base context; this media day presentation focuses on specific mechanics and doesn't recount total character count

  • The game uses a simplified Pokémon combat system based on type advantages/weaknesses from pokemon.com Pokédex stats

    high confidence · Tanyo explicitly states they follow type matchup stats from pokemon.com and implement type advantage via light show speed

  • Custom Pokémon sculptures (Pikachu, Meowth, Poké Ball) were sent to Japan for toy approval and are not off-the-shelf

    high confidence · Jack Danger: 'these were custom sculpted by us... these they had to go to Japan, toy approval, the whole thing... It's not off the shelf toys'

  • Armor art is currently decals but will be printed on in final production

    high confidence · Jack Danger: 'Right now, they're decals, but don't worry, they're going to be printed on, very high quality, uh, full color'

  • The Pro model uses a post target for Poké Ball catching instead of a physical lock/trapdoor

    high confidence · Jack Danger describes Pro differences: 'on the pro there's a target there... the catching is done on the post... the ball doesn't actually register' the physical mechanism

  • Future content includes tier 2 story modes (Pikachu vs Lucario, Charizard), two additional Team Rocket multiballs plus wizard mode, and Pokémon Arena endgame

    high confidence · Tanyo: 'coming in the future we'll have second waves, tier two of the story modes... We're going to have two more [Team Rocket multiballs] plus a wizard mode... that leads to the Pokémon Arena'

  • The game is designed with 'ease of play up front, complexity on the back end' philosophy similar to Medieval Madness/Attack from Mars

    high confidence · Jack Danger: 'Tanyo and his team have offered... ease of play up front, complexity on the back end... leaning on like what's the easiest rule set... shoot that shot a couple of times and something will happen, but we can add a lot of complexity'

Notable Quotes

  • “Pokémon is something that appeals to like every age demo. Like it's bonkers how many people are into Pokémon. So, for this game to make sense to what we anticipate is going to be a much larger audience than just pinball fanatics, this game had to be approachable.”

    Jack Danger @ early — Articulates the core design philosophy: accessibility for mainstream appeal, not just pinball enthusiasts

  • “you're the trainer in this. This isn't necessarily Ash's journey, although we are using like clips from that show.”

    Jack Danger @ mid — Clarifies narrative framing—player agency as trainer, using licensed show material

  • “these were custom sculpted by us... they had to go to Japan, toy approval, the whole thing. So, all of the stuff was generated by us. It's not off the shelf toys. It's not from them. It was recreated it.”

    Jack Danger @ mid — Emphasizes custom development and IP approval rigor for collectible toys

  • “we need this game to be as understandable and approachable to new and young players as well as advanced players. So, everything we can do to make sure you know what you're doing, we're trying to do that in this game.”

    Tanyo @ late — Reiterates educational design goal; voice guidance and light communication as accessibility tools

  • “There's been a lot of thought put into, you know, the depth of this game and the breadth and the other stuff like that.”

    Jack Danger @ late — Signals competitive depth alongside casual appeal; team includes strong tournament players

  • “Shiny Pokémon? The future. Maybe. The future could maybe bright. Maybe shiny.”

    Jack Danger @ end — Hints at unannounced future content feature (shiny Pokémon variants)

Entities

Jack DangerpersonGeorge GomezpersonTanyopersonJoshua HendersonpersonAndrewpersonStern PinballcompanyPokémon PinballgameMedieval MadnessgameAttack from Marsgame

Signals

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Pokémon Pinball prioritizes 'ease of play up front, complexity on the back end' to appeal to casual/young players while maintaining competitive depth; explicitly compares to Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars model

    high · Jack Danger: 'Tanyo and his team have offered... ease of play up front, complexity on the back end' and 'We're also very focused on making it fun for everybody and fun for competition'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Game uses four geographically-themed biomes (forest, lake, mountains, desert) with area-specific Pokémon, objectives (discover/catch/train/battle), and rival battles that teach type matchups

    high · Tanyo: 'The world is mapped out... forest, lake, mountains, desert. Each area has different sets of Pokémon... each biome will have specific Pokémon that live in that biome'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Two-layer combo system: standard shot combos award Poké Balls toward mini wizard mode; eight EV evolution secret combos that add evolved Pokémon to team

    high · Tanyo: 'there's eight EV evolutions... each one has a secret combo. And if you complete certain number of those, you'll get to add EV to your team'

  • ?

    product_concern: Armor art currently decals instead of printed; Jack acknowledges approval delays but confirms high-quality printing will be applied in final production

    high · Jack Danger: 'Right now, they're decals, but don't worry, they're going to be printed on, very high quality, uh, full color... we just didn't get approval in time'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Interactive Meowth sculpt (Team Rocket antagonist) is custom-designed with custom bumps and hang-ups to prevent exploitative ball control while still being hittable; sent to Japan for toy approval

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:02
everybody. I'm Jack Danger, one of the co-designers on the Pokémon pinball here. Again, really awesome license that is near and dear to my heart. I had a great opportunity to start this project off and hand it off to some very very talented other folks that work here. Obviously, George Gomez is amazing. Andrew and Tanyo and Josh Henderson and like there's an incredible engineering team behind this. But we'll get right into this. So, oh, there he is.
0:31
So, as George was talking about earlier, you know, Pokémon is something that appeals to like every age demo. Like it's it's bonkers how many people are into Pokémon. So, for this game to make sense to what we anticipate is going to be a much larger audience than just pinball fanatics, this game had to be approachable. So, something that is like, you know, the the big fun recognizable toys. Obviously, we got a giant Pikachu, giant Meowth, giant Poké Ball, very recognizable from across the room. These shots are very comfortable, but again, what Tanyo and his team have offered is um ease of play up front, complexity on the back end. We did a lot of leaning on like what's the easiest rule set you can think of to like relate to somebody. That is sort of like the Medieval Madness Attack from Mars like shoot that shot a couple of times and something will happen, but we can add a lot of complexity to that. So, like translating that to someone that doesn't know how to play pinball becomes very easy. But yeah, I'll let Tanyo talk a little bit about the software if you'd like to, sir. Sure. So, in Pokémon pinball, you are the trainer, so it's your story as a as a Pokémon trainer exploring the world. And we have the world is mapped out There's a map down here. We have the forest >> come a little closer if you guys want
1:53
come a little closer if you guys want

  • There is potential for players to spawn and choose Pokémon in future updates

    medium confidence · Jack Danger: 'is there a way to like choose when to spawn Pokémon... We've got a lot of control over where and when... There's a lot of opportunity we have to really make it a thing'

    • Team Rocket
    organization
    Pokédexproduct
    Walking Deadgame
    Godzillagame
    Squirtle Squadproduct
    Pokémon Arenaproduct
    Spike 3product

    high · Jack Danger: 'a giant recognizable Pokémon, but it's like a interactive sculpt... little bumps and hang-ups in there so that you can't just sit there and spin the ball'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Game features mini wizard modes (Pikachu vs Charizard tier 1; tier 2 includes Pikachu vs Lucario variant), regional battles in four biomes, and Pokémon Arena endgame tournament after completing all biome rivals

    high · Tanyo: 'first mini wizard mode is Pikachu versus Charizard... coming in the future we'll have second waves, tier two of the story modes... leads to the Pokémon Arena'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Pro, Premium, and LE models differentiate on toys and mechanisms: Premium/LE have Squirtle ball and Poké Ball trapdoor; Pro uses post target instead of trapdoor; LE is EV-themed, Premium is Pikachu-themed

    high · Jack Danger: 'the Poké Ball speaker light display... on the premium NLE... on the pro, it acts like a lock, but it doesn't actually physically hold the ball' and discusses ownership badge theming

  • ?

    content_signal: Game incorporates scenes and content from Pokémon animated series; Tanyo 'fought' to include Squirtle Squad as story mode content

    high · Jack Danger: 'we have a lot of scenes from the show... Tony did fight to get the Squirtle Squad in there' and 'we are using like clips from that show'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Battle system simplifies Pokémon combat using type matchups from pokemon.com Pokédex; light show speed increases with type advantage; future enhancements planned for visual/audio feedback on advantage/disadvantage states

    high · Tanyo: 'We're pretty much following all the stats... Each Pokémon has a type... strengths against other Pokémon... we also will flash the lights faster if you have a type advantage'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Jack Danger hints at unannounced shiny Pokémon feature: 'The future. Maybe... The future could maybe bright. Maybe shiny.'

    low · Q: 'Shiny Pokémon?' Jack: 'The future. Maybe. The future could maybe bright... Maybe shiny.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Game teaches both pinball and Pokémon mechanics to new players; Pokédex voice guidance navigates both casual and advanced players; designed for players unfamiliar with either franchise

    high · Jack Danger: 'if you don't know a lot about pinball, you'll learn it by playing this game. And if you don't know a lot about Pokémon, you'll also' and Tanyo: 'the Pokédex... she will help also navigate you'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Confirms multiple post-launch content additions: tier 2 story modes, additional Team Rocket multiballs (2 more) plus Team Rocket wizard mode, and potential player control over Pokémon spawning

    high · Tanyo: 'coming in the future we'll have second waves, tier two... We're going to have two more [Team Rocket multiballs] plus a wizard mode' and Jack: 'is there a way to like choose when to spawn Pokémon... We've got a lot of control'

    • 1:53
    come a little closer if you guys want to. Yeah. the lake area, the mountains, and the desert. And each area of those areas has different sets of Pokémon that will you'll explore and discover. Um So, there's there's sort of Yeah, they're they're Like Jack was saying, there there's a rule structure. Um you start out with a team that you have Bulbasaur, who's on the on the outside, then Squirtle, Pikachu, and Charmander. They're your team. And um and then you uh you can both start modes for them. They're kind of narrative story modes that build your your bond with them. Um so, say if you shoot the the Squirtle left ramp uh two times, it lights it, and then you shoot it one more time and it starts the Squirtle Squad mode. Um each mode Each one of those shots has modes like that. Um and then the Pikachu ramp is a It starts with a two-ball multiball. Um and then there's a Team Rocket section in the middle. Team Rocket is the the big bad organization who's uh the the big the the boss is Giovanni, and then Meowth is is one of his primary, like, his his emissary into the world where he's trying to steal your Pokémon. And so, this Meowth mode will come down after you you spell battle up here, and he comes down, and then you have to beat him, and you you do a Team Rocket multiball, which the story is that Meowth steals Pikachu, and you have to get him back. Um So, in addition to In addition to that that sort of rule set, there's also just exploring as you hit pop bumpers and switches and and you hit the the Pokédex, which is this captive ball here. Um it'll advance towards uh discovering a Pokémon. And so, that's the first step in the in the biome you're trying to discover, catch, train, and battle. Uh so, discover the a Pokémon will spawn, and then what you want to do uh is is hit the captive ball again to scan them, and you'll you'll get you'll scan Pokémon, they'll tell you who the Pokémon is. And then you start a catch sequence. And the catch sequence is you're chasing around purple shots around the playfield. And then once you hit enough of those shots, the first one is just one, um the Poké Ball is lit, and then you have a certain amount of time to hit the Poké Ball to catch the Pokémon. And if you do that, they get added to your collection. Heck yeah. Poké Ball is lock on the on the premium NLE. On um on the pro, it acts like a lock, but it doesn't actually physically hold the ball. Yeah, so that yeah, the ball actually when this is lit, you shoot in there, the ball disappears. Like there's there's a trapdoor under there, and it's sort of magical trick. The ball ball disappears, and you've caught the Pokémon, and then it'll pop up out of here. There's a sort of this hidden the secret uh sneak in sneak out. There's all the stuff under here where it will pop out. Um on the on the pro it it uh there's there's a target there, and so that's it's done with a and the catching is done on the post. So, you can still get that sort of like sneaking thing that we have here, but we've added a target here to like still register that, but the ball doesn't actually register >> Hard to get. You know, you're going to
    4:32
    Hard to get. You know, you're going to
    4:32
    Hard to get. You know, you're going to have to do get it off of the lance or something. >> Yeah. But like yeah, like Tony was
    4:36
    Yeah. But like yeah, like Tony was
    4:36
    Yeah. But like yeah, like Tony was saying like this you're the you're the trainer in this. This isn't necessarily Ash's journey, although we are using like clips from that show. So, obviously um this a pinball machine does need a big bad like you mentioned, and what better than Team Rocket. And like this was such a great opportunity for like a giant recognizable Meowth, a giant recognizable Pokémon, but it's like a an interactive sculpt, which you know, that's sort of you dream about a sculpt you can actually beat the crap out of in a pinball machine that'll hold up. These were These were custom, you know, these were custom sculpted by us. So, these they had to go to Japan, toy approval, the whole thing. So, all all of the stuff was generated by us. It's not off the shelf toys. It's not from them. It was recreated it. Heck yeah. Uh and yeah, you can see uh the pro and premium differences here. Actually, this is the LE, so it doesn't have the squirtle ball. And you know, we've got like uh little bumps and hang-ups in there so that you can't just sit there and spin the ball for an hour and a half to get all your points. Um it does divert down into the inlane, so again, you're not in here all the time. Couple of couple [clears throat] of things, notice the uh the Poké Ball speaker light display. >> Oh, here we go. Um, so they're going to
    5:48
    Oh, here we go. Um, so they're going to
    5:49
    Oh, here we go. Um, so they're going to do more than that, but um, but that's um, you know, that's uh, uh, one of the default modes. Um, and also, uh, when you're playing, when you notice on the on these LEDs, um, the um, the images on the side of the armor, on the real armor, they're going to be printed on, just like we've done in the past with art on armors. Right now, they're they're decals everything there. Yeah. Uh, we just didn't get the we just didn't get approval in time to get the um, uh, so they're decals, but don't worry, they're going to be they're going to be printed on, very high quality, uh, full color, um, and there's um, I think the, you know, the LE is very EV themed and in in deco. Um, and um, you know, the the the the premium is is uh, a Pika and the and [snorts] and the and we've, you know, when you get your badges, your ownership badges, um, the the ownership badges are themed that way. Okay. Tanya, can you touch on the combo system you put on this? Certainly. Thank you. Yeah. So, we have a combo system so Before you talk about the combo system, you got to notice that there are a lot of combo shots. Yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of flow in this game. Uh, but yeah, you'll see that uh, on each shot there's a a combo uh, a combo light that's the Poké Ball combo. And so, as you chase the combos around, you can collect them at the uh, the Pokédex captive ball, um, with the combo collecting that that will you every time you make a shot, a combo shot, you get Poké Balls, but you'll get a a big batch of them, which kind of towards your bonus and will eventually lead to a to a like a mini wizard mode. Um, and then there's a second combo system, since this game combos so well, there's there's eight EV evolutions, um, that uh, each one has a secret combo. And if you complete certain number of those, you'll get to uh, add EV to your to your team. Heck yeah. And like um down here when he was talking about the map when Tony was talking about the map here, there's um multiple objectives in each biome. So, we have the four biomes here. Um and then on the right here you can see the four objectives like discovering a Pokémon, catching a Pokémon, training a Pokémon, and doing a battle. And like sort of uh I I guess a a good similarity like uh Godzilla's like you're in that area, you're doing those objectives, then you can like complete what you need to, move on to the next biome. And every biome will have specific Pokémon that live in that biome. Obviously, you won't have like a bunch of water Pokémon in the desert. Um but there's a great opportunity there to like spread out the Pokémon we have to share. But also for the future, this was a question yesterday, is um you know, is there a way to like choose when to spawn Pokémon and stuff? We've got a lot of control over where and when, both physically and time and There's a lot of opportunity we have to uh really make it a thing that you could probably go out in the world and chase. And uh we'll we'll talk more about that uh when we can talk more about that. >> In the future.
    8:52
    In the future.
    8:52
    In the future. >> future, yeah, right. Heck yeah.
    8:54
    future, yeah, right. Heck yeah.
    8:54
    future, yeah, right. Heck yeah. Yeah, um let's talk about battle a little bit, too. That's the big thing that each region each one of these regions has a a battle that you're leading up to. Um so, the first one you're going to start in the forest area, so you'll go again in the forest battle against the forest rival. And the forest rival is a is sort of a bug expert, and uh and um you want to talk more about it? Yeah, so we start off [clears throat] in the forest with the grass and the bug guy, but you start with Bulbasaur as your first Pokémon, who's grass and poison. So, you might get some advantages, but if you can shoot a couple shots, the scoop on the right will actually light up to let you switch Pokémon. So, you can switch to Squirtle, switch to Pikachu, or you can switch to Charmander. And you can light up the forest and just tear through that boss real quick. Then you move on to the lake, and of course then you're going to want a Pikachu to knock out a bunch of water types. And each little section you'll you'll learn what Pokémon pairs up well against each different rival that you fight in each different biome. Right. So, if you don't know a lot about pinball, you'll learn it by playing this game. And if you don't know a lot about Pokémon, you'll also >> [laughter]
    9:57
    [laughter]
    9:57
    [laughter] >> Yeah, we we the rule set is a Pokémon
    9:59
    Yeah, we we the rule set is a Pokémon
    9:59
    Yeah, we we the rule set is a Pokémon rule set for for all the battle sequences and stuff. Um but it's pretty much like a a light rule set. Yeah. pokemon.com they have a pokedex. We're pretty much following all the stats of like the the types. Each each Pokémon has a type. They might be of one or two types, which gives them uh strengths against other Pokémon. Also, they'll show what their weaknesses are. Yeah. Yeah, it's a simplified combat system compared to like the games that you've played if you have played those. Um but we also will flash the lights faster if you have a type advantage. Um and we're working on other ways to communicate via light show and the LCD screen, you know, when you're at risk, whenever they have an advantage over you, or when you have an advantage over them. So, be more to come in that department as well. >> Yeah. And uh the voice for the pokedex,
    10:42
    Yeah. And uh the voice for the pokedex,
    10:42
    Yeah. And uh the voice for the pokedex, um she will help also navigate you or tell you what you need to do as you're playing cuz like again, we need this game to be um as understandable and approachable to new and young players as well as advanced players. So, uh everything we can do to make sure you know what you're doing, we're trying to do that in this game. Yeah. Yeah. And we Yeah, and be beyond >> like being a beginner friendly and
    11:06
    like being a beginner friendly and
    11:06
    like being a beginner friendly and teaching people, we're also very focused on making it fun for everybody and and fun for competition. We have we have some really top uh some really good uh [laughter] tournament players >> tournament players on our team. Uh Josh
    11:18
    tournament players on our team. Uh Josh
    11:18
    tournament players on our team. Uh Josh Henderson and Andrew are both [snorts] really good. I'm I'm I'm average. But um there's been a lot of thought put into, you know, the depth of this game and the the breadth and the the uh other stuff like that. Yeah. Um you want to talk about anything? You talked about the story modes yet? Uh Um >> [laughter]
    11:36
    [laughter]
    11:36
    [laughter] >> We talked about them a little bit. Um
    11:38
    We talked about them a little bit. Um
    11:38
    We talked about them a little bit. Um Uh, one one thing you'll see is each each of the three uh Pikachu has a multi-ball. Uh, Squirtle has has a feature on on the premium LE, the Squirtle bowl. Uh, >> [snorts]
    11:49
    [snorts]
    11:49
    [snorts] >> Charmander is is the spinner. And then
    11:52
    Charmander is is the spinner. And then
    11:52
    Charmander is is the spinner. And then Bulbasaur is a big ramp back here. So, um each each one of those sort of features those things. Um Yeah, just hitting that shot uh three times will start the mode associated with the character. Uh, very basic. And of course you have your basic multi-ball up the middle with Team Rocket. The spelling battle will bring down the balloon and bash the balloon enough to get your multi-ball going. Okay. On top of that, Tony, we've got a lot of scenes from the show. This is based on that animated series. Tony Tony did fight to get the Squirtle Squad in there. So Yeah, you got the Squirtle Squad. Yeah, you got the Squirtle Squad. Yeah, and so we have um Yeah, we We've got each one of these shots has a has a mode. Uh, it leads up to a a mini wizard mode. Right now what we have is the first mini wizard mode is uh is Pikachu versus Charizard, which is a pretty epic battle. Um, coming in in coming in the future we'll have second waves, tier two of the story modes, and then tier two Lucario uh Charizard uh Pikachu versus Lucario. Um, we have uh We're going to have We have one uh Team Rocket multi-ball in right now. We're going to have two more plus a wizard mode in Team Rocket. And then uh there's a there's a mini wizard structure on the on the on battle. So, you'll do forest, rival battle, uh lake, mountain, desert, and then that leads to uh if you complete all those, you get to qualify for the Pokémon Arena, which is like a big tournament uh where you'll fight like kind of a bigger uh a bigger fight. Can you Can you touch on I I know like, you know, we're still working on that, but can you touch on the training part of like what is that doing for us right now? Right. So, you'll notice um it it'll uh as you're playing the game it it'll start cycling between the different colors of the Pokémon. So, green for Bulbasaur, blue for Squirtle, yellow, and orange. Um and it's So, if you hit the target, it'll lock in the color and then you complete it and you'll train that Pokémon. Um right now we're starting out with point awards. [snorts] Um it also has different effects that boost your different modes. So, maybe you can talk about them some. >> Yeah, like during the time to modes if
    13:52
    Yeah, like during the time to modes if
    13:52
    Yeah, like during the time to modes if you complete those targets, it'll add time a bit like time modes in Walking Dead. Um so, you can shoot for those targets. They'll pulse during it. Yeah. Um so, but we're we're going to be advancing that some more in the in future releases. >> Yes.
    14:05
    Yes.
    14:05
    Yes. Heck, yeah. Questions and then let's play pinball. >> Yeah, let's let you in on them.
    14:09
    Yeah, let's let you in on them.
    14:09
    Yeah, let's let you in on them. Shiny Pokémon? Uh shiny Pokémon is it?
    14:15
    The [laughter] future. Maybe. The future could maybe bright. The future maybe bright. Okay, maybe shiny.