Exploring EMs: A Rundown of the Top 10 Electromechanical Games, According to IPDB Users

Kineticist·article·analyzed·Jul 23, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 (batch) · $0.012

TL;DR

IPDB's top 10 EM pinball games ranked, led by Student Prince and featuring hidden gems like Heat Wave and Centigrade 37.

Summary

This article ranks the top 10 electromechanical (EM) pinball games according to IPDB user ratings, with Student Prince (Williams, 1968) at #1 (8.02/10) and detailed breakdowns of design, artwork, and gameplay for each title. The rankings span from 1958 to 1977, highlighting classic games like Sittin' Pretty (the oldest, a woodrail game) and Centigrade 37 (praised for tournament play). The article emphasizes design innovation, thematic integration, and competitive viability across the EM era.

Key Claims

Student Prince (Williams, 1968) is ranked #1 on IPDB's EM Top 300 with a score of 8.02/10
high confidence · Direct statement in article's #1 ranking section
Sittin' Pretty (Gottlieb, 1958) is the oldest game on the EM Top 300 list and the only woodrail game included
high confidence · Stated in the Sittin' Pretty section
Centigrade 37 (Gottlieb, 1977) is often cited as one of the best EMs ever made for tournament play
high confidence · Centigrade 37 section description
Space Ship (Williams, 1961) has the highest Art score in the EM Top 300 at 9.6/10
high confidence · Stated in Sittin' Pretty section when comparing art ratings
OXO (Williams, 1973) sold over 7,000 copies, making it reasonably common today
high confidence · OXO section, final sentence
Student Prince has only 10 ratings on IPDB, the exact bare minimum needed to make the Top 300 list
high confidence · Student Prince section opening paragraph

Notable Quotes

“Heat Wave is a true hidden gem of mid-1960s pinball.”
Kineticist — Introduces Heat Wave as underrated and worthy of seeking out
“Centigrade 37 is a complete package in electromechanical pinball, putting plunging, nudging, shotmaking, and ball control to an ultimate test.”
Kineticist — Summarizes Centigrade 37's comprehensive design philosophy and competitive appeal
“Many EMs have a strong case for why they should be #1 on a list like this, but no matter which you may choose, Student Prince shouldn't be too far from the top.”
Kineticist — Acknowledges the subjective nature of EM rankings and Student Prince's exceptional standing
“Making any tic-tac-toe lights the side saucers for extra ball, a very enticing award that can be achieved again and again with skilled play.”
Kineticist — Highlights OXO's compelling game mechanic design

Entities

Student Princegame Heat Wavegame Sittin' Prettygame Centigrade 37game OXOgame Space Shipgame Pin-Up

Signals

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historical_signal: Article documents design innovations across EM era (1958-1977), tracking evolution from woodrail (Sittin' Pretty) through complex rule systems (Centigrade 37), highlighting key designers and artistic trends
high · Chronological ranking and detailed design analysis of games spanning 20 years of EM development
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gameplay_signal: Centigrade 37 explicitly praised as 'one of the best EMs ever made for tournament play' due to balanced skill requirements; OXO noted as superior tournament game compared to earlier tic-tac-toe attempts
high · Centigrade 37 section and OXO comparison to Egg Head and other historical attempts at tic-tac-toe mechanics
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design_innovation: Key mechanical innovations tracked: temperature advance (Heat Wave), roto-target (Sittin' Pretty), waterfall lane (Centigrade 37), zipper flipper (Student Prince), tic-tac-toe implementation (OXO)
high · Each game's section details novel mechanical or feature implementations
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gameplay_signal: Student Prince noted for balancing luck and skill with zipper flipper, though outlanes can be 'drain monsters'; Heat Wave has 'unconventional' flipper layout that 'never feels unfair'; Centigrade 37 tests 'plunging, nudging, shotmaking, and ball control'
high · Design commentary in each game's section addressing difficulty and fairness
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collector_signal: OXO noted as 'reasonably common to come across to this day' due to 7,000+ unit production; Sittin' Pretty and Student Prince implicitly rarer due to age or smaller production runs

Transcript

web_scrape · $0.000

King Pin’s add-a-ball variant Pin-Up is markedly lower on IPDB’s ratings lists, with a score of 7.57/10 only being good for tied 158th place on the EM Top 300. T-3rd: Heat Wave (Williams, 1964) - 7.84 / 10, 33 ratings Audio: 7.1 | Art: 8.3 | Playfield: 8.0 | Fun: 7.9 Designed by: Steve Kordek | Art by: Art Stenholm Heat Wave is a true hidden gem of mid-1960s pinball. The artwork is simple, but does a masterful job relaying the game’s theme. The flipper layout is unconventional, with the two flippers being far apart with a triangle-shaped wall between them, but never feels unfair or malicious. The temperature advance feature is a fantastic secondary goal, and trying to get the backbox thermometer up one more section can be addictive. The swinging targets and drop target work together to form an impressively high-skill environment for players looking to chase top scores. Don’t miss out on this one if you happen to be near a copy. T-3rd: Sittin’ Pretty (Gottlieb, 1958) - 7.84 / 10, 14 ratings Audio: 6.4 | Art: 9.1 | Playfield: 7.9 | Fun: 7.9 Designed by: Wayne Neyens | Art by: Roy Parker Sittin’ Pretty is the oldest game to make the list by a considerable margin, and accordingly, it’s the only woodrail game on the list, and the only one to use light-up scoring in the backbox instead of score reels. It’s also the highest-rated Wayne Neyens game, and one of the first Gottlieb titles to include the roto-target, which would be prevalent on many Gottlieb games for the next 25-plus years. Sittin’ Pretty appears so high on the list thanks to an astronomical 9.1 score in the Art category, which is the second highest Art score in the entire EM Top 300, trailing only the 9.6 seen on Space Ship (Williams, 1961). Be warned, though, that Sittin’ Pretty is, at its core, a carnival/circus themed game, and as such includes depictions of clowns that not everyone will enjoy. To its credit, Sittin’ Pretty does feel somewhat ahead of its time in gameplay, including multiple ways to advance through portions of the game progression and, somewhat uncommon for a 50s game, no gobble holes. T-3rd: Centigrade 37 (Gottlieb, 1977) - 7.84 / 10, 73 ratings Audio: 7.2 | Art: 8.3 | Playfield: 7.9 | Fun: 7.9 Designed by: Allen Edwall | Art by: Gordon Morison Centigrade 37 is often cited as one of the best EMs ever made for tournament play, and combines the best aspects of several other games from this list. The most well-known feature of Centigrade 37 is the “waterfall” lane structure on the right, a satisfying cascade that is always able to score 15,000 points in just one shot. Centigrade 37 also brings forward a similar secondary goal system as Heat Wave (interestingly, also in the form of a thermometer), the varied shot type and shot distance seen on other asymmetrical layouts like Jet Spin, and high difficulty/high reward skill shots from games like Joker Poker and Jacks Open. Centigrade 37 is a complete package in electromechanical pinball, putting plunging, nudging, shotmaking, and ball control to an ultimate test. 2nd: OXO (Williams, 1973) - 7.99 / 10, 31 ratings Audio: 6.7 | Art: 8.0 | Playfield: 8.2 | Fun: 8.5 Designed by: Norm Clark | Art by: Christian Marche Many pins over the years have tried to implement tic-tac-toe in their own ways, but it’s easy to argue that OXO did it the best. IPDB users seem to agree, rating it 0.15 points higher than any other game so far. The locations around the playfield where tic-tac-toe marks can be earned are very intuitive, as is which mark is selected and how to change between them. Making any tic-tac-toe lights the side saucers for extra ball, a very enticing award that can be achieved again and again with skilled play. Extra fluff like the timed skill shot on X’s & O’s (Bally, 1984) or the super bonus on both that game and Mystic (Bally, 1980) are missing, but diversity in where marks are collected and the addition of the free ball gate make OXO much better as a competition game than older efforts like Egg Head (Gottlieb, 1961). OXO sold over 7,000 copies, making it reasonably common to come across to this day. 1st: Student Prince (Williams, 1968) - 8.02 / 10, 10 ratings Audio: 7.7 | Art: 7.0 | Playfield: 8.1 | Fun: 8.3 Designed by: Norm Clark | Art by: Christian Marche Student Prince may come off as a surprising pick to be number 1. Perhaps it is benefitting a bit from small sample size, as the game has only 10 reviews, which is the exact bare minimum needed for a game to make the list. Nevertheless, it is a strong and often underrated game from the late 1960s. Positive reviews about the game note how well Student Prince balances luck and skill with its zipper flipper feature and the constantly changing value of its center target. Sure, the out lanes can be drain monsters at times — it is a 60s game, after all — but when you get into a rhythm, Student Prince is a fast paced game with a high skill ceiling and an incredibly satisfying bell recognizing every 100-point score. Many EMs have a strong case for why they should be #1 on a list like this, but no matter which you may choose, Student Prince shouldn’t be too far from the top.