Alice Goes to Wonderland Pinball ~ April Development Update

Wonderland Amusements·video·14m 31s·analyzed·Apr 4, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

Alice Goes to Wonderland Kickstarter update: repaired demo, v0.1 code shown, campaign wraps in 5 days

Summary

Peter from Wonderland Amusements presents an April development update for Alice Goes to Wonderland, a compact (80% scale) home pinball machine in active Kickstarter campaign. After technical issues (screen/PCBA tear) at WonderCon, the machine was repaired and demonstrated with version 0.1 game code featuring themed mini-challenges, Wi-Fi connectivity, leaderboards, and early multiball mechanics. The campaign was in final days ($8.49 pledge, shipping before year-end) with development ongoing over coming months.

Key Claims

The machine suffered a PCBA/screen connection tear at WonderCon that rendered the DMD inoperable while game code ran underneath
high confidence · Peter directly describes the technical failure and its resolution
Game code is currently version 0.1 with months of development remaining before release
high confidence · Peter explicitly states 'version 0.1 game code' and 'we've got months of development left to do on it'
The machine features Wi-Fi connectivity for code updates and online leaderboards
high confidence · Demonstrated in settings menu with Wi-Fi connection option and world leaderboard functionality
Game progression involves three playthroughs with increasing difficulty: first all challenges available at once, second and third require sequential completion with shorter timed windows
high confidence · Peter explains: 'second playthrough you will have to do them in sequence. And on the third playthrough you have to do them three times to beat the game'
Kickstarter campaign ending April 10th with shipping targeted before end of year
high confidence · Peter states 'campaign ends April 10th. That is what I want to say, that's next Thursday' and 'We are going to be shipping before the end of the year'

Notable Quotes

“We had screen and PCBA issues... there was a tear in the connection to the PCBA, which rendered the DMD inoperable. Game code was running underneath it. You just couldn't see it, unfortunately.”
Peter (Wonderland Amusements) @ Early segment — Explains the critical technical failure that prevented gameplay display at WonderCon public demo
“It's version 0.1. I'm calling it 0.1 game code. It's really just a start, right? We have a long way to go. We've got months of development left to do on it.”
Peter @ ~2:30 — Sets expectations: early-stage code with significant development runway remaining
“In the beginning of the game, the first time you play through all these, all of the little mini challenges are available all at once. In the second playthrough, you will have to do them in sequence.”
Peter @ ~7:30 — Describes core game progression mechanic: difficulty scaling across replays
“It is Wi-Fi connected, so we can update it even after the fact. We will have a great game on release, not to be sure.”
Peter @ ~2:00 — Positions post-release code updates as capability; confidence in final product quality
“The bones are in place for this machine for us to build a really great pinball game for all of you guys.”
Peter @ ~12:30 — Core message: foundational systems solid, refinement and content work ahead
“Underneath right now, so that music that was playing on the machine was temp. This is actually the real music, the main theme.”
Peter @ ~13:00 — Indicates audio still in placeholder state; final theme music ready but not yet implemented
“It's only $8.49. We're going to come back to that in one second... Come in and back us. We're going to be shipping before the end of the year.”
Peter @ ~13:30

Entities

Wonderland AmusementscompanyPeterpersonAlice Goes to WonderlandproductWonderConeventKickstarter campaigneventDutch Pinballcompany

Signals

?
community_signal: Developer taking direct approach to community communication: transparency about code state, soliciting feedback, inviting criticism, self-aware humor
high · Peter: 'Leave me comments... Be kind to me. No. Tell me what you really think. I want to know.' and extensive gameplay walkthrough showing rough edges
?
design_philosophy: Game employs Alice in Wonderland themed mini-challenges with progression-based difficulty scaling (all available → sequential → repeated sequential with shorter timers)
high · Peter walkthrough demonstrates three-tier difficulty model and explains: 'third playthrough you have to do them three times... also in sequence, but then the timed events are shorter'
$
market_signal: Kickstarter approaching final days ($8.49 pledge, shipping before year-end) with claim of solid manufacturing foundation and tooling readiness
high · Peter: 'final five days', 'we're going to be shipping before the end of the year. We are on track. As you can see, we've got everything in place'
?
product_concern: PCBA/screen connection tear caused complete DMD failure during WonderCon public demo, impacting early impression of machine reliability
high · Peter: 'there was a tear in the connection to the PCBA, which rendered the DMD inoperable.' Problem resolved with new parts but indicates potential manufacturing/assembly vulnerability
?
product_strategy: Game code roadmap includes multi-month development cycle from v0.1; Wi-Fi-enabled post-release updates planned; music assets still in placeholder state

Topics

Game code development status and roadmapprimaryTechnical issues and repairs (PCBA/screen failures)primaryGameplay mechanics and rule design (challenge progression, difficulty scaling, multiball)primaryWi-Fi connectivity and online features (leaderboards, firmware updates)primaryKickstarter campaign timeline and shippingprimaryHardware/playfield design elements (sensors, solenoids, ramps, shot callouts)secondaryMachine form factor (80% scale compact machine for home play)secondaryAudio/music implementation (temp vs. final assets)secondary

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Peter is upbeat and transparent about development challenges. Technical issues are presented as resolved and manageable. Early code state is acknowledged but confidence in final product remains high. Self-deprecating humor about playing skill softens the rough edges of v0.1 demo. Strong finish with Kickstarter push and appreciation for community support. No defensiveness or frustration detected despite showing incomplete product.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

[Music] Hey everybody, it's Peter with Wonderland Amusements here one more time with a development update for April uh of our Alice Goes to Wonderland pinball machine. So, uh, as many of you know, uh, last week we were at Wonder Con where we took a beautiful machine out to put on the floor and showed to everybody. We had hundreds of people come out and flip it, check it out, get up close, look at the world under glass. Uh, it was a ton of fun. It was a a a really a great coming out party for the for the machine. Uh, you know, uh, if some of you have been following know that we had some technical difficulties with the machine. We had um yeah, we had screen and PCBA uh uh issues that I don't know if you can see it there, but there was a tear in this uh connection to the PCBA, which rendered the DMD inoperable. Game code was running underneath it. You just couldn't see it, unfortunately. So, uh that was a little unfortunate. However, people did get to uh to check it out, and they had a lot of fun with it. Um the good news is I've received a new PCBA and screen. We've installed it into the same machine that we had on the floor and it is now uh looking great and it is ready for its close-up people. Uh I set up right over here. I just shot some video. Uh I did my best to demo uh the game play and but also to show you kind of what the current state of the rule set is. And um so I've got this demo here. I'm going to give you two quick caveats about it. Uh well, three. one is um it's super 0.1 I'm calling it 0.1 game code. It's really just a start, right? We have a long way to go. We've got uh months of development left to do on it. I'm sure you can all appreciate that. Uh it is Wi-Fi connected, so we can update it even after the fact. We will have a great game on release. Not to to be sure. Second caveat, um the fan is super loud right now. I have the glass off so that you can see it. Um uh but a little chunk of plastic dropped in it and made the fan very loud. Uh so just bear in mind it won't be that loud. All right, that's enough caveats. Let's just go check out the game guys. So, while we're starting up, there are five balls that go in this game. I'm going to drop these in. Just opening it up. So, here's Playfield and here's what you get on startup. Start with the logo and then we go straight into the game animation. All right. So that was that's what happens when you turn on the machine. Get this lovely animation. Brings you right into the world of Wonderland. And then you're landing at this menu where you've got a couple options, right? You got the play menu. Got a settings menu where you can go in and adjust a couple of things. This is going to be uh where you connect your Wi-Fi. Uh obviously it's not uh enabled just yet. Uh flipper power. You can go in here. Got uh one to 10 flipper power. I'm have it set pretty low at three because they're pretty uh juiced right now. uh as they're currently done in these handmade ones. And then this is where you would check for updates for firmware. Obviously got to be connected to the interwebs for that. Leaderboards are in here as well. This is where your local high score is and your world high score. Oh yeah. Once we're connected to the internet, people are going to be vying to uh appear on your machine. All right. So players one, two, three, and four. I'm using the D-pad to select these. This is a little different from a traditional machine where you're would normally use the start button to uh add multiple players. I'm going to play a single player game. I'm late. I'm late. Oh no. Also noticing I'm uh advancing a ball using uh the button. That will not be the case in the final version. All right. So remember guys, first pass the game code. Where did that rabbit go? That shot. have back. All right. So, I've locked one ball up behind the moldy ball wall up there. Uh, that's a little solenoid holding that up. And then it will release when I put that free up there. It's kind of working right now, but it's uh Oopsies. And my game ended. Where's my game end animation? Right. First pass of game code here, guys. Let's uh let's be clear. All right. I got a whopping 13,000 on that one. Let's try again. I think I'll do better. Locked it again. Let's try slightly. There we go. [Music] Really? You guys get to all make fun of me again. Happy is trying to learn to play. [Music] I'm going to grab the ball here and walk you through a little bit of what's happening on the playfield. Right. So, you notice that this uh icon is lit up. That's because I went through the uh three lanes here. Now, there's optical sensors in here, which is why my finger is uh causing me to get some scores as I'm going through there. We've got leaf switches here. We've got leaf switches inside these. We've got a leaf switch in here. They're all a little sensitive at the moment, so sometimes they're triggering when uh they shouldn't, but uh you can see I'm racking up scores. I don't know where that's coming from. It might be coming from these U. All right, so I did all three and I got great an animation and I got the light light up lit up. Right. In the beginning of the game, the first time you play through all these, all of the little mini challenges are available all at once. In the second playthrough, uh you will uh have to do them in sequence. And on the third playthrough, you have to do three times to beat the game. You will um you'll have to do them also in sequence, but then the timed events are shorter. All right, so we've got a few different things to do. Got the MadHatter loop here, right? So, as I go through here, I'm lighting up the individual letters as you would expect. Uh, for the cheshure cat, I can go up and hit the spinner here. But I'm also, if I can do this before either, I can help you find your way. And now I've got the cat lit up. All right. What else can I do? Uh, we want to go up this uh side ramp here or this side alley as well. So, we've got uh I've done it once. Oops. Do it again. Try to do it again. All right. No, I lock the ball. All right. And oh my shrinking. All right. So, I got my shrinking potion. Got my hearts to do. I'll do those uh last cuz that goes into another timed anim uh a timed uh bonus round. Same for the Mad Hatter. Uh let's see. We can go up and do this side range here. All right. So, I've lit that up. Let's go one more time. And should do it one more time. Whoops. All right. So, now I've got all three lit up. And I got that one. Got this one here. I think that's the little side ram. This wouldn't cooperate with me earlier, but let's see if I can get it to [Music] go or not. All right, let's do let's do the queen of hearts. Oops. So, this one there is a sensor at the beginning and at the end. So, I can go one and two. Obviously, it' be going all the way around. And three. All right. One more time. All right. So, now I've got the timed challenge here. points. Obviously, I'm getting the tea party animation. This is a placeholder. We haven't finished the uh animation for the for the Queen of Hearts just yet, but as you can see, I'm getting million points every time I'm doing this during the time challenge. All right, time challenge is over. Now I've got the Mad Hatter left to do. Let's do him. All right, time challenge again. Better hurry or the tea will get cold. All right, tea's going to get cold. All right, bash box. Every time I hit it, every time I hit the Newton ball, it's pushing a thing inside. That is a good a little leaf switch on the inside there. Again, 30 seconds. this first time around. In future uh iterations, it would only be uh 15 seconds to complete it. Uh subject to change, of course. All right. So, I really want this last one to happen so that I can finish the first round. Oops. No. Lock in the ball. I don't know if it's going to cooperate, people. All right. Did before, not going to this time. However, you get the idea. Uh, first iteration of all of this and uh, bonus points now. Game ends. And we get a game end animation. The multiball unlock drops down. The location drops down. All right. All right. So, there you go. You got a look at uh the current state of events. So, where we're at right now with the machine. Hopefully, I was able to demonstrate a lot of the game code and that you could see that. Um, again, I want you to take away that the bones are in place for this uh machine for us to build a really great uh you know, pinball game uh for for all of you guys. And I um I want to point out underneath right now, so that music that was playing on the machine was temp. This is actually the the real music, the theme, main theme. Let's play give you a little taste of this. All [Music] right. Nobody wants to sit here and watch me dance. All right. Uh, okay. That's a reminder, too, that um we're coming down to the last 5 days of the Kickstarter. And, uh, it's only 8:49. We're going to come back to that in one second. I had do have one more outtake of gameplay that you might enjoy. Uh you can watch me panic at multiball to the uh multiball uh gate behind there. And if I get two more there, they're going to unlock right now. Let's see. Oh jeez. Okay. See if we can actually get one in the playfield. There we go. So you can hear the trills happening. I'm scoring points. Obviously, I have the glass off here. That's why it's so loud. Uh-oh. All three. Not really looking for multiball. My first time out, you guys. Oh jeez. Oh, and I lost two. And my game's probably over. All right. So, right now, that machine doesn't know about multiball. It knows to do that, but it doesn't know to count. Okay, so there you go. You uh get to watch me uh trying to demo the game for you guys. I I really I need to get better. I will practice more before I demo the game for you again. All right. Uh so again, reminder, we're in the final 5 days of our uh campaign. Uh it's only $8.49 to pick up this machine. I hope that you all uh are excited about it. Uh I know a lot of you are. come in, back us. Uh, we're going to be shipping by before the end of the year. We are on track. As you can see, we've got uh everything in place. Now, we just got to start fine-tuning and getting ready for tooling everything up and moving into mass production. Um, yeah, again, campaign ends April 10th. Uh, that is what I want to say that's next Thursday. Yeah, next Thursday. So, 5 days left. Uh, five and a half days, something like that. All right, that's it, guys. Thanks a lot. Leave me comments. I know you will. Uh, you know, be kind. We got to be kind to each other, right? Come on. Be kind to me. No. Tell me what you really think. I want to know. All right. See you later.