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Episode 318: Paul Englert

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·18m 6s·analyzed·Oct 10, 2021
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Pinball Profile interviews 14-year-old German prodigy Paul Englert about his rapid rise in competitive pinball.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews 14-year-old Paul Englert, a rising competitive pinball player from Germany who is climbing the IFPA rankings with exceptional skill despite his age. The conversation covers Paul's rapid development since age 6, his tournament performance, his preferences for games like Guns N' Roses and Swords of Fury, his skepticism of achievement-based systems like Stern Connected, and his goals to compete at the World Championship and IFP18 in Germany. Teolis discusses the challenge of attracting younger players to pinball and explores what themes might appeal to the next generation.

Key Claims

  • Paul Englert won a warm-up tournament at the Classics and Maine pin golf tournament on the first day

    high confidence · Direct statement from Jeff Teolis confirming Paul's tournament win at the venue

  • Paul started playing pinball at age 6 and competed in his first tournament at age 8, finishing sixth out of 25 players

    high confidence · Paul Englert's direct account of his early pinball history

  • Paul's longest game on Guns N' Roses was approximately 1.5 hours and he reached wizard mode with a score around 120 million

    high confidence · Paul Englert's personal gameplay account

  • At a pin golf tournament featuring Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses LE with a 15 million point score target, every competitor scored a 7 (lowest score, indicating failure to reach the target)

    high confidence · Jeff Teolis witnessed this at the tournament they were attending

  • Paul does not see value in achievement-based systems like Stern Connected and Scorbit, viewing them as unnecessary cost additions

    high confidence · Paul Englert's direct opinion on connected leaderboard technology

  • Paul prefers Swiss mode tournament format over other formats like Flip Frenzy, which he found to have excessive waiting time

    high confidence · Paul Englert's experience and preferences stated during interview

  • Paul plays differently at home (on-the-fly, pursuing wizard modes) versus in competition (score-focused against opponents)

    high confidence · Paul Englert's explanation of his contrasting play styles

  • Paul plans to attend the World Championship in Florida and the IFP18 in Germany in 2023

    high confidence · Paul Englert's stated tournament goals

Notable Quotes

  • “I dare say this young man may be a future number one player and it might not take that long.”

    Jeff Teolis @ Early in interview — Expresses high confidence in Paul's potential to reach the top of competitive pinball rankings

  • “It looks, if I didn't know you were 14, and if I wasn't looking at the fact you are a young man, watching the actual pinball play field, it looks like someone's been playing for years and years and years.”

    Jeff Teolis @ Mid-interview — Acknowledges Paul's exceptionally mature gameplay relative to his age

  • “I feel that it's really not needed at all... I don't see why anyone would want that. It just makes it more expensive, I guess.”

    Paul Englert @ Discussing Stern Connected and Scorbit — Reveals younger player skepticism toward digital achievement/leaderboard systems despite industry expectation they would appeal to youth

  • “In competition, you don't need a good game. You just need more points than your opponent. It's not wizard modes. It's not grand champions.”

    Paul Englert @ Tournament play philosophy section — Articulates key strategic difference between home play (pursuit of high-end goals) and competitive play (relative scoring)

  • “You can get jackpots for hundreds of millions... You can do it all in one song? Yeah, easily.”

    Paul Englert @ Discussing Guns N' Roses song selection — Demonstrates advanced understanding of Guns N' Roses rule mechanics and scoring potential

  • “Most people don't want to do that... you really need to spend a lot of time to be good and learn all the rules.”

    Paul Englert @ Discussing youth adoption barriers — Identifies learning curve and time investment as primary barrier to younger players entering competitive pinball

  • “We call you the German Escher over across the pond in North America. Escher was a young player like yourself.”

    Jeff Teolis @ Comparison to other young players — Establishes Paul as a comparable talent to Escher Lefkoff, a known young competitive prodigy

Entities

Paul EnglertpersonJeff TeolispersonJohannes OstermeyerpersonEscher LefkoffpersonTobias WagnerpersonStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanyGuns N' Roses

Signals

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Strong generational interest gap: Paul noted friends confuse pinball with paintball, and while some play casually at his house, they lack interest in learning rules or developing skill—'most people don't want to do that'

    high · Paul's assessment of peer attitudes: 'the big problem is that if you want to be good and learn all the rules, you really need to spend a lot of time, and most people don't want to do that'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Advanced Guns N' Roses rule knowledge: Paul's strategy involves prioritizing Horn Hand patch first (to light additional jackpots during Aqua Multi Ball), then pursuing sponsors for extra ball via Duff Skull, with song selection (Chinese Democracy for early rounds, Better for higher-scoring songs) demonstrating sophisticated optimization

    high · Detailed explanation of patch strategy, song selection rationale, and scoring progression on Guns N' Roses

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Paul Englert's preference for score-based competition over digital achievement systems suggests younger elite players may not be the target audience for Stern Connected/Scorbit achievement mechanics despite industry assumptions

    high · Paul stated 'I feel that it's really not needed at all' and 'I don't see why anyone would want that. It just makes it more expensive' regarding achievement-based systems

  • ?

    event_signal: Classics and Maine pin golf tournament occurring in Germany (Bulls and Bulls venue); Paul won warm-up tournament; indicates significant tournament activity in German competitive pinball circuit

    high · Jeff Teolis confirmed Paul won the warm-up tournament; interview conducted during first day of Classics and Maine pin golf

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.054

0:00
it's time for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teal so you can find everything on pinballprofile.com. All past episodes, subscriptions and more. We're on Twitter and Instagram at pinballprofile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. This is a treat for me. I knew I was going to see this player for the first time in person when I came to Germany at Bulls and Bulls and I've been watching him on stream for a while and watching him climb the charts in the IFPA. I dare say this young man may be a future number one player and it might not take that long. He is 14 year old Paul Englert. Hi Paul how are you? I'm doing okay I guess. He's okay but let me just tell you this is the first day of the Classics and Maine pin golf tournament. We had a little warm-up tournament and who won that warm-up tournament? Yeah I think that was me. Yeah youngest Best and best, all in one. And that was just a simple match play format, and you're just on top of your game. Is there a format you like? Because it seems you're very good at them all.
1:28
Yeah, honestly, I just prefer normal Swiss mode, just one-on-one. Match play. Yeah, that. Have you played any of the pump and dumps? Or I know you've done pin golf today, but maybe anything unique, flip frenzies?
1:42
Yeah, a few months ago I played this format. It's called pin frenzy or something like that. Do you know that? Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Yeah, it's really interesting I thought there was a lot of waiting but I thought it was very unique Okay, when you say a lot of waiting were you in the queue and that's when you're waiting kind of thing Yeah, there were always like five people before you waiting in the queue. Yeah, so usually you get to play two games No, then you're in the queue two games queue. And so it doesn't really matter if you come late or in that format. It was like a warm-up tournament, so they did that, so it wouldn't matter if someone was late. I'm impressed watching you play. It looks, if I didn't know you were 14, and if I wasn't looking at, say, oh, the fact you are a young man, watching the actual pinball play field, it looks like someone's been playing for years and years and years. How did you get so good so quick?

  • “Right now, I think King Kong would be awesome. The original movie, the very old one. The black and white one.”

    Paul Englert @ Discussing ideal game themes — Reveals younger player interest in classic film IP for pinball, not just contemporary IP

    • game
    Swords of Furygame
    The Walking Deadgame
    Bulls and Bullsorganization
    IFPAorganization
    World Championshipevent
    IFP18event
    Pinball Profileorganization

    personnel_signal: Paul Englert identified as comparable talent to Escher Lefkoff—both are young players (Escher was young when he emerged) who developed exceptional competitive skill; positioned as potential future #1 ranked player

    high · Jeff Teolis: 'We call you the German Escher over across the pond in North America... The same could be said about you. I dare say this young man may be a future number one player and it might not take that long'

  • ?

    product_concern: Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses LE appears to have problematic difficulty balancing in competitive context: pin golf tournament set 15 million point target, but every single competitor (unspecified number) scored 7 (lowest possible), indicating target was either unreachable or game is 'all or nothing'

    medium · Jeff Teolis: 'The worst score you could get was a seven in pin golf, meaning you didn't achieve any of the scores and every single person who played it got a seven'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Connected leaderboard systems (Stern Connected, Scorbit) expected to appeal to younger players per industry commentary, but elite young competitive player (Paul) explicitly rejects them as unnecessary and cost-increasing

    high · Paul: 'I don't really see the point' of achievement systems; Jeff noted 'the people that seem to light up about this are the younger people' but Paul contradicts this assumption

    • 2:35
    I don't know how I'm supposed to answer that, I guess. It's a tough question. It's really more of a compliment, but what was it that changed for you when you went, okay, I need to develop this skill, or I'm watching this video, and that is what, okay, that's how you do it? I guess I just played a lot. Play a lot, just keep the ball alive? Yeah, I started playing when I was like six, and obviously I was not very good. And I tried to get the high scores on the games that we had at home when I was like a little kid. So that was your goal? That was my goal and of course I also wanted to have fun. Yeah, and I really played a lot at home and just got better over time. And then I think when I was like eight, I don't remember actually, we went to a first tournament somewhere in Austria, I think. It was just 25 people and I finished sixth. So that was like my first tournament and I kind of decided that I wanted to do this more often and get better. So when you came sixth, were you happy that you did that well? Were you disappointed you didn't win? Oh, I was very disappointed. I was a little kid, really mad because I screwed up badly and lost. But it was all right. I know other young men and children that when they play and they don't win or they drain a ball, it's so upsetting to them. But if you can remember, and I'm sure you do because of how excellent you play, you're eventually going to drain the ball. You're going to lose at some point. You always will. And if you can accept that and hopefully limit your mistakes, then it's a little easier to play. Yeah, that's right. I used to be very mad losing my balls and losing games, but I think that in the last year that really has gotten better especially in tournament play But at home I really am always going for grand champion wizard mode And then if it doesn work out then it really disappointing Because you competitive and I asking this for people that are listening that like to play in tournaments you know, when you're at home and you have a bad first ball, it's easy to restart. But because you're in competitions a lot, do you restart or do you go, okay, now I've got a bigger hill to climb? Yeah, I always restart. I need the perfect game or I will... Really? Yes. So does that affect you then when you have maybe a bad first ball in competition though? No, for me playing in competition or playing at home, it's really different. And in competition, you don't need a good game. You just need more points than your opponent. It's not wizard modes. It's not grand champions. Totally. Okay. It's interesting about you playing at home and wanting to do these wizard modes. There's a new thing that's coming out, the Stern Connected. and Scorbit has it for Jersey Jack. And I've talked to a lot of people and the people that seem to light up about this are the younger people. How do you feel about these achievements? I feel that it's really not needed at all. No, I didn't know the answer before I asked, but I was curious. I don't see why anyone would want that. It just makes it more expensive, I guess. Oh, from a cost measure. Now, you know, there is a free element to these, like they come standard, but it doesn't interest you. And no, I don't really see the point. because you're looking for is it grand champions that that's my wizard mode that's my achievement or just getting through the game and if i got through the game i don't need some app to tell me that i did it now what about connecting with people because paul this is the first time we've met i've known about you for quite some time because of how excellent you're playing i look at the top of the ifpa charts there you are and then i see your age i'm like holy cow we call you the German Escher over across the pond in North America. Escher was a young player like yourself, playing at a young age and just developing, and we know how great Escher Lefkoff is. The same could be said about you. So I wasn't sure with other young people I find in video games. They like the trophies, they like the achievements, but for you it's really, it's more about the competition I would assume. Well, I do like trophies, but I think that getting a good score is a trophy, enough yes and that's all I really need and in competition of course winning is winning a game is this kind of trophy and yeah that's the big one for sure so what are your goals I mean you're still in school you're in ninth grade correct right so school is going to take up a lot of your time but I know you like to do the big tournaments you're lucky you're in Germany with Tobias Wagner who's doing all these great tournaments you've got a lot of access but I'm sure you want to travel as part of your plans.
    7:14
    Oh, yeah. Is there any place you'd like to go to? Yeah, of course. North America and play tournaments there. I think I'll be at the World Championship in Florida. Very nice. And of course, I'm hoping to do well there. Yeah. Try my best. And you must be looking ahead to, which now pushed back to 2023, when the IFP18 will be here in Germany. Yeah, of course. I'll be there. So when you look at that old man, and I'm talking, of course, about Johannes Ostermeyer. He's an old man now compared to you, Paul. Here we're talking about there's so many great players in Germany, but the two best are both under the age of 20. What have you learned from Johannes, and what kind of things do you talk about? Let me get inside the minds of these great pinball players. So what I have learned from him, I think he's playing very controlled, and I've tried to do that. I usually like to play it around a bit. But I've tried to do that like he does because he really gets very far with it. Are you someone who likes to play on the fly?
    8:20
    Depends on the game. Some games like The Walking Dead, I don't do it all. But then others, yeah, of course. And also at home, I really only play on the fly because it just takes too long to not. so if you're going for wizard modes and grand champions these must be long long games especially some of the newer games oh yeah that's right it's sometimes usually above an hour yeah now what are some of the newer games that you have at your home um well we have the new jersey jack guns and roses that a long playing game oh yeah it really is i think my longest game was like one and a half an hour I got to the wizard mode but it really didn do anything in it Got like 5k It's really difficult. What was your score? I'm curious. Oh, it wasn't that great. Like 120 million, maybe. Yeah, not great maybe for you, Paul. For everyone else, we'd be like... Yeah, I mean, I got to the wizard mode, but I didn't really get into big jackpots. Yes, in the wizard mode, okay. It's funny because we're in a pin golf tournament here. and Jersey Jacks LE of Guns N' Roses was in the pin golf and the score was set at 15 million. I don't know if you know this or not, not one person. The worst score you could get was a seven in pin golf, meaning you didn't achieve any of the scores and every single person who played it got a seven. And the score was only 15 million. That was what it was set at. You obviously didn't get to play it because you would have done 15 million probably on one flipper. Yeah, I didn't play it, but I think this is... It's really all or nothing. You just play your song, and you either screw up, get two million, or you have 80 million at the end. Of the song? Yes. So you can do it all in one song? Yeah, easily. You can get jackpots for hundreds of millions. Okay, I'm going to spend a little time on Guns N' Roses here. What are the good patches and what are the good songs? First patch I like to go for is like the Horn Hand because it lights two additional jackpots during, what's it called, the Aqua Multi Ball, you know, the one under the flipper. And that makes it a lot easier to get that booster up. So I go for that first.
    10:38
    And then at home, usually I go for the sponsors after that because if you get all four, it's extra ball. and Duff Skull is very good in my opinion. It spots you, the Duff, during band frenzy. Is there a song you prefer or does it matter?
    10:57
    Yeah, it really matters which ones you pick. I usually go for Chinese Democracy because it has a lot of shots lit at once. Everything's lit and you can just choose whatever you want and it's also not very long. It's like three minutes. So you can easily get an applause jackpot, get like 5 million from it maybe, which is not that big. But then you get into the encore and your next song, which is then usually better. It's not better, the song is called Better. Yes, yes, yes. And then your scoring is a lot higher in that song. And you can build the jackpot by 1 or 2 million in just a few shots and really gets very high after that. I've got friends listening right now who are saying, Jeff, the only reason you asked Paul that is you want to find out for yourself I'm sharing with everybody listening to Pinball Profile, so thank you Paul No problem So, World Championship is coming up in May for you but that's a ways that's six months from now. This place right here we're at, Bulls and Balls, they have these big tournaments, I know Ho Ho Ho is coming up in December, there's one in a few weeks at the time of this recording I assume you'll be back for that Yeah, of course. I'll be at all of them. How far away are you from here? I think it's three hours with the car. Yeah, but this tournament started on Thursday, and I'm pretty sure from what I recall, it's been a long time since I've been in school, I'm pretty sure school went Monday to Friday. Yeah, I think it does. Were you not feeling well? Did you get a sick note? Yeah, I was totally sick. Your teacher's not listening. Don't worry about it. Yeah, I got freed from school for this. I had nine lessons on Thursday, and I just went after sixth lesson and got here. Have you given any thought? I know you're only in grade nine, but university's coming up in a few years. Is there anything you'd like to study? No, I've not thought about that at all, and I don't really like to think about it yet. Why bother? You're a young man. Your life's ahead of you. You've got a lot of pinball between now and then. okay at 14 now I say this because my son my youngest is 16 and we've started talking about you know maybe next summer get a summer job or something because it's a good experience have you thought about that you're maybe a little young for that but what would you like to do when you get older you said you wouldn't ask tough questions so there's nothing that involves tough questions you should work for the government then so you mentioned Guns and Roses are there other games that you really like You like classic games too don you Yeah I like them but we don have any at home
    13:42
    All this game we got is Swords of Fury. But you love that game. Oh yeah, it's great. You can just play it forever. Is it the call-outs you love? Yeah, music is awesome. I think it's some of the greatest music in pinball, maybe alongside Creature. Wow, okay. Yeah, that's a good game. Most 14-year-olds don't say they love Swords of Fury, so I was very happy when you told me that. Is it weird? I mean, everyone knows you here in Germany, but you are the youngest player here. Is it a little weird to be playing with old farts like myself? Oh, no, not really. Sometimes it feels a bit off. Do you wish some of your younger friends would get more into pinball? And the reason I ask that is because it's my dream to see more younger players get into pinball to keep it alive and well. And there are so many new games out there. We've got things like the Connected and Scorbit to maybe attract some people that like the achievements and trophies. So what is it that can get younger people into pinball? You obviously were affected.
    14:46
    What do your friends think when they say, oh, you're going to another pinball tournament? So when I told them that I was going to a pinball tournament, first thing they said was, oh, you're playing paintball. Paintball? Yeah. They just added a few letters. Yeah, they only know it from a PC and stuff. But when they come to your house, do they not play?
    15:08
    Yeah, some of them do. They played and they like it, but I don't really think that for them it's a long-term thing that they like to get into. because I think the big problem is that if you want to be good and learn all the rules, you really need to spend a lot of time, and most people don't want to do that. I don't even want to learn the rules, and I like pinball. Now, here might be a problem. If you invite them over to your house, and you're playing pinball with them, and you're playing multiplayer games, that might be boring for them as they have to watch you play and play and play. You might have to lay up a little bit. Yeah, that's right. Usually they just play something different while I play something different. and then every few minutes they come to me and tell me how awesome they are because they got a Lazarus. You follow a lot in pinball, so I'm wondering, when you see the new themes that come out, are these some of the themes that you like? And maybe some of the younger generation? Like when a game like Led Zeppelin comes out, that's a band that's been around for a long, long time, but hasn't played since 1980. What do you think of that? Mandalorian's a little new, Avengers is new, Turtles is new. Yeah. I mean, of course, many of these themes are not really fit for younger people, but I actually enjoy most of them, especially the music ones. What would be a perfect theme for you? Have you ever given thought of, I'd love to see this game? Yeah. When I was like eight, I thought Shaun the Sheep would be awesome. I'm not sure what that is. A children's show, is it?
    16:38
    Yeah, it is. Like Thomas the Tank or something like that? Yeah. The Wiggles? Yeah, but it's better. It's not like kid brainwashing it. Oh, it's not like Paw Patrol? No, no, no. It's a bit more. And what's it called? Shaun the Sheep. Is it a German show? No, no. It's from England. Okay. We don't get it in North America. Yeah, but no, I thought that would be a great theme when I was like eight. Now, you'd be embarrassed. And right now, I think King Kong would be awesome. I agree. The original movie, the very old one. The black and white one. Yeah. Fay Wray. Yeah. I watched that one. It was really great. You like the little acclamation of King Kong? Yeah. It's pretty campy for sure. Okay. King Kong, if anyone's listening. That would be a good one. Paul, I know you're about to play another tournament. Looks like things are wrapping up here, so I thank you for your time and I know a lot of people back in North America certainly wanted to hear about this whiz kid. Paul Englert, thank you very much. Thank you. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com. We're on Facebook and Instagram at pinballprofile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. I'm Jeff Teolas.