Ask Jack Anything: Episode 7

Stern Pinball·video·9m 21s·analyzed·Jun 11, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

Jack Danger addresses gameplay tips, D&D topper Q2 timeline, Pokemon evolution plans, and home leaderboard updates.

Summary

Jack Danger answers community questions about home pinball machine gameplay, Stern's home edition availability in Europe, Pokemon Pinball evolution mechanics, early code release strategy, playfield design budgets and coil constraints, Insider Connected security, and home leaderboard animation updates. He confirms a Q2 release for Dungeons & Dragons topper and indicates Pokemon evolution features are under consideration.

Key Claims

Dungeons & Dragons topper will release in Q2
high confidence · Jack Danger directly confirmed this in response to Tom's question about D&D topper timing, stating 'Q2 is what I was told'
Pokemon Pinball evolution mechanics are being considered but no announcement yet
high confidence · Jack Danger responded to CrazyPokemonFan8: 'it is definitely something that is being considered. We have a lot of big ideas for this game.'
Stern always finishes games to 1.0 but at varying speeds depending on IP approval processes
high confidence · Jack Danger stated: 'When it comes to code, we always finish games. Not every game gets to 1.0 at the same speed... but we always get a game to 1.0.'
Standard coil budget for Stern machines is 18 controllable coils (two core nodes with nine coils each)
high confidence · Jack Danger explained: 'Every cornerstone we produce has at least two core nodes on it. So you can objectively imagine that you have 18 controllable coils... 18 is where we try to stay.'
Home leaderboards will receive animation updates in Q2
high confidence · Jack Danger: 'I'm being told that there will be an update In Q2, that will add all of those fun animations to your home leaderboards'
Stern previously distributed home games in Europe and hopes to get more there
high confidence · Jack Danger responding to Winston about European availability: 'We did distribute some home games in Europe previously. The hope is that we will get more over there.'
Spike 3 machines offer additional layers of encryption protection
high confidence · Jack Danger: 'Our newest Spike 3 machines offer additional layers of encryption protection enabled on our new chipsets'

Notable Quotes

“The cool thing about pinball is you can change how you play it. So instead of making it score based, go for objectives like how quick can you get to a mode?”
Jack Danger@ 0:51 — Practical advice for keeping single home machines fresh by varying play objectives
“If we just drop a 1.0 on you and you don't like it, tough. That's tough on you. That's tough on us. But this allows us to sort of work in tandem with the community to get something out there that everyone feels comfortable with.”
Jack Danger@ 4:45 — Defends Stern's early code release strategy and ongoing updates model
“18 is your number. Stick with that. Try to work within that limit, and you can make a lot of fun pinball with 18 or less coils. Absolutely.”
Jack Danger@ 7:35 — Reveals key design constraint and demonstrates feasibility with Jurassic Park Home Edition example
“When it comes to ideas being left on the drawing table, not everything we have in the development process as far as ideas are concerned are put into the game. We'll dream big, but then we got to scale it back to something realistic.”
Jack Danger@ 5:29 — Explains trade-offs between creative vision and practical constraints in game development
“We may talk about things long after the game is out that we're like, oh, it could have been cool because we had this idea and we left it out. That's just us sort of like bringing you into the inside baseball.”
Jack Danger@ 5:54 — Transparency about development process and unimplemented features

Entities

Jack DangerpersonStern PinballcompanyPokemon Pinballgame Dungeons & Dragonsgame Jurassic Park (Home Edition)game Insider Connectedproduct Spike 3product

Signals

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product_launch: Dungeons & Dragons topper confirmed for Q2 release
high · Jack Danger stated 'Q2 is what I was told' in response to direct question about D&D topper timing
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code_update: Pokemon Pinball evolution mechanics under consideration with no announced timeline
high · Jack Danger: 'it is definitely something that is being considered' but 'we have no announcement to make on that'
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product_strategy: Stern defends early code release strategy as enabling community collaboration rather than delayed perfection
high · Jack Danger explained iterative update model allows real-time community feedback vs. risk of unpopular 1.0 release
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design_philosophy: Stern targets 18 controllable coils (two core nodes) as standard playfield budget with flexibility for specific IPs
high · Jack Danger detailed coil architecture: 'Every cornerstone we produce has at least two core nodes... 18 is where we try to stay'
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code_update: Home leaderboards receiving animation parity with location machines in Q2
high · Jack Danger: 'there will be an update In Q2, that will add all of those fun animations to your home leaderboards'
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market_signal: Stern exploring increased European distribution of home pinball machines

Transcript

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0:00

Hey there pinheads, Jack Danger here for another jangly box to ask Jack. It's been a minute. I recorded a bunch of videos and they all got turned down because I was talking too much about Ska. So this episode, no Ska.

0:15

Let's pick it up. Way, way more stickers now y'all. You are sending them. Keep sending them. Don't get upset if we start covering up some of your stickers. It's just going to happen. That's just the nature of the beast when you're trying to absolutely consume. The front here still needs a little love. We'll figure that out. I think I just love these stickers too much. All right, let's get into it. Our first question from Randy says, any tips on how to keep a home use only machine fresh? I have one and sometimes it feels a little stale. I get that, especially if you've only got one pinball machine. That goes with video games too. You play the same game over and over again. The cool thing about pinball is you can change how you play it. So instead of making it score based, go for objectives like how quick can you get to a mode? How quickly can you finish a mode? How quickly can you do all the side objectives? Like focus on anything but the main goal of just trying to get a big score. Me personally, I love to also try different games like there's a Price is Right way of playing where you cover up the score with friends and the closest to a determined score without going over wins. There's any number of things you can do besides just chasing that big number. So hopefully that helps. Speaking of Price is Right, we got a question here from Matt. Says, when will Stern make my dream theme, The Price is Right? I think there's a lot of great directions this theme can be taken in. I agree, actually. We were talking about this on a live the other day. All of the cool sets and toys that they have on that, like the yodeling climber dude and the big wheel. If we don't make it, someone's gotta make it. Also the scoring game thing I just talked about is really cool. All right, the Tominator? All right, Tom, or Tomatona...

2:52

So we got a question here from Matt that says, what is your opinion on competitors games that are potentially offering a similar very scaled down game at a much lower cost to get in new buyers? That's where our home game market exists is full size pinball machine. As far as the play field is concerned, obviously the cabinets a little smaller with the home games, But a full pinball experience at a lower cost, but it's still fun. I think there's a market for plenty of companies to come out with like home types of games. I love playing them and it's awesome to see that market grow and hopefully we see more from everyone, including us. So, heck yeah. Okay. We have a question here from CrazyPokemonFan8. I have to think about the word Pokemon because I say it wrong every time. I grew up saying Pokemon. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Jack, why is there no evolving in Pokemon currently? And goes on to say some other stuff. Wonderful question. It is, we have no announcement to make on that, but it is definitely something that is being considered. We have a lot of big ideas for this game. We've just got some work to do on a couple of different avenues to make sure everything's just how it's supposed to be and to get it out to you. So evolving Pokemon, awesome idea. It's definitely something we're talking about. We got a pretty lengthy one here from Jack, not me. It says, Hey Jack, Stern has mentioned in defense of early code that releasing without completely finished code allows them a chance to see what resonates with players and the community. However, Stern has also said that there have been ideas that have been left out of the game due to time constraints and other constraints. How do you respond to early buyers of games who purchase something based off of a promise who ultimately got 80% of what they expected? Well we only tell you what we didn put in the game long after the game has come out right So my hope is you buying the game because you love the IP and you love what being put in there And yes, I am also a huge champion of slow rolling the code out with updates allows us to see what works, because if we just drop a 1.0 on you and you don't like it, tough. That's tough on you. That's tough on us, because if you don't love it, then we're sort of stuck there. But this allows us to sort of work in tandem with the community to get something out there that everyone feels comfortable with. When it comes to code, we always finish games. Not every game gets to 1.0 at the same speed. Some games have more hiccups than others. Also, there's IP arrangements, approval processes. Any number of things can slow or speed up that process, but we always get a game to 1.0. It just may not be as quick as other games, depending on the IP. And when it comes to ideas being left on the drawing table, not everything we have in the development process as far as ideas are concerned are put into the game. We'll dream big, but then we got to scale it back to something realistic when it comes to like timeframe, resources, etc. So we want to put out the best possible ideas we have in that pool to you that is feasibly completable in a timeframe that makes sense. We may talk about things long after the game is out that we're like, oh, it could have been cool because we had this idea and we left it out. That's just us sort of like bringing you into the inside baseball to like let you know, you know, we have lots of cool ideas, but not everything can be produced. We have a question here from Eric says, when laying out a playfield design, it seems like designers keep close attention to the build materials budget. Beyond the design of custom toys, new mechs, or a specific game, is there a standard number you guys stick to for regular playfield items? Is it a hard red line you can't cross? Do you guys ever end up counting coils and parts to remove to keep in budget? Is that a thing? Yes. Great question. I'm not going to tell you build the material numbers, but I will say when you're designing a pinball machine, you are always cognizant of coil usage. We have core nodes in a pinball machine. A core node has nine coils on it, right? Every cornerstone we produce has at least two core nodes on it. So you can objectively imagine that you have 18 controllable coils I'm going to be talking about the different types of pinball machines that you can use to work with when you're laying out a pinball machine. Understanding that a coil also means a mech that you going to have to associate with that So that is a big cost which is the core node that you can get a lot done with one core node Nine. Like, look at the home games. I made Jurassic Park with a dinosaur that spits balls out, opens its mouth and roars and stuff with one core node. Nine coils. So, 18 is where we try to stay. If we really need to, we can step over that line. It really depends on the IP, depends on the usage. There's a lot of caveats there, but when we are designing, obviously building materials is in the back of our head, but very upfront to make sure we don't get into the weeds. 18 is your number. Stick with that. Try to work within that limit, and you can make a lot of fun pinball with 18 or less coils. Absolutely. We have a question here from Jerry about the security of Insider and your home network. The security of your home network is solely on your router and firewall setup. Our games aren't allowing anyone in or out to like mess with your internal systems. This is a very short question and just to keep it bluntly, our newest Spike 3 machines offer additional layers of encryption protection enabled on our new chipsets, but yes everything on our systems are safe and just make Make sure like your firewalls and all that stuff are set up just, you know, for any of the technologies you have. So we have a question from Whiskey Drinker. What up? Why are the home leaderboards missing all the nice animations that the ones for public locations have? It should have been cut and paste more or less, but somehow got lost. I wouldn't say it's as easy as that, but our home leaderboards are built on like a newer technology stack than on the public ones. So there are some differences there that need to be worked through, but I'm being told that there will be an update In Q2, that will add all of those fun animations to your home leaderboards. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, the questions