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Is the Theme for the Mystery Pinball Company’s Upcoming Game David Bowie’s Movie Labyrinth?

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Sep 30, 2023
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.016

TL;DR

MPC's mystery game theme guessed to be Labyrinth (1986) based on clues; former Spooky animator possibly involved.

Summary

Knapp Arcade reports that Chris from Kaneda's Pinball Podcast has made a credible guess that the Mystery Pinball Company's (MPC) upcoming game is themed around David Bowie's 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth, based on puzzle clues MPC released. The article suggests former Spooky Pinball animator David Van Es may be involved, noting he had previously tried unsuccessfully to get Spooky to make a Labyrinth pinball machine.

Key Claims

  • Mystery Pinball Company released puzzle clues hinting at their upcoming game's theme

    high confidence · Knapp Arcade directly references 'the newest entrant to the Pinball World' releasing 'a grade school ditto of puzzles' with clues

  • Chris from Kaneda's Pinball Podcast guessed the theme is David Bowie's 1986 film Labyrinth

    high confidence · Knapp cites Chris making this guess on Facebook Live at 4 AM; Knapp endorses it as 'the best guess' he's seen

  • David Van Es, former Spooky Pinball animator, previously tried unsuccessfully to get Spooky to make a Labyrinth pinball machine

    medium confidence · Knapp states this was 'rumored' and notes Van Es may be involved in MPC's project

  • The puzzle clues fit a Labyrinth theme: maze reference, licensed game, David Bowie music, and 'raise the roof' reference

    medium confidence · Knapp correlates clue sheet content with Labyrinth elements, though admits uncertainty about the 'raise the roof' reference without seeing the film recently

Notable Quotes

  • “the currently named Mystery Pinball Company (MPC) this morning we have what may be the best guess as to what all of the newfound clues mean”

    Knapp Arcade — Establishes MPC as a new entrant to the pinball industry with a mystery reveal campaign

  • “Chris from Kaneda's Pinball Podcast went on Facebook Live with his guess for the game's upcoming theme...the 1986 Jim Henson directed, David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly movie 'Labyrinth'”

    Knapp Arcade — Credits Kaneda's Pinball Podcast with the credible guess; positions this as the leading community theory

  • “I don't always mention game guesses and predictions beforehand but this one sounds right to me. Kudos to him if it is.”

    Knapp Arcade — Knapp's editorial endorsement of the Labyrinth guess, suggesting he finds it unusually convincing

  • “If you look at the clues with Labyrinth in mind, they definitely fit.”

    Knapp Arcade — Knapp validates the guess by matching clues to Labyrinth elements

Entities

Mystery Pinball Company (MPC)companyLabyrinth (1986 film)productChrispersonKaneda's Pinball PodcastorganizationDavid Van EspersonSpooky PinballcompanyDavid BowiepersonJim HensonpersonJennifer Connellyperson

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: MPC's puzzle-based reveal campaign generating active community participation and speculation

    high · Knapp describes 'all of us furiously trying to solve' puzzles; Chris publicly shared guess on Facebook Live overnight; Knapp article itself is community engagement commentary

  • ?

    event_signal: Mystery Pinball Company conducting an unconventional puzzle-based theme reveal campaign, building community engagement and speculation

    high · MPC released puzzle clues that sparked immediate community analysis and Chris's public guess on Facebook Live

  • ?

    leak_detection: Puzzle clues released by MPC have been decoded by community members (particularly Chris/Kaneda's Pinball) to identify likely theme

    high · Knapp reports puzzle clues being matched to Labyrinth elements; Chris made public guess based on clue analysis

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Labyrinth (1986 David Bowie film) licensing for pinball is being pursued by new MPC manufacturer

    medium · Puzzle clues reference 'Licensed' game; Labyrinth guess incorporates David Bowie music and film elements fitting the clue set

  • ?

    personnel_signal: David Van Es, former Spooky Pinball animator, rumored to be involved with new Mystery Pinball Company venture

    medium · Knapp states 'Chris believes that the former Spooky Pinball animator David Van Es...is involved in this new project' based on rumor of prior Labyrinth pitch to Spooky

Topics

New pinball manufacturer entry (Mystery Pinball Company)primaryTheme announcement/reveal campaign and community guessingprimaryLabyrinth (1986) license for pinballprimaryPersonnel movement and design team compositionsecondaryCommunity engagement and speculationsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Knapp expresses enthusiasm about the mystery reveal campaign and endorses the Labyrinth guess as credible. Tone is speculative but optimistic about MPC as a new entrant. No criticism or negative sentiment detected.

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

After all the excitement last night that saw all of us furiously trying to solve a grade school ditto of puzzles (remember those?) from the newest entrant to the Pinball World - the currently named Mystery Pinball Company (MPC) this morning we have what may be the best guess as to what all of the newfound clues mean. While I was still sleeping at 4 AM, Chris from Kaneda's Pinball Podcast went on Facebook Live with his guess for the game's upcoming theme...the 1986 Jim Henson directed, David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly movie "Labyrinth." I don't always mention game guesses and predictions beforehand but this one sounds right to me. Kudos to him if it is. If you look at the clues with Labyrinth in mind, they definitely fit. The clue sheet that MPC sent over contained an actual maze or a form of Labyrinth if you will. It would be a "Licensed" game. David Bowie's "Rock and Roll" "Music" is in the movie. Supposedly there's references in Labyrinth to "raise the roof" but I haven't seen the movie in 30 years so I'm going to need a refresher to see that. Chris believes that the former Spooky Pinball animator David David Van Es, who was rumored to have unsuccessfully tried to get the company to make a Labyrinth pin, is involved in this new project. So there's the best theme guess that I've seen so far for the new game. What do you think? Would you be interested in a Labyrinth pin?
Knapp Arcade
organization
?

rumor_hype: Speculation that David Van Es previously pitched a Labyrinth pinball to Spooky Pinball unsuccessfully

medium · Knapp notes this was 'rumored to have unsuccessfully tried to get the company to make a Labyrinth pin'