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Barrels of Fun's David Van Ness details Dune's cinematic design and the studio's philosophy of marrying IP storytelling with compelling pinball mechanics.
Barrels of Fun is producing only 1,000 Dune machines, which is a deliberate strategy to maintain exclusivity and focus on a niche market despite potential demand from sci-fi fans.
high confidence · Gonzo's host mentions 'the benefit of only doing a thousand games' and David Van Ness does not dispute this production figure
Dune license was secured after Barrels of Fun presented a detailed pitch deck and blue-sky concepts to Legendary Entertainment, demonstrating their unique approach to the IP.
high confidence · David Van Ness: 'we'll win the license because of the presentation that we're given to them showing them how we're going to approach this that is I think very different to how everyone else does it'
Barrels of Fun had advance access to Dune Part Two screening and received 3D assets and creative feedback directly from director Denis Villeneuve during development.
high confidence · David Van Ness: 'we actually got invited to experience it [Dune Part Two] in probably the best theater I've ever experienced in my life' and 'one of the notes that came back legendary from the director was bad from dennis was like there's no clouds because there's no water on the planet'
David Van Ness worked as a stunt performer and trainer at a stunt academy in Queensland before transitioning to film production, formal film school training in Adelaide, and eventually pinball.
high confidence · David Van Ness biographical account: 'I went to the Stunt Academy in Queensland' and 'an actual film school opened up in Adelaide. So I went back to there, and that's where I actually got my formal training in producing, directing, and post-production.'
Barrels of Fun's first game, Labyrinth, was developed in blue-sky format without a secured license, initially prototyped in David Van Ness's dining room as a whitewood.
high confidence · David Van Ness: 'i built labyrinth in my dining room so all the photos and all the pitch decks i had was of a whitewood in my dining room' and 'we have our own little development space and we can do that but we will go after an ip we'll develop the concept'
Dune's 'Ride' mode features a multi-tier prophecy sequence where players simulate Paul riding a sandworm, with mechanics tied to thumper interaction and mountain shots.
“We want to create a world under glass. Well, as Brian would say, he's like, did we create a planet under glass?”
David Van Ness @ early in interview — Defines Barrels of Fun's core design philosophy of immersive IP translation
“I got to experience what Paul got to experience. You know, when you have all the Fremen chanting and celebrating at the end as he scoots along the bottom of the sand dunes was really a moment.”
David Van Ness @ mid-interview gameplay discussion — Illustrates the emotional/cinematic design goal achieved in Dune's 'Ride' mode
“This is cinematic pinball like this is like an experience like I've never felt like anything before”
Colin (media day player, quoted by Gonzo and David) @ media day feedback — Third-party validation of the cinematic gameplay experience being achieved
“It's about finding the right license that energizes at least a couple of people in development groups to go and develop that ip”
David Van Ness @ licensing strategy section — Reveals Barrels of Fun's internal culture and motivation for license selection
“There's no clouds because there's no water on the planet so we had to go through and remove all the clouds out of all our 3d world because he's 100 right there's no clouds on arrakis it's it's a dry planet and that's the attention to detail”
David Van Ness @ creative feedback discussion — Demonstrates Denis Villeneuve's meticulous creative oversight and Barrels of Fun's commitment to canonical accuracy
“My first experience with pinball was Star Wars... I see that in my eyes. It's like, whoa, like the death star is opening up. And I somehow made that clean shot into it, and I was like, holy crap. I'm Luke Skywalker right now.”
David Van Ness @ personal journey section — Reveals his foundational connection to IP-licensed pinball and drives his design philosophy
“I wasn't buying games because these are good playing pinball machines. I was buying pinball machines because I had a connection to them through my film experience.”
design_philosophy: Barrels of Fun's approach explicitly centers on creating a 'world under glass' or 'planet under glass' by marrying IP narrative, visual design, and mechanical interaction to place the player inside the universe rather than viewing it externally
high · David Van Ness: 'We want to create a world under glass... as Brian would say, did we create a planet under glass? And that was kind of the whole point'
design_innovation: Dune Pinball implements night/day cycle mechanics, 3D backbox environments, multi-mode prophecy sequences, and integrated toy mechanics (thumper-worm interaction) to create a 'cinematic pinball' experience that mirrors film pacing and narrative beats
high · Colin's observation of 'cinematic pinball' experience; David Van Ness details of 'Ride' mode with prophecy tiers and worm mechanics; night/day 3D world cycles
licensing_signal: Barrels of Fun maintains an unusually collaborative relationship with Legendary Entertainment and Denis Villeneuve, including advance screenings of Dune Part Two, direct access to 3D film assets, and iterative creative feedback on design authenticity
high · David Van Ness: 'we actually got invited to experience it [Dune Part Two]' and 'we're getting those things that we can utilize in the game itself' and detailed feedback about cloud removal from 3D environments
product_strategy: Barrels of Fun maintains strict production limits (~1,000 units per title) as a deliberate strategy to create exclusivity, community focus, and manage demand within a niche collector market
high · Gonzo: 'the benefit of only doing a thousand games is that you know there will be a minority of people that say it's not a theme'; David Van Ness approves without contradiction
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high confidence · David Van Ness detailed gameplay explanation: 'So, tier one is you have to set the thumper to call the worm... Tier two is he's coming for you... you've got to hit the worm'
Dune features night and day cycle mechanics incorporated via 3D environments on the backbox screen, with careful attention to environmental details (e.g., no clouds per Denis Villeneuve's direction).
high confidence · David Van Ness: 'we've created whole night and day cycles in a in a 3d world in this game' and director feedback about removing clouds because 'there's no water on the planet'
Barrels of Fun's game four will feature a mechanical toy concept that originated from an internal team brainstorm idea by Brian Savage.
high confidence · David Van Ness: 'in fact game four will have a mech in it... brian was actually messaging me today about an idea he had'
David Van Ness @ personal collecting history — Core motivation for his approach to pinball design: prioritizing thematic immersion and narrative
“We do use Pinside for a little bit of market research and community and stuff like that. But we also get the data from the studios of what their demo is and what are they marketing to”
David Van Ness @ licensing strategy — Shows Barrels of Fun balances community sentiment with professional market research
business_signal: Barrels of Fun reports strong pre-release Dune sales despite limited ~1,000 unit production, indicating successful market positioning and brand establishment as a credible alternative to larger manufacturers
medium · David Van Ness: 'the sales are doing very good. And this is before even people get to play it'
design_innovation: Dune features a standworm toy integrated with pop-bumper mechanics, animated worm ascent via insert trail with hurry-up jackpot timing, and player-controlled worm steering via lane targets in Desert Power multiball mode
high · David Van Ness detailed description: 'a sand dune with a little thumper... connected to a pop bumper... insert trail that goes up to the physical worm... you can actually steer the worm left and right'
content_signal: Dune Pinball received positive third-party validation from media day players describing it as a novel 'cinematic pinball' experience, with subsequent community polling suggesting strong resonance with emerging gameplay philosophy
high · Colin's media day feedback and resulting community poll on cinematic gameplay experiences mentioned by both Gonzo and David
personnel_signal: Barrels of Fun maintains an internal ideation culture where team members (e.g., Brian Savage) contribute mechanical toy concepts that are captured and potentially integrated into future games (game four referenced as example)
medium · David Van Ness: 'brian was actually messaging me today about an idea he had... as we were working on it all of a sudden we realized... game four will have a mech in it'
design_philosophy: Barrels of Fun intentionally designs machines to be playable and enjoyable by both IP fans and general pinball players; games should function as compelling pinball experiences independent of thematic knowledge, with IP adding secondary value
high · David Van Ness: 'you don't necessarily need to know what the license is to enjoy the game and hopefully the IP will bring some new people that never played pinball before'
market_signal: Gonzo suggests sci-fi as a broadly popular pinball genre with demonstrated collector interest across multiple titles, arguing that 1,000 units is sufficient to serve the sci-fi pinball enthusiast community despite niche appeal concerns
medium · Gonzo: 'there's more than a thousand people that like sci-fi out there in the pinball world' and reference to collector with Labyrinth who 'never had watched the movie... just love the look of it and love the play of it'
manufacturing_signal: Barrels of Fun has transitioned from prototyping in home environments (Labyrinth whitewood in dining room) to dedicated development space and commercial facility, reflecting company growth and professionalization
high · David Van Ness: 'i built labyrinth in my dining room... we've grown a little bit more that we have our own little development space'