Homebrew Showcase: Luau Pinball by John Manuelin

Marco Pinball·video·8m 9s·analyzed·Nov 7, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Homebrew designer John Manuelin unveils Luau, a Domino parts-based custom game running Unity software.

Summary

John Manuelin showcases Luau, a homebrew pinball game built by repurposing parts from two broken Domino machines. The playfield was completely redesigned from scratch using only existing Domino components, runs on FAST hardware with Unity-based software, and features a new artwork that was printed on-site just before the Chicago Pinball Expo. Manuelin is an experienced homebrew designer with 9-10 games to his name, including a working Pinball Circus remake that he maintains at the Electromagnetic Pinball Museum in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Key Claims

Luau is built from two trashed Domino machines, reusing only existing playfield parts with new layout design
high confidence · John Manuelin, during direct description of Luau's construction
The playfield artwork was printed just days before the show due to printer failures across southern New England
high confidence · John Manuelin explaining the timeline: printed Tuesday, brought to show for Chicago Pinball Expo
Manuelin uses Unity for game software and can push remote code updates during shows without players knowing
high confidence · John Manuelin: 'I'm a game programmer for my daily job. I use Unity in my day job. So it just makes sense to use Unity on these games.'
Manuelin has built approximately 9-10 games total and maintains a workshop in Lincoln, Rhode Island
high confidence · John Manuelin stating 'this is like my ninth or 10th game' and 'I do have a shop in Lincoln, Rhode Island'
Manuelin created a working Pinball Circus remake that received cease-and-desist from Disney but later negotiated access to display it
high confidence · John Manuelin: 'I got a cease and desist, so I couldn't bring it. And then I worked with them...I got the Okay.'
Homebrew builders commonly continue design work and code updates right up to and during show debuts
high confidence · Marco (host): 'It's not not a big deal for homebrew guys to be doing stuff up until the moment of the show.'
Manuelin previously created custom hardware called the 'LinBall kit' using Teensy 3.5 and Arduino before switching to FAST
high confidence · John Manuelin: 'I actually made my own board set also before I started using fast. I call it the lin ball kit'

Notable Quotes

“Everything on here existed on Domino. Nothing new was on there...Domino had four jets, seven targets, the roto target and two saucers, and that's what I had to work with.”
John Manuelin @ early in discussion — Explains the constraint-based design philosophy: reusing only existing parts from the donor machines
“With my games, they're all connected to the internet, so I can just push code updates and you guys won't even know it.”
John Manuelin @ software discussion — Highlights modern homebrew capability for remote code deployment using Unity services
“I just created a C# class that mimicked the hardware and I saw the visualization in Unity with like text numbers and when I plugged it in, poof, it worked.”
John Manuelin @ score reel discussion — Shows development methodology: virtual testing before hardware integration
“The hardest part was getting the art on the playfield, frankly.”
John Manuelin @ build challenges section — Reveals practical manufacturing bottleneck: finding print capacity for custom playfield art
“I I don't like Python, the code language. Python the designer is awesome, but the language sucks.”
John Manuelin @ software tooling discussion — Explains preference for C#/Unity over Python-based FAST framework alternatives
“You can't even play Pinball Circus at the Pinball Hall of Fame...I make sure mine stays working.”
John Manuelin @ Pinball Circus discussion — Implicit criticism of the official Pinball Circus restoration at PHOF, highlighting maintenance quality
“I went all around southern New England. I couldn't find any printer who could do this...So I posted my lament about me wanting to buy a printer now.”
John Manuelin @ art printing challenges — Documents supply chain bottleneck in custom playfield printing for homebrew projects
“Bob of Ramps Pinball and Lonnie Min right over there. They printed it up for me.”

Entities

John ManuelinpersonMarco PinballpersonLynnpersonIsaiahpersonBobpersonLonnie MinpersonLuaugameDominogame Pinball CircusgameHaunted Cruisegame

Signals

?
design_innovation: Luau demonstrates creative reuse: complete playfield redesign using only existing Domino parts (4 jets, 7 targets, roto target, 2 saucers, 2 kickers), showing how hobbyists innovate within material constraints
high · John Manuelin: 'I wasn't going to add anything new really. So everything on here existed on Domino.'
?
technology_signal: Homebrew builder using professional game engine (Unity) for pinball software, enabling remote code updates and virtual hardware simulation before physical implementation
high · John Manuelin: 'I use Unity in my day job...I created a C# class that mimicked the hardware and I saw the visualization in Unity...when I plugged it in, poof, it worked.'
?
supply_chain_signal: Acute shortage of capable playfield art printing capacity in southern New England; multiple printer failures forced homebrew builder to seek alternative suppliers; critical path item for show preparation
high · John Manuelin: 'I went all around southern New England. I couldn't find any printer...they did vinyl and I don't do vinyl prints.'
?
community_signal: Community operators (Ramps Pinball, Lonnie Min) stepped in to solve critical supply chain issue for peer builder on short notice, enabling show debut
high · John Manuelin: 'Bob of Ramps Pinball and Lonnie Min right over there. They printed it up for me...got it in time for Expo.'
?
event_signal: Luau debuted at Chicago Pinball Expo after initial whitewood debut at Pentastic in April; playfield art completed 2-3 days before show

Topics

Homebrew Game Design and DevelopmentprimaryFAST Hardware and Unity Software IntegrationprimaryPlayfield Part Sourcing and ReuseprimarySupply Chain Challenges (Printing, Manufacturing)primaryCustom Electronics and DIY Board DesignsecondaryLicensed vs. Unlicensed Theme DevelopmentsecondaryCommunity Mutual Aid and CollaborationsecondaryLast-Minute Show Preparationmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Manuelin is enthusiastic and proud of Luau; host and community (Bob, Lonnie) are supportive and collaborative. Some mild frustration expressed about printer failures, but resolved positively. Overall tone is celebratory of homebrew accomplishment and community spirit.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

We are here with Lynn. Hi. Here I am. Here. There I am. There I am. I think we're good. Am I Am I Okay, here you are. I'm I'm over here, so it's all good. Okay, now we're [laughter] uh Isaiah's already shooting on it. What are we What are we looking at, Lynn? So, this game is called Luau. Um, I wanted to make a wedge head, and I I asked some friends of mine if they had any wedge heads they were going to basically trash, and I got a free domino. Oh, it was like un It was like done. It was It was done enough that it wasn't worth really trying to restore. They They actually had two dominoes and so we took the whatever was good. Like, I gave them the plastics and everything off of it and back glasses and things. And uh I took the worst of the few and uh I decided that I was going to redesign the playfield from scratch, but I was only going to use the parts that existed on the playfield previously. I wasn't going to add anything new really. So everything on here existed on Domino. Nothing new was on there. Of course, I made some new lane guides and other things to make the ball paths work, but uh Domino had four jets. Domino had like seven targets or whatever it was. It had the uh the roto target and the two uh uh kickers, the two um saucers, and that's what I had to work with. So So the the playfield looks amazing. Is the playfield new? Yeah, the playfield is new. So I just got this two days ago on No, 3 days ago on Sunday. I I got two of them printed and in my hotel room I swapped it on Tuesday. Yeah, I got the white wood still over in my uh my hotel room. You wouldn't believe you wouldn't I guess you would because you're in this community, but I was going to say chat, you wouldn't believe how common that story is. It's not not a big deal for homebrew guys to be doing stuff up until the moment of the show. It's not a big deal for us to be continuing to add code and changes during the show. [laughter] And with my games, uh they're all connected to the internet, so I can just push code updates and you guys won't even know it. Oh, wow. Yeah. all remote config, all uh on online updates, detection of updates and all kinds of things like that. I use Unity for my software and it kind of has all that stuff built into the Unity services. Okay, so this is like fast or mpm. Well, so this uses the fast hardware. Um I I don't like Python, the code language. Python the the designer is awesome, but the the language sucks. Python Anghelo. Yeah, Python Angel. Yeah. So I'm a C++ assembly C# guy. I I use Unity in my day job. I'm a game programmer for my daily job. So, I just makes sense to use Unity on these games. And this is running Unity. And there is an LCD in the backbox. If I open up the backbox, yeah, you just would never know it if you just play this and look at it because it says all EM related things. I do know that the um the guy who did Mech Warrior did it in Unity and I think he just used Arduinos actually. Yeah. Um, I actually made my own board set also before I started using fast. I call it the lin ball kit and uh I still use that for my own uh test rigs at at my shop. And that uses a a Tinsi uh 3.5 and Arduino and everything. Yeah. Oh man, that's old school. It's not that old school. Tinsi is awesome. Tinsi is great. Yeah, it's a hell of a lot faster than Nanos and everything. Like the IIO is like lightning speed. So yeah. So what was it what was the hardest part about this this this build here? It's more of a I wouldn't say it's it's it's a kind of a rebuild rethe. Um the hardest part was getting the art on the playfield, frankly. So I made this as kind of an in between project for the winter. I I designed it in two months, right? Between February and March in time for a Pentastic in April. And I had all the art and everything done, but the sign shop I usually go to to print my art, their printer was down. And I'm like, "All right, well, great." So, it was white wood for fantastic. And then, uh, a month ago, I went back to them and said, "Hey, I really want I'm going to Chicago. I'm going to expo. I really want this thing to have the art on it." And they said, "Well, our printer's still down 7 months later." And I gave them two playfields and said, "Look, you got to know someone else around here. Can you please do it?" "Yeah, all right. We know someone else." Great. Uh, one week later, I get a call. I hate to tell you this, but the other guy's printer doesn't work either. And I'm like, "What the?" [laughter] So, I went all around southern New Robert Englunds. I couldn't find any printer who could do this. It they it was either too small, too uh too weird for them to do, or they did vinyl, and I I don't do vinyl prints. So, I I posted my lament about me wanting to buy a printer now, which I still want to buy a printer. And uh Bob and Lonnie came up and said, "Hey, Lyn, just send it to us. We'll take care of you and get it in time for Expo." So, um, yeah, Bob of uh, Tilt Bob or not Tilt Bob, uh, Ramps Pinball and, uh, Lonnie Min right over there. Uh, they printed it up for me. It looks great. And it really does. I got two done. One for the game and one for my wall in my shop. Yep. Is this your first game or is not? No, this is like my ninth [music] or 10th game. Wow. Yeah. So, here's Season Pro. Name some of your other games that you've done. Um, so you can play all my games at the Electromagnetic Pinball Museum in Pucket that I always have them there on uh public location all the time. It's 10 bucks to enter at free play. Yep. And uh my other games are Haunted Antonio Cruz, uh Magic Forest, Disney's Frozen, uh Christmas Countdown, and Pinball Circus the remake. No. No. Are you Are you seriously that guy? I am serious. Oh snap. Wait, do they where where is it? Uh, currently you can play it at uh at uh EMP. Wow. It I tried to bring it to expo last year. I got a cease and desist, so I couldn't bring it. And then I worked with them and I was able to get it to Pantastic this past April. And then right after Pentastic, I said, "Hey, can I just put it at EMP because I'm right there all the time?" And I got the Okay. So, you can play a pinball circus that works. You can't even play pinball circus at the Pinball Hall of Fame. No, you can't. Yeah. And I make sure mine stays working. Yeah. Oh, and shade. No. And and I actually redesigned a lot of it, too. So, there's actually orbits. There's And another ramp because why not? And and there's multiball because why not? So, yeah. It's like multiball. Yeah. On a pinball. Yeah. I got to play. Yeah. You're gonna have to come down and play. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, John, uh, sorry, Lynn. Yeah. Oh, I got one more question for you. How scary is it to work on uh score reels? Oh, it's easy It's easy. Yeah, because it's you. Well, so I didn't even know it was going to work until I plugged it in and it just worked. It worked. So, like I said, I use C++ and whatnot. So, I just created a or C# and I I just created a C# class that mimicked the hardware and I saw the visualization in Unity with like text numbers and when I plugged it in, poof, it worked. So, I I knew it was working virtually before I knew the hardware was actually going to work. So, so check it out you guys. Lynn, this is Luau. Don't Here's the thing. Don't be uh intimidated by this gentleman here. You heard it's his like eighth game. By the time you get to your third game, you guys will have learned a lot about how Pil is built. Um, thank you, Lynn, for bringing your game over. I I do have a shop in uh Lincoln, Rhode Island, and every Sunday I'm there with a bunch of other uh buddies in the area who are working on their own games, too. And I'm teaching them how to do it, letting giving them my resources for that. So, yeah, hopefully we'll see a lot more games coming out of uh New Robert Englunds area over the next couple years. Thank you, bro. Thank you. So, good. This is luau, you guys.