Five Minutes to Tilt #3 – Eric Meunier on Secrecy, Family & the Harry Potter Codename

Dutch Pinball Museum·video·9m 9s·analyzed·Feb 18, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.023

TL;DR

JJP designer Eric Meunier reveals Harry Potter codename 'Project Yig' origin and family playtesting anecdotes.

Summary

Eric Meunier, game designer at Jersey Jack Pinball with 14 years tenure, shares personal stories about working on Harry Potter pinball (codename 'Project Yig') and the challenges of maintaining secrecy in the tight-knit pinball community. He reveals how he chose the codename by referencing H.P. Lovecraft's elder god Yig (father of serpents) as a clever nod to Harry Potter's initials, and describes bringing his young sons to the factory to playtest early Harry Potter code, where his 9-year-old provided blunt feedback on repetitive Death Eater modes. The interview explores the human side of game development, family involvement, and the burden of keeping work confidential from friends in the pinball industry.

Key Claims

Eric Meunier has worked at Jersey Jack Pinball for almost 14 years, starting in 2012
high confidence · Direct self-identification by Eric Meunier in opening interview segment
Meunier started as electrical engineer, doing electronics for Wizard of Oz, Hobbit, and Dialed In
high confidence · Eric Meunier explicitly states his career progression at JJP
Meunier's first game as lead game designer was Pirates of the Caribbean
high confidence · Direct statement by Eric Meunier
Since Pirates, Meunier has designed Guns and Roses, Godfather, and Harry Potter
high confidence · Eric Meunier lists his designer credits
Harry Potter pinball had codename 'Project Yig' derived from H.P. Lovecraft's elder god mythology
high confidence · Eric Meunier explains the deliberate naming choice linking HP (Harry Potter) to HP (Lovecraft) and selecting Yig as father of serpents
Early Harry Potter code had only one Death Eater mode initially, which Meunier's 9-year-old son criticized as repetitive
high confidence · Detailed anecdote from Eric Meunier about playtesting session in Joe Catz's office
Joe Catz is the lead programmer of Harry Potter
high confidence · Eric Meunier identifies Joe Catz as 'lead programmer of the game' during anecdote
Godfather pinball had codename 'Zeus' and Guns & Roses had codename 'Slasher'
high confidence · Eric Meunier directly provides these codenames when asked
JJP game designers and lead programmers create obscure codenames to maintain secrecy in public discussions
high confidence · Eric Meunier explains the general practice and purpose of codenames at the studio
Meunier's children (ages 10 and 8) are instructed to use only codenames when discussing his work, never actual game titles

Notable Quotes

“I can't talk about my game with any of my friends, right? Because all of my friends are in pinball.”
Eric Meunier @ ~1:20 — Illustrates the unique challenge of working in a niche industry where social circles overlap with professional competitors and community members
“Why is it the same guy every time? This is really boring.”
Eric Meunier's 9-year-old son @ ~4:00 — Candid child feedback on early Harry Potter Death Eater mode repetition, demonstrating unfiltered playtest criticism
“Man, we can really tell whose son this is, right? Doesn't hold back.”
Joe Catz (lead programmer) @ ~4:10 — Joe Catz's reaction to the child's blunt feedback, showing the lighter side of game development team dynamics
“Mr. Joe, can you make sure to fix the Death Eater mode so it's more fun?”
Eric Meunier's 9-year-old son @ ~4:45 — Child's polite follow-up request to the lead programmer, demonstrating how feedback was taken constructively
“Harry Potter was called Project Yig. It comes from a story written by HP Lovecraft. HP Lovecraft was a sci-fi writer back in the 1920s. I had Harry Potter HP, and it led me down that road.”
Eric Meunier @ ~5:30 — Reveals the clever wordplay and creative thinking behind the Harry Potter codename selection
“Yig is known as the father of serpents. He was this like elder god that had to do with snakes.”
Eric Meunier @ ~5:50 — Explains the mythological meaning of the codename, showing deliberate thematic connection to the game's subject matter
“I make something that all of them want to know more about and I can't talk about it.”
Eric Meunier @ ~7:00 — Captures the emotional tension of being a designer admired by peers but unable to share his work
“Every game has code names and it's generally up to the game designer or lead programmer to come up with some obscure reference that kind of works afterwards and that kind of doesn't work.”

Entities

Eric Meunierperson Jersey Jack Pinballcompany Harry PottergameProject YigproductJoe CatzpersonPirates of the CaribbeangameGuns and RosesgameGodfathergame

Signals

?
community_signal: Game designers maintain active involvement in local pinball leagues and social circles, creating tension between professional secrecy obligations and community curiosity
high · Meunier: 'I am in a monthly pinball league and I hang out with friends... none of them press me for any information or anything like that, but it's still just, you know, I make something that all of them want to know more about and I can't talk about it'
?
design_philosophy: Jersey Jack employs deliberate, creative codename selection rooted in obscure cultural/literary references to maintain game secrecy during development
high · Meunier explains: 'every game has a code name' chosen by 'the game designer or lead programmer' using 'obscure reference that kind of works afterwards and that kind of doesn't work'
?
personnel_signal: Eric Meunier confirmed as game designer with 14-year tenure at Jersey Jack, progressing from electrical engineer to lead designer role
high · Direct self-identification: 'I started as the electrical engineer. Uh, back in 2012... almost 14 years I've been a part of the team'
?
product_strategy: Harry Potter playtest feedback from young children identified repetitive Death Eater mode as needing improvement; developer team responded constructively to criticism
high · Child's feedback: 'Why is it the same guy every time? This is really boring.' Joe Catz response: 'Oh, man. You got it, buddy.'
?
industry_signal: Jersey Jack development culture encourages informal family involvement in playtesting and constructive feedback from all levels

Topics

Game development secrecy and codenamesprimaryJersey Jack Pinball internal operations and team cultureprimaryHarry Potter pinball development and playtestingprimaryWork-life balance and family involvement in game designsecondaryPinball community dynamics and professional relationshipssecondaryGame designer career progressionmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Eric Meunier speaks warmly about his 14-year career at Jersey Jack, his family's involvement, and the collaborative team culture. The anecdote about his son's playtest feedback is humorous and affectionate. He expresses gratitude for being able to share his work with family. The only mild tension noted is the difficulty of maintaining secrecy from friends in the community, but this is presented philosophically rather than bitterly.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

At the Dutch Pinball Museum, we collect stories before they are lost. Because pinball history doesn't live only in machines. It lives in people. In stories that are often told once and then disappear. 5 minutes, one egg timer. When it rings, the story ends. All right, man. Oh. Mhm. That looks awesome. Mhm. Wow, man. We are at Pimble at the beach. Yeah. Yeah. And we're going to do a series of interviews and Eric, welcome. Thank [snorts] you. Um, so hello everybody. All right. Hey there. So my name is Eric Miner and I am a game designer at Jersey Jack Pinball. Uh, that is not the only title that I've held at Jersey Jack Pinball. I actually started as the electrical engineer. Uh, back in 2012 is when I started working here. So almost 14 years I've been a part of the team. Uh, I did electronics for Wizard of Oz and Hobbit and Dialed In. And then my first game as lead game designer was Pirates of the Caribbean. And since then, I've done three other titles including Guns and Roses, Godfather, and most recently Harry Potter. Harry Potter. Yes. Wow. Yeah. And yeah, this very nice game. So, uh, I emailed you in front with a question. The untold story. Untold story. So, something that I really love about pinball is that Um, it's so much a part of my life. I talk about I can't talk about my game with any of my friends, right? Uh, because all of my friends are in pinball. So, you know, normally when you get together with your friends, oh, how was work today? Well, I can't tell you about it because it's all top secret. Yeah, you can tell Jolene, right. Exactly. [laughter] Right. But, so I can talk to certain people. Um, some of those people like my wife, right? And I can talk to my children. Yes. So, my children are 10 and 8-year-old boys. And one day, um, the kids had off school, but I did not have off work. So, we were we were hanging out actually in the pinball factory. And this was before Harry Potter was launched. So, my kids got to come in and play Harry Potter before the whole world got to see it. This is early code. And something that happens with early code is generally when you're playing your game, you just get it working, right? And are all of the is all the choreography done? No. Are all the light shows there? No. All the sound there? No. But the the spirit of the mode is there. So my son was 9 years old and he was playing Harry Potter for the first time and he would shoot at the villain uh the Death Eater, right? and it would start the Lucius Malfoy Death Eater fight and he played through it and he beat it and sitting so we're in my programmer's office. We're in the office of Joe Katz, lead programmer of the game. And Joe is sitting there and my nine-year-old son is playing the game and the ball shoots out and he catches it and he shoots it again and it starts the Lucius Malfoy Death Eater fight again and he plays through it and it kicks out and he catches it and he shoots it back in there and it starts the Lucious Malfoy Death Eater fight again because there was only one mode at the time, only one Death Eater in there at the time. And as is often the case with children, they're not they don't have a lot of tact when it comes to providing feedback on something. So we're sitting there and Joe is sitting there and he's like, "Well, what do you think?" And my son says, "Well, why is it the same guy every time? This is really boring." And Joe is just like, "Man, we can really tell whose son this is, right? Doesn't hold back." So, we continue to play and I'm explaining to my son, you know, what happens when you're developing a game and how things come together and you know, this is just the first step and it'll get better and we'll add a couple more guys, a couple more bad guys in there. But right now, this is where we're at, you know, and are you having fun? Oh, yeah. I'm having fun, Dad. This is really cool. I like doing it. Um, so we play some more of the stuff and show them some more of the modes. And then as we're walking out of the office, my 9-year-old son turns to Joe and says, "Mr. Joe, can you make sure to fix the Death Eater mode so it's more fun?" [laughter] Joe's just like, "Oh, man. You got it, buddy." And it's one of those things where, you know, not everyone can take their kids to work and have a lot of fun, right? But I'm I'm very um grateful that this is something that I can do. Yeah. you can share it and my kids get to play it, right? And I can talk to my kids about what I do and they never say the names of my games, right? They only ever use the code names because that's important. So, we can talk about it, right? Um, Harry Potter was called Project Yig. Yik. That was the name of it. Yig. Yes. Um, and does it has a meaning? It it does kind of have a meaning. So, this is one of those untold stories. Um, every game has a code name so that you can talk about it in public. And [clears throat] Gig actually comes from a story written by HP Lovecraft. And so HP Lovecraft was a sci-fi writer back in the 1920s. Um, and so I had this, you know, Harry Potter HP. Uh, it led me down that road of, um, well, I can name it Lovecraft, but that might be a little too obvious. So, I instead decided to dig a little deeper and found one of the stories written by HP Lovecraft. And Yig is known as the father of serpents. And he was this like elder god that had to do with snakes. Um, and that was the code name for the game. And every member of my team was just like, what is Yig? What does that mean? So, I had to tell this whole story about why I chose this name for the game. And you can find some engineering drawings that have Yig written on them. Um, and it's just the what we do so that we don't accidentally slip up and talk about the name of the game. Yeah. When we're discussing things, uh, out at lunch or after work. Um, so yeah, it must be hard to keep all that for yourself. It It is tough, you know, like I I am in a monthly pinball league and I hang out with friends and some of those friends are actually here on the beach with us. Um, and none of them press me for any information or anything like that, but it's still just, you know, I I make something that all of them want to know more about and I can't talk about it. You're their hero. Yeah, man. Man. Yeah. So, uh, we still haven't made it. So, uh, do you recall the other names for Godfather and for Guns and Roses? Yes. So, Godfather was called Zeus. Zeus, the father of gods, right? It was it was pretty fitting. And Guns & Roses nickname was slasher. Slasher for obvious reasons, right? Okay. So, yeah, every game has code names and it's generally up to the game designer or lead programmer to come up with some obscure reference that kind of works afterwards and that kind of doesn't work. Uh, so Steve told me a few of them. It was awesome from the old days. So, maybe they mugged them up with into some things, but nice nice story. Yeah. Well, thank you, man. Yeah, of course. You're welcome. Still no rain, but it's going to be here any minute now. So, anything else? Are you enjoying the show? Not excited yet, but we love the sun. We're coming from Chicago. It was snowing there. It was snowing there this morning when we uh when we took off, and now it's sunny and it's not hot, but it's a lot warmer than it is in Chicago. So, for us, for us, it's hot for European guys. Okay. Yeah. All right. Okay, man. Why not? Well, so now we're going to enjoy the cheers. So there are all famous people. So if you sit here, you only see famous people walk by, right? Yep. Like I see my uh audio engineer over there right now. David David. David H. Yep. Yes. We're going to put it for the camera. Do you think he have nice stories to tell? Oh, he has incredible stories. He's been in the industry longer than most, you know, and making things like um Cubert. Hubert is Oh, wow. is one of Dave's first games. So, I will pull his strings. Yep. Yes. But do we have a ding on that thing? Should we? It's new. Thought it did. Yeah, it is. Okay, pleasure. Thank Yeah.