PINDEVCON: Friday the 13th Pinball by Kyle Smet

Marco Pinball·video·4m 53s·analyzed·Mar 13, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

Kyle Smet's homebrew Friday the 13th pinball wins Texas Pinball Festival; emphasizes narrative and IP authenticity.

Summary

Kyle Smet discusses his homebrew Friday the 13th pinball machine at PinDevCon 2024 (Texas Pinball Festival). The game took 18 months to develop, went through four playfield iterations, features assets and voice work from six original Friday the 13th actors, and won the Texas Pinball Festival grand championship. Smet emphasizes narrative-driven design, achievement-based gameplay, and the importance of IP integration in creating an immersive player experience.

Key Claims

Friday the 13th homebrew machine took approximately 18 months to develop from initial kit to completion
high confidence · Kyle Smet stated 'this game is about a year and a half in the making'
Kyle Smet secured voice work and appearances from six original Friday the 13th film actors for the game
high confidence · Kyle Smet: 'I was able to get six of the original actors from Friday the 13th to be a part of this game'
The Friday the 13th machine went through four different playfield iterations before final version
high confidence · Kyle Smet: 'this is the fourth playfield that I had in this game. The first one was a piece of wood. The second one I actually clear coated... The third one had two different decals on it... then the final iteration'
The machine won the Texas Pinball Festival grand championship
high confidence · Aaron Davis: 'I'm standing in the presence right now of the grand champion winner of the Texas Pinball Festival with this game'
Kyle Smet designed the game with narrative-driven, achievement-based gameplay rather than tournament/point-based mechanics
high confidence · Kyle Smet: 'I am not a tournament player. I'm not a pointbased player. I'm an achievement player'
The playfield arrived just 3 weeks before the Texas Pinball Festival show
high confidence · Kyle Smet: 'Sure enough, my playfield arrived 3 weeks before the show'
Kyle Smet cites Tron as a game that exemplifies strong narrative-driven design
high confidence · Kyle Smet: 'To me, Tron does that really well. You are Sam Flynn. you are fighting through the grid'
The game features mask inserts representing all major Friday the 13th films (12 movies total plus the reboot)
high confidence · Kyle Smet: 'there was 10 movies, and then you have the reboot, which is the 11th movie, and then the 12th movie was Freddy versus Jason'

Notable Quotes

“Friday the 13th has always kind of resonated with me because it's fun, it's campy, it doesn't really take itself too seriously, and there's just an embarrassing amount of content, right, with all the movies and all the video games.”
Kyle Smet@ 0:51 — Explains design philosophy and theme selection rationale
“I knew that I wanted to do a theme that probably wasn't in queue with some of the other major manufacturers”
Kyle Smet@ 0:41 — Indicates differentiation strategy in competitive homebrew space
“Narrative to me is an intangible where you just get a feel for a game... it's just something that you feel. So to be part of that experience you need the call outs. You need the folks from that from that IP.”
Kyle Smet@ 2:44 — Core design philosophy on immersion and IP integration
“If homebrew can take a best in show at a at a show like this, it it can take it anywhere. So hopefully that inspires other people to be creative and and to take that leap because it can be done.”
Kyle Smet@ 4:04 — Statement about homebrew viability and community encouragement
“He left the game and to his friend he said that didn't feel like a homebrew. that that means that he got it. It it gave him an experience and the polish was there for for it not to feel like it was made in my basement, which it was.”
Kyle Smet@ 4:32 — Most meaningful feedback about achieving professional-quality presentation in homebrew
“I was nervous because some people walked up, they they played it for maybe 2 minutes, they didn't really get very far and they walked away... It was awesome. I loved it. It shoots great.”

Entities

Kyle SmetpersonAaron Davisperson Fast Pinballcompany Friday the 13thgamePinDevCon 2024eventTexas Pinball Festival 2024eventErniepersonTrongame

Signals

?
design_philosophy: Kyle Smet emphasizes narrative-driven, achievement-based design focused on player immersion and IP authenticity over tournament/point-based mechanics. Cites Tron as exemplar.
high · Kyle Smet: 'I am not a tournament player. I'm not a pointbased player. I'm an achievement player... Narrative to me is an intangible where you just get a feel for a game'
?
design_innovation: Integration of original film actor voice work and assets to enhance narrative authenticity in homebrew pinball; secured six original Friday the 13th actors.
high · Kyle Smet: 'It was important to me as a fan to include some of the actors from the original series. So I was able to get six of the original actors from Friday the 13th to be a part of this game'
?
manufacturing_signal: Four playfield iterations required during development; final version arrived just 3 weeks before Texas Pinball Festival, creating tight timeline pressure.
high · Kyle Smet: 'this is the fourth playfield... Sure enough, my playfield arrived 3 weeks before the show'
?
community_signal: Homebrew game wins major convention championship (Texas Pinball Festival 2024), setting high quality bar for homebrew projects and inspiring broader community participation.
high · Kyle Smet: 'If homebrew can take a best in show at a at a show like this, it it can take it anywhere. So hopefully that inspires other people to be creative'
~
sentiment_shift: Player feedback indicates homebrew games now achieving commercial-grade polish; 'didn't feel like a homebrew' treated as highest compliment, signaling quality expectations rising.

Topics

Homebrew pinball design and developmentprimaryNarrative-driven gameplay design philosophyprimaryIP licensing and celebrity involvement in homebrew gamesprimaryFriday the 13th horror franchise themeprimaryPlayfield manufacturing and iterationsprimaryTexas Pinball Festival 2024 competition and awardssecondaryAchievement-based vs tournament-based game designsecondaryHomebrew vs commercial game quality/polishsecondary

Sentiment

neutral(0)

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

Hello, my name is Aaron Davis. I'm with Fast Pinball and we're here at Pin DevCon, a little subset homebrew space within the Texas Pinball Festival here, 2024. And I'm here with Kyle Smith with the uh Friday the 13th pin. Like, this game is amazing. Talk about this game. Thank you so much. So, hey, uh Kyle. Um so, this game is about a year and a half in the making, right? So, I started with a kit from Ernie. When I say kit, it was a piece of plywood with some wires and a computer and a controller and I got the flippers working and and I did a backflip. I was super excited. So, now what? So, I knew that I wanted to do a theme that probably wasn't in quue with some of the other major manufacturers, right? So, um uh Friday the 13th has always kind of resonated with me because it's it's fun, it's campy, it doesn't really take itself too seriously, and there's just an embarrassing amount of content, right, with all the movies and all the video games. And I knew I wanted a fast kind of brutal game. So my intent was to build something that was kind of in line between Terminator 2 and Iron Man, but I also knew that I wanted to incorporate all of the assets that I could, all the different callouts, all the movies. So it was important to me as a fan to include some of the actors from the original series. So I was able to get six of the original actors from Friday the 13th to be a part of this game. I started with kind of a thin piece of plywood, worked my way up to what John Youssi here. So this is the fourth playfield that I had in this game. The first one was a piece of wood. The second one I actually clear coated. I had to move some of the inserts around. The third one had two different decals on it. It had the first iteration of art. Then I had the final iteration of art. And I said, "Okay, well, I'm just going to have to go to Texas with a sticker on there cuz I'm not going to get the playfield in time." Sure enough, my playfield arrived 3 weeks before the show. So, I knew that the main feature had to be the mask. And I wanted every movie represented with an insert in his mask. So, part one, part two, part three, and there was 10 movies, and then you have the reboot, which is the 11th movie, and then the 12th movie was Freddy versus Jason. So, so like we talked about, narrative is important. I wanted the player to be Jason, and the goal is to battle Freddy. And to do that, you got to do all the different achievements. Narrative to me is an intangible where you just get a feel for a game. There there are some games which are classics uh that that do that really well. To me, Tron does that really well. You are Sam Flynn. you are fighting through the grid and the goal is is to get out and then you have all these different side quests and that's what you're trying to do. Um I am not a tournament player. I'm I'm not a pointbased player. I'm an achievement player. So when you are a character and you're actually progressing through a game that gives you an experience and that's something that you can't really verbalize. It's just something that you feel. So to be part of that experience you need the call outs. You need the folks from that from that IP. That's incredible. I mean like it it's beautiful. And I I mentioned before in one of the other conversations that this was the first time I remember people talking homebrew on a panel and having to disclaim that like these homebrews look fantastic. You should still iterate and bring games if they're in Whitewood form, but you've set the bar so high on projects like this. I was nervous because some people walked up, they they played it for maybe 2 minutes, they didn't really get very far and they walked away and I and I and I went, "How was it?" It was awesome. I loved it. It shoots great. I'm like, "But you only played it for two minutes." "Oh, no. It was perfect. It was great." So, um the game is certainly coded deeper than probably the the difficulty um needs. So, I can certainly tweak that. And then, um it's uh this is all great uh great experience and lessons learned for me when I uh start number two. I'm standing in the presence right now of the grand champion winner of the Texas Pinball Festival with this game. So, talk about that. I mean, that is fantastic. So, I I I'm blown away. I'm I'm speechless, but I'm also super appreciative of of the folks who put this show on and to be even mentioned in the same breath as some of these other quality homebrews. These are fantastic. Uh and I am so glad to be part of something that will continue to grow. If homebrew can take a best in show at a at a show like this, it it can take it anywhere. So hopefully that inspires other people to be creative and and to take that leap because it it it can be done even in in the face of such stiff competition and such great games. It it it is absolutely possible. And I'll tell you that the best piece of feedback that I got all weekend, you know, kind of in in the background watching was somebody played it had an average game. I I wasn't sure how they felt about it. He left the game and to his friend he said that didn't feel like a homebrew. that that means that he he he got it. It it gave him an experience and the polish was there for for it not to feel like it was made in my basement, which it was. But uh but uh super super cool.