Cult of PiN

It's a lot of fun, but it needs two things: the ability to dead flip (let the ball hit a flipper that's down to let it bounce to the other flipper) and the ability to transfer the ball (be trapped up and then quickly flip to bounce it backwards into the post of the sling and across to the other flipper). These are two things that real pins do and would vastly improve the gameplay here. Otherwise, I'm having fun with it!

Safe. I think that's how I'd describe it most politely. I respect the attempt and the effort, but part of me really does just despise this game on some level, and I've been struggling to figure out exactly why. The tables look really nice, and the overall visual presentation (outside of some UI awkwardness) is quite good for the style it's going for, but the functional design of each table is - for lack of a better word - lame. The first one is almost completely symmetrical, with the bare minimum present for it to be considered a pinball table, and they don't progress much further from there. The final table just barely begins to take shape, but I feel like I would've preferred one good table over 1 mediocre table, and 3 really dull ones. With muted colour schemes, an absence of flashing lights or gratuitous sound effects, and music that has a shockingly low BPM for a pinball game, it gives off the air of a much more casual experience, which I'm not entirely sure works with something as (typically) pulse-pounding and stress-inducing as Pinball. Virtual pinball is usually at its best when its leveraging the unreal environment to perform feats that a physical table wouldn't be able to, and though an eldritch eye popping out at you isn't likely to happen on a real table, I bet a physical bumper with a calculated lifebar that works exactly the same as this game's first 2 boss fights absolutely could. There's no flash to the table, no real development in how they're played, just a single big boss bumper that shows up after a while - Hit that thing enough times (enough times) and you win. So, the virtual stuff is all in the roguelite portion of the game, as you definitely couldn't have these weird chain effects and rings of fire on a regular table, and the damage system would be a monster to program into it. Unfortunately, they too are seemingly the only interesting parts of the system. Most upgrades boil down to "Your damage number goes up more often while doing things you were already doing" or "You can get more upgrades easier." - Again, the word lame is the best I can think of for this. You also have a surprising amount of control over which upgrades you get, so the thrill of a random run is sort of lost in the middling variety of options. There's no wacky synergies to discover outside of chaining multiballs together, and perhaps worse than that, there's no [i]reason[/i] to try to discover any synergies even if they were there, because the table/boss design is so simple. It's a videogame with spooky cult stuff going on, so where's the madness? There's so many cool ideas that could be put into a game like this: Grow a new flipper somewhere on the stage, push a dedicated key to fire out a black hole on the board that pulls the ball towards it, every x times the ball hits a surface it gains momentum in a random direction, laser beams that shoot out of the ball that disappear when they hit something but can be deflected with the flippers - These are just ideas that would work with how the game is currently built, and if the tables had some enemies moving around them or something, the possibilities increase monstrously. Alas, the game isn't trying to be all that complex, it's just a very simple pinball game with an equally simple roguelite progression system bolted onto it, and I'm sure it will appeal to a lot of people for it. For me, I can't see why I'd play this over Demon's Tilt/Xenotilt (the soundtracks alone are worth the price), Space Cadet, or Pinball FX - Hell, I'd honestly rather be playing Sonic Spinball. I recommend you try these out instead. Dull soundtrack, mid gameplay, no energy, ill-conceived roguelite bunkum. The skill ceiling is in the floor and the mechanics don't compliment one another. Looks pretty though, and handles like a dream. As far as those aspects are concerned, it's professional quality and a damn good job. This probably isn't the nicest or clearest way to put it, but I genuinely hope Kenny teams up with someone with a much less sensible mindset for future projects; they feel like one half of an incomplete comedy duo.

The design, concept, look, and feel of Cult of Pin are all really clean. In my experience, I didn’t run into any bugs that stopped my progress, and the whole game was very smooth to play. This is where things get difficult for me, though. After only an hour, I felt like I’d already seen most of what the game had to offer. From there, I found myself mostly just hitting balls up the table to proc skills, build multipliers, and finish the level. The problem is that, beyond making sure I hit the ball correctly and nudging at the right time, I never felt like my decisions mattered very much. It quickly became a no-brain, rinse-and-repeat grind for me, and that happened after only an hour of play which should be the exact opposite for a game in this genre, I didn't get that usual just another run feel as you would expect from a roguelike. I think Cult of Pin has a lot of potential and could become a really great niche pick, but as it stands, I wouldn’t recommend it to a friend at full price. At best, I’d say wait for a sale and give it a shot then.

Great concept and idea for a Rougelike. But the game is flat for me personally. When you think of a Pinball game/machine you think Sound Effects, Loads going on etc, hardly any feedback, sounds, effects, the music in the trailer is the music in the game monotonous.

This was difficult to not recommend. The visuals, audio, theme, and build variety are amazing, but there's something here at the core that makes this game very hard to enjoy. I'll try to break down some of my issues in this review, but please know there's really a kernel of something amazing here. The first issue is that Cult of Pin falls victim to the "Balatro" trap, where you NEED to build towards certain things every run in order to just play the game. You need base mult and multiplier bonus. Every run. If you are hamstrung by bad curses or luck, you might never find something in the shops to fill this need. You could have 400 balls, 15 rituals, bonus table, all these fun mechanics, but if your balls are not doing good damage, you won't progress. That's the bottom line. It's annoying but very common in many roguelikes. Second, the pinball mechanic is VERY unforgiving if you're not a well-versed pinball player. Alternating lights, shooting difficult shots, cradling pinballs, you NEED to be a pretty laser-accurate player or you won't EVER activate your rituals. The ritual timers are far too high, and activating them while the boss is active is nearly impossible because the boss takes up an enormous portion of your machine. Of course, you can get lucky and get timer reductions, but that hinges on what's in the shops. I'm a pretty decent roguelike and roguelite player and I was really struggling to consistently hit critical shots. There's just too much going on, which leads me to my next issue: Third, good lord it's hard to keep track of your balls in this game. If you are playing multiball builds, you are literally dripping sweat just to not have the balls decimate your bumpers. You are no longer lining up shots or going for ritual progress; you are in survival mode. Some of the bosses also spawn in additional "dummy" balls and it's incredibly hard to discern which are yours. Multiball builds felt like an active detriment to my playstyle in most cases. On top of bosses summoning in additional obstacles on the field, you are essentially just mashing the bumpers and hoping for the best. All of these things would be forgivable if thewy didn't DETRACT from the core mechanics of the game. The pinball was so beautifully smooth that I found myself wishing it was just a pinball game and not a roguelike. I think this game can be salvaged but it would need a few overhauls. If you're a pinball wizard then you may find yourself laughing at this review and telling me to get good, but I just felt defeated after a few hours with this game.

Interesting idea, but that's it. Repetitive for a roguelite; it's the same as old w:vista pinball with perks. Yes, it's fun for 1.5 hours, and then it's meh, and for the price tag over 10€, not really worth it. Maybe they add more to it, but for now it's not recommended from me. But the + no lags, not even with 20+ balls on the table; it's stable. The design was nice, and the music—I was really thinking I would hate this after 5 min., but it really stuck; even after disabling it, it was annoying but missing. Hope this helps with your decision; I will keep it on my watchlist and try to refund it for now.

Me encantan las bolas calientes. Muy buen juego para platinar. Juego para gastar muchas horas de tu vida, chingon. Tremendas bolas, excelente juego 10/10. Especial para los amantes de las bolas. Tiene distintas bolas (facto)

I was hoping this game would be a fun twist on pinball, and I really tried to like it, but I found it surprisingly tedious. Every stage feels like the same table with the same boss, and nothing really changes to keep things interesting. The balls feel essentially identical, and the objectives between tables don't offer much variety either. The biggest problem is that the game doesn't really justify why you should buy it over something like Pinball FX. Pinball FX is cheaper, offers free demos of a lot of tables, and has tables that are far more interesting both visually and mechanically. I wanted to enjoy this, but after a while it just felt repetitive rather than like a fresh take on pinball.

Merci ma Lady pour le cadeau! J'adore! P.S: privilégiez la souris et clavier, et ne prêtez pas trop attention au mélange d'anglais et français... La traduction française n'est pas à 100% optimale.