Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade First Impressions
Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade is a pure pinball simulation game.
Roll the ball and write your high score!
Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade brings the arcade classic to the tabletop with art, atmosphere, and roll-and-write mechanisms.
Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade Game Overview
Quick Rules Summary
Players have a board that shows several connected segments of a pinball table and a ball marker at the start of the table. A player rolls 2 d6 dice.
The player picks one number and moves the ball around the different parts of the table ticking off boxes of that number. Usually, the ball will fall down the table but items such as flippers may allow you to move the ball upwards. Arrows will point the way.
Players do this simultaneously and when everyone has finished with that pick, the dice are rolled again and this is repeated.
How do you win?
Eventually, you won’t be able to avoid the ball dropping out and when everyone has lost 3 balls the game ends.
Players score points in various ways on different parts of the table as the game is in progress, the player with the most points at the end is the winner.
Main Mechanism
Roll and write! That’s all you need really.
USP
The pinball table theme is the main USP. There is no other game (that I know of obviously) that simulates a pinball table this well.
Theme
The pinball is simulated really well. The flippers fire the ball upwards and which side of the table you go up depends on which flipper you activate. The bumpers bump around endlessly, or at least as long as possible.
There are also combos and things that trigger when you cross them all out, it’s very thematic.
Setup
Give players matching boards and a pen, job done.
Components & Artwork
The boards are ok, I do like a dry wipe board for my roll & writes. You have a tiny silver half-circle that does a good job of looking like a ball on the table. However, it doesn’t glide smoothly which is a shame. The edges dig in so you have to pick it up.
The art is bright, as are the real pinball tables themselves.
Ease of Teaching
The game is very easy to teach, with all open information and all that.
Where a ball goes next and what you can and can’t do with it is tougher. Simultaneous gameplay also makes this a difficult one to teach if only one player knows the rules I would think.
Similar Games
You can go for any roll & write here. Welcome to… and Qwixx are my favourites.
Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade Ball Review
Positives
A very fun representation of pinball in board game form without resorting to a dexterity game.
Roll & Writes are fun, especially dry wipe boards.
There are several tables that all look different, but I’ve only played one.
Getting into the table’s special side game and racking up a combo is satisfying.
Negatives
I was occasionally unsure of some of the rules as to where the ball goes next, it’s not always intuitive.
The ball doesn’t slide as easily as I’d like it to.
It doesn’t appeal to me as a solo game as much as others like Welcome to…, Ganz Schon Clever and even Powerline.
Summary
A very fun game I’d like to play more, but I wouldn’t want to own it or play it by myself.
Jesta ThaRogue
