Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade Board Game Review
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The roll-and-write genre has seen a real revival in recent years, though it has largely failed to capture my attention. Something about the bland rows of empty squares and the lack of setting, let alone an integrated theme, gives the genre more mystery than personality. When I first heard about an upcoming pinball game called Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade from designer Jeff Engelstein, I was convinced. How can pinball be transferred to pen and paper? I had no idea, but I knew I needed to find out.
WizKids kindly released a free to print and play game from Super-Skill just as the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, leading to my first foray into the wide world of pnp. I printed the Carniball field on my black and white printer, decorated it with colored pencils and took the dice. At the start of my first game, I was impressed with how the system managed to create a sense of fluidity and movement reminiscent of real pinball. I was curious to see what the rest of the game had to offer and was looking forward to the full release.
The basic system of Super-Skill is that players roll a pair of dice and move their pinball to new areas on the table depending on the outcome they choose. Each time the ball moves, new objectives and features become available as others close, providing an ever-changing landscape of micro-decisions. Not knowing what might happen next, there is a sense of excitement as the ball soars off the flipper and up through the spins. The game balances this uncertainty with enough control over the ball's path to keep your brain thinking tactically and strategically. Once the rules are mastered, the game even manages to capture a sense of reflexivity as players intuitively react to the frantic movements of the ball around the pin.
Rulesets for each of the four included tablets provide a unique and themed experience. Here's a quick overview of what each pin has to offer:
1. At the unusual Carniball table, players juggle between multiple multiball opportunities, trying to keep both balls in the air to double their points. It is as light and hearty as a lilac cake with a healthy icing sugar filling.
2. The Cyberhack Risk Field sees players as hackers trying to gain access to a corporation's data before being tracked. This is combined through the Push Your Luck mini-game on the back glass of the table, where Super-Skill provides the most adrenaline-charged moments.
3. Accurate Field Dragonslayer sees players as wizards trying to cast spells, level up, and take possession of a dragon's riches. The RPG elements are beautifully executed and give players more freedom and variety between games than any other table, making it one of my favorites.
4. Synchronized Dance Fever features a pinball mini-game, which essentially means two interconnected pinball games are playing at the same time. While I appreciate the themed way of requiring players to be in sync between two tables, I wasn't able to achieve my goal with this. I felt very little freedom playing this table, and scoring came in bits and pieces without the dramatic swings offered by the other three tables. Unfortunately, the only prescription for this fever is less disco.
Like its mechanical progenitors, the Super-Skill's kinetic energy is best experienced in short bursts. This leads to my main criticism of the game, namely its length. Average games lasted a little over an hour for me. While I don't claim to be a particularly fast gamer, some excitement turns to weariness as you approach the 60-minute mark, especially as you go past it. Toward the end of some games, I felt more relieved than disappointed when I realized the ball was going to be lost. Instead of running it backwards, I'm always happy to put the game together after each playthrough. While two-round pinball would be less themed, I think this would likely be my sweet spot in terms of game length.
Despite a few flaws, the overall package is a well-calibrated machine that I plan to continue feeding my precious quarters with, especially if more tables are introduced in the future. Just as Roger Sharpe proved to the New York City Council that pinball is a game of skill and not a slot machine, so Jeff Engelstein opened my eyes to the breadth and depth of this classic arcade game. From the subtleties of pushing the table to the sequence and timing of players hitting various objects, there is more to pinball than meets the eye. Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade is a neon glow on the dark city streets of the roll-and-write genre. It brings a thematic grounding rarely achieved in space, capturing many of the frustrations and delights that make pinball special. If you need to let off some steam, take a stroll down to the local arcade. Throw in a quarter and forget about the world for a while. After all, pinball is the only socially acceptable way to turn a table.
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Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade (ukr)
DESCRIPTION OF BOARD GAME SUPER-SKILL PINBALL: 4-CADE A quick game with the "Roll & Write" mechanic. The board game "Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade" was released in 2020. It received good ratings and reviews on the site "BoardGameGeek". In the same 2020, it was nominated for the Golden Geek competition in the categories of Best Solo Game, Best Zoom Game, and Most Innovative Game. The game is ideal for family or friendly gatherings. Also, "Champion Pinball" is great to play solo. Playe..