Have a Ball?

I've played a fair number of "roll and write" games (and off-shoots of those games). Maybe you have too, since they are all the rage right now: games where each player has a personal sheet of paper to track rolls (Yahtzee-style) and chase a better score than their opponents.

I've seen a good variety of themes among these games -- including games that have barely any theme at all. Now that there are getting to be so many of these games, many designers are experimenting more with mechanical twists on the formula. Others are sticking with what's been popular so far. Very much in the latter camp is Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade.

Each player takes a dry erase sheet showing an identical pinball machine (though the game comes with multiple options, for greater replayability). Each round, one player rolls two dice, and then everyone chooses one of the results to move a pinball token around inside their machine to strike various targets and amass points. After everyone has played through three "balls," the player with the highest score wins.

One thing is indisputable: the flavor is strong here, and the game does an excellent job capturing the mechanics of playing a pinball game. You must respect "gravity" and move your ball downward through sections of your sheet on each turn... until you use a limited number of "flippers" at the bottom to fling your token back up into play. You can focus on different parts of the "machine" for different types of scoring schemes, you can trigger bonus balls and control more than token at once, and you can even "tilt" the machine to rig die results (but you risk locking your machine and losing your ball).

But this game also includes a mechanic I've disliked in other roll-and-write games, and dislike again here: at every single stage of the entire game, each player is presented with identical decisions. Each die roll is offered to all players at once, with everyone picking one of the two numbers available. You all start with your first "ball" at the same time, so at every moment, everyone could choose to play it exactly the same, marking the same parts of their individual score pads and gaining the same number of points. You all have exactly the same number of tilts to use throughout the game, and would be at an identical risk for doing so if you trigger yours at the same moment as another player.

Some games like Twice As Clever are smart enough to present different choices to different players. Not Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade. There's never any "making the best of your situation." There's no element of luck that affects one person any differently than the rest. At the end of the game, if every player had only made exactly the same choice as the winning player on every turn (something they did have the opportunity to do), then everyone would be tied for victory. I simply don't find this at all satisfying... though I gather not everyone has the same hang-up about this, as I keep seeing this come up in game after game in this genre.

If flavor does matter to you, then like I said, this game absolutely excels in this area. And as is also often the case with roll-and-write games, the play is pretty fast-paced. That simultaneous decision making means there's very little down time, and the whole thing plays in about 30 minutes. So I probably would play again, if that were my group's choice. It just wouldn't ever be my choice.

I'd probably rate Super-Skill Pinball: 4-Cade a C+. (But maybe B- would be more fair, in deference to how successfully it captures the flavor of a pinball machine.) It's more approachable than some "and write" games, which might make it a hit for your play group. I personally want a little more strategic meat on the bone.