Vonnie D Pinball Announces Pinball Gremlins, Seeks Funding

A short time ago we ran a story about a new upstart that was looking to jump into the pinball game, VonnieD Pinball. They want to “bring pinball back” using innovative ideas, designs and game modes but we had to wait to see what that meant. Today they unveiled a small bit of what that will entail with their first game, an original theme they are calling Pinball Gremlins. As they are seeking funding via Kickstarter, they have unveiled a number of things pertaining to the game so we can now see what they mean by offering something different from the standard pinball fare.

In the Kickstarter video they present the idea of a pinball game offering “bosses”, like you might find in a video game, which are there to truly offer a challenge to the player.  “With Pinball Gremlins, you’ll face 6 different main modes battling the attacks of gremlins and the chaos they can wreck, before facing the Boss Gremlin wizard mode.”. These gremlins are based upon the mythical idea of gremlins which wreak havoc in something like a vehicle or some other mechanical product. It’s a clever idea for an original theme.

The boss modes that they have mentioned on Kickstarter are based upon one of the characters seen in the image above. Ideas include hitting as many switches in 30s to keep the machine from “overheating”; playing the game with reversed flippers until you fix it (give the right shots); a lights-out mode where all lights are shut off and no points rewarded until you hit the power switch; random coil firing and other weirdness where you have to keep the ball in play for 60s with no flipper holds; gremlin toys actively blocking shots and retracting your score until you hit the right shots and more. As I mentioned in the first post about VonnieD, I approach new pinball startups with some skepticism but I have to admit, they are winning me over by really trying to do more in a game. This is something I have brought up time and time again, that much more can be done in pinball and even more can be done than just changing the lights or display.  Here is a B/W 3D rendering of the prototype playfield:

To help add some gravitas to the project, they have brought on pinball designer Barry Oursler (resumé includes Gorgar, Space Shuttle, Pin-Bot, Dr Who and Junkyard). They also have artist Gabriel Picolo (who has penned the artwork you see with the logo and some of what you see on the cabinet below) and sound design being handled by Midnight Syndicate. 

Early cabinet prototype

The Kickstarter goal is $100,000, at the time of this writing they only have received a little less than $400 in pledges. There is still plenty of time but we will have to keep an eye on this to see if they pass not only that but reach their stretch goals, which could change the ColorDMD display to an LCD; online player accounts or if they manage $500,000 in pledges, color changing glass which sounds like a cool idea.

So far I like the sound of where they are taking it but as they mention in their Kickstarter video, it’s not a cheap or easy endeavor. Here’s hoping they overcome those hurdles and provide some additional competition in pinball that can keep things interesting and fresh.

I am excited to see where they are going with this, what are your thoughts?

[Vonnie D Pinball] [Pinball Gremlins Kickstarter]