It’s the first week of January, which aside from it being a new year, means that its time for Stern Pinball to unveil their next game. Last year the reveal was of JAWS, while this year, the company is looking to roll a 20 with Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye. Let’s enter the dungeon…
D&D In Arcades
For those curious about the presence of D&D in arcades, it was first represented by a Bally Midway machine released in 1987. Then in the ’90s, we had Capcom produce a couple of brawler video games featuring the IP (the second one being the more desirable of the two). I have not played the Bally pinball machine, never having come across one. That said, looking at it and comparing it to what Stern is doing, they’re not comparable to each other.
As a personal note, I did play D&D and a little AD&D back as a teen in the ’90s. Haven’t played it since then though…
Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye
In Stern’s DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: The Tyrant’s Eye pinball games, players are chosen members of the Dragonshield Guild, trying to defeat the dragon queen Tiamat, who is hatching a plan to rise again, triggering the War of Dragons, with Xanathar, Balinor and Sammaster all fighting for power. Players will experience the game’s fantasy world under the glass, fusing pinball with the iconic franchise like never before.
Stern released this detailed explanation of the game, but I’ll post a summary after, in case you’re short on time/need a quick reference.
- Original story written by Dwight Sullivan & Zack Brose (sp?)
- Multi-axis movement dragon toy with omni-directional sensors, and fires pinballs out of his mouth(Premium/LE only), voiced by Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf from Star Trek TNG)
- 3 flippers
- 7 characters to choose from (3 are initially hidden; you’ll need to use Insider Connected to unlock more)
- Each character has their own plot and bonuses; you also level them up
- Gelatinous Cube toy w/ magnet to capture a ball that must be freed in time
- Player controlled/activated shield in-between the flippers
- Shopkeeper feature with items randomly put around the physical map
- Pop-up Dungeon Crawl entrance scoop target w/ video mode
- The Dungeon Crawl features a procedurally generated dungeon map with five levels that changes every Sunday
- Multiple ramps with layers
- Critical Hit captive ball and hidden Temple Shot behind the top flipper
Here’s the cast of voice actors:
So far it sounds like the fan reaction to this is very positive, aside from some nitpicking from a few over the dragon toy. I’m sure there will be accessories available for it soon enough, although I am surprised to see that the LE model doesn’t come with a D20 plunger already.
You can find the full Features Matrix PDF here. That’s always useful, especially if you’re trying to figure out which model to go with, but there’s also this shorter trailer:
As usual, the game should be shipping out very soon, making this our first game release of 2025. Are you interested in this game for your collection or location?
