In the beginning, pinball was a simple affair: a spring-controlled launcher sent the ball flying, after which all you had to do was make sure it smashed all the right areas to unlock score multipliers, maybe even some multi-ball craziness and… that was about it. Fast-forward to more recent times however, and we’ve got all sorts of madness in Demon’s Tilt: quests, secret areas, bullet hell, multi-story tables and several boss fights!
I know how that last bit sounds, but as you can clearly see in the trailer below, they’re not making this stuff up – Demon’s Tilt actually does have bullet hell elements, and not just for show either. The onslaught of enemy fire can apparently be utilized to create “homing magic that fights for you”, or transmuted into gold if that elusive Ultra Jackpot, depending on your goal at the time. But that’s the beauty of a properly designed pinball machine: no two experiences will ever be the same, as only the absolutely most skilful crowd will be able to send the ball with such precision that it goes exactly where they want it to, every time. As for the rest of us, well, I’d be happy to rack up a couple of million points before it slips through the flips.
Or in the case of Demon’s Tilt, billions, with a little practice, its glorious multiplier potentially going all the way up to 99x! Wow. I suspect more than a little multiball chaos will be required to reach such heights though, likely even the defeat of a boss or two and some Dark Ritual mumbo jumbo involving a cauldron and the sacrifice of a goat. Oh wait, that’s actually a boss; the Sacrificed Goat! What a strange concoction, this here pinball game.
One that is unfortunately also, at the time of writing, unfinished, having only just entered Early Access and intent on staying there until Q3 2019. That said, according to its creator, “The Early Access version is a great representation of the game. It features full fantasy pinball gameplay with quests, bosses, monsters roaming over the board, tricky skill shots, and tons of special effects”. So at least early adopters aren’t dropping their hard-earned cash on something resembling a meagre tech demo (you’d be surprised how often Early Access launches are… well, little more than such), even if the full array of bosses and unlockables have yet to be implemented.
Demon’s Tilt is available on Steam [Early Access until Q3 2019], carrying a $14.99 price tag.