Pinball Breeze

I just played each table, mainly so I could give a mini review, it is a keeper, the 3 tables are all fun, relaxing and unique. I am always concerned for a dev whose game is not getting the recognition it may deserve. The game will be played a lot by this Pinball player. I will update my review at a later time, when I have more game time. If you like unique Pinball, you may just like this gem!

It's fun. You're able to place your own parts where you want in the field. It adds a lot a depth especially in the space levels with gravity wells. You can swing like a pendulum, drag up, drop, or do weird slinging movements kind of like how spacecraft use gravity so it is my favorite. It's puzzle like as well as experimental. I bet people will find some crazy set ups to top the scoreboards.

EDIT: The game has only gotten better. The developers have listened to critiques and added music, more sound effects, more visual effects, and more levels. In short: they added more pizzazz. Yeah, I said pizzazz. Original: It's a whole lot of fun. Not as busy as many pinball sims, and makes better use of the fact that it's a video game than most pinball video games do. Each level allows you to place extra parts down, though those parts are different for each level, both in quantity and type. The fields themselves are responsive and fresh, with some very cool graphic reactions (my favorite is the beach turning to night time and the torches lighting up), and some truly excellent sound reactions (again, the beach levels with the sound of the ball on the boards is great). If you are interested in pinball games at all pick this one up, you'll enjoy it.

[h3][b][i]Normal Rating:[/i][/b][i] 4/5[/i] | [b][i]Completionist Rating:[/i][/b][i] 1/5[/i][/h3] [hr][/hr] [h3][b]Full YouTube Review:[/b] [url=https://youtu.be/RAUxp3iH9AI]Click Here![/url][/h3] [hr][/hr] Pinball Breeze is a pinball game that delivers a relaxing yet goal-oriented experience, adding fresh twists to the classic formula. It plays around with board customization, objectives, new pinball board objects, and a new tilt system that offers more control. Whether you're a casual fan of pinball or someone looking for a more strategic take on the genre, this game makes a bold attempt to stand out. Just don’t expect any story content because this game is all about the gameplay. [b]Pros:[/b] [list] [*]Smooth and satisfying physics [*]Customizable boards enhance strategy [*]Clear objectives add meaningful goals over the standard simple point-chasing of traditional pinball [*]Unique and relaxing visual/sound design [/list] [b]Cons:[/b] [list] [*][strike]No music, making the game feel empty[/strike] The game now has really good music that fits the vibe of the game perfectly! This is no longer a con :) [*]Single-ball mode is unreasonably difficult [*]Achievement hunting feels more luck-based than skill-based [/list] Overall, Pinball Breeze is a solid game. It provides a nice twist on an arcade classic and gives you more agency over your pinball. It also looks great visually and has great sound design. The game even had an update adding some good tunes that fit the game perfectly! While casual players will find a lot to love, completionists really need to avoid this game, as it's one of those games where getting all achievements is genuinely hellish. Still, if you’re looking for a fresh and customizable pinball experience, Pinball Breeze is absolutely worth your time. [hr][/hr] [h3][b]Information for Fellow Completionists [/b][/h3] [list] [*]0 missable achievements [*]8-12 grindy achievements (variable depending on luck and skill) [*]No paid DLC achievements [*]No broken achievements [*]Technically 2 multiplayer achievements (leaderboard-based) [/list]

This is a great and innovative pinball game that feels good to play. I anticipate I will spend more time playing this one, and have a few more hours than what my Steam time is showing since I got it on itch. Flipper action feels good, and being able to modify where extra components go is great fun. Tables go from feeling like an EM to being impossible in this world due to having funky gravity effects. And the effects and components all feel good and fit the themes of the tables they utilize. Nudging is great with no real tilt so it becomes part of your play style. This is one of the more enjoyable pinball games that I have played and I look forward to coming back to this one to keep playing innovative tables and look for optimal placement.

A solid simple pinball game. I got lost in the flow just enjoying the play and refining my shots. Takes a couple attempts per table to determine the best spots to place bumpers and the like, and I wasn't immediately hooked on the concept. Once I "completed" a table, everything clicked. Certainly a good way to unwind for the pinball enthusiasts out there. Nothing too complex or fancy... just chill pinball.

Ah, pinball… the grand grand granddaddy of videogames. If you think about it, it is really weird that videogames simulate the “kick-ball-up, hit-targets-for-points” mechanics, considering they are in place only because of the severe limitations of technology centuries ago. Nuts. Yes, centuries – Wikipedia tells me that alpha versions of pinball tables are from the 1600s or 1700s, depending what you consider to be “alpha” (if you include billiard tables, you go back to the 1400s). Spring launchers come into play in the 1800s, electricity joins in the 1930s, flippers in 1947. Wikipedia rocks. But you want to know if this particular pinball game is good, right? I played only a few computer pinball games – Epic, Dreams, Fantasies in the 90s, Rollers of the Realm, Yoku’s Island Express (does it count?). Compared to those, Pinball Breeze is… well, very different, and often brilliant. A family game, and a jewel. (One thing I can attesticle to: no ads. Yes, gone ads.) Enough punball – there are 3 sets of tables, for a total of 10 tables. On one hand, this is a pure pinball game – no story, no cute postmen, you are here just to get high scores bouncing a ball around. ---///--- Set 1 (Billiards room) looks a bit sparse -- no big elevated ramps or tunnels, no backglass with flashy dot-matrix displays, no jackpots, no extra balls, no multi-ball. But there are missions you can accomplish (indicated by cards). This brings to the table (er…) a nice sense of progression. And that is one of the ways I find this game brilliant: many targets, once hit, do NOT come back up; some missions, when done, make completely new targets just pop up somewhere. This makes the table gradually change as you play, which gives welcome variety. Another very unique feature: when you start a table, you are given the choice of modifying it slightly by placing a few elements – a couple of bumpers, sometimes a few extra flippers. You can place them at nearly any empty space (but not directly above the drain). I found most tables perfectly playable without these extra features, but it is nice to have a little puzzle in the proceedings. These extra elements do not score points when hit, so you get nothing by creating an enclosed space and letting the ball bounce around indefinitely (yes, I tried). In one level, I actually managed to create an enclosed space with a scoring element inside, but the devs seemingly predicted that too – hitting the same target repeatedly diminished its score at every hit, until you end up getting no new points from it. There is a fun tilt mechanics – press this or that button, and you can nudge the ball to the left or to the right quite a bit. There is a very short cooldown on this ability, but no penalties (you know that physical pinball tables would shut down the flippers if you tilted them too hard, right?), so this can give you lots of extra control. Out of the 10 tables, I would say about 7 were extremely well designed: lanes were in logical places that seemed to “attract” the ball, a few targets were a bit harder to hit, but all were perfectly doable, even without placing extra elements or using the tilt much. A novelty: there is a final target that, when hit, ends the level. Wait, isn’t the main goal of pinball to keep playing, scoring more and more and more? My take: it is actually nice to get a sense of closure (and an achievement) when “completing” a table. ---///--- Set 2 (Tranquil Shores) is when you start to realize this is not all classic pinball. They really went crazy with the Unreal Engine: the water looks like from a Crytek game, the ball (which now looks like a rock) scatters sand all over the place as it rolls… It is gorgeous, and it might bring your machine to its knees if you try to see it all in the highest graphics settings. This time, as you hit targets, the sun slowly sets, torches lit up to give that luau ambiance, and the ball starts to look like hot lava, lighting up its surroundings with a red glow. Have you ever seen a pinball game with a day/night cycle? Hit those longboards, end the level and you get to see the leaderboards. It is pretty standard stuff – Friends, Around You, Top Global. First I thought “not fair, those folks are playing with different layouts than me”. And then I realized – click on someone’s name on the leaderboard, and you can play the table with their layout with one single click! Brilliant, you can steal someone else’s hours of element placing hard work, then beat them at their own game! ---///--- Set 3 (Celestial Clockwork) has really alien designs, like a table with drains and flippers on the sides. Somehow, this actually works – the accelerators on the bottom rush the ball to the sides towards the drains, where you bounce it. You shamefully lose the ability to hold the ball to plan your shots, but the elements at your disposal include gravity wells and repulsors which you activate at will, so there is some control if you place them right. There is even a huge sun, which shrinks when hit, becomes a white dwarf, then… well, I will let you guess what it ends up as. It is barely pinball anymore, but it is still a lot of fun. Technicalities: you can use the mouse to navigate menus and place elements, and keyboard for the flippers and tilts. I saw no way of remapping the keys, but the standard uses the Shift keys (or A+D) which were just fine. I tried a controller as well, and it felt great too. The audio is seriously good, with relaxing tunes which justify the “breeze” in the title, and great sound effects – the pleasant sound of a billiards ball getting into a pocket, a satisfying “woosh” when torches are lit, and so on. Also, you can choose between two views: high angle or low angle (of course, the second one lets you see more of the table at once). If I have to mention something bad about the game, I will say that 2 or 3 tables completely suck – drains are too large and gameplay is too random to be pleasant (or maybe I did not use tilt as much as I should… but when the leaderboards indicate that ZERO players completed those tables…). The menus are bit underwhelming, and I found a few cosmetic bugs when navigating them, but nothing serious at all. ---///--- In short, I really enjoyed (nearly) all my time with Pinball Breeze. Yes, a few tables suck, and some people might complain a few others do not feel like classic pinball at all, but I myself had a lot of fun, and found the whole affair very creative (even when failing). Unless you are a completionist (those few tables suck balls), if there is a chance you enjoy pinball, I really recommend it. ---///--- Graphics 5/5 Gameplay 4/5 Sound 5/5 Fun Meter 4/5 ---///--- Positive: * Most tables well designed, some VERY creatively. * Puzzle elements provide variety; * Great graphics and sound. Negative: * A few tables are insufferably hard and unfun; * Menus could use a bit more work;

What a brilliant twist on pinball! Even for someone like me who's not a pinball wizard, this game is quite engaging. The artistic design is beautiful, complemented by excellent audio quality that draws you into the experience. The attention to detail in the physics engine is clear, creating a satisfying sense of weight and realism with every interaction. The introduction of movable board pieces is a clever addition, leading to wonderfully unpredictable and interesting gameplay moments. Both my son and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time with it, and we're definitely looking forward to future updates and more games from this developer.

I've played a lot of virtual pinball, and I've really enjoyed this one so far. The gimmick of starting a play by placing a few table elements is novel, but it's also a very meaningful decision. A lot of the strategy in attacking the table comes from that initial choice (and thank you so much for making it so that it saves your placement choice for later plays until you decide to change it). The tables have a nice feel to them (both in playstyle and aesthetic) and remind me a bit of digital tables from the 90s that I've enjoyed. The physics is good, the gameplay for the tables is pretty interesting, and the tables are decently challenging (I'm not sure why there is only a left and right nudge and not a front nudge, though). The one thing I would say is that I'm not sure if this is a good choice for someone without a decent amount of pinball experience already (the gameplay and placement of elements might be a bit challenging for a player without some pinball experience already). If you're a pinball fan, though, and you like the aesthetics, I definitely recommend this one.

My new favourite pinball. I normally get the other side of the refund window before putting up a review - but I had my review in my head after 10 mins of play. Took a break to write this, before getting back to work - come evening, this will be the first game I boot up. I bought this, as it was reported that it works in VR (with UEVR). This is the only way to play (in my opinion) as you are not sitting in front of a flat monitor, but standing (or sitting) in front of a three dimensional pinball machine (or pinball environment in the case of this game) - it is magical and immersive in VR. That out of the way - what about the game? It's a peach! I remember playing a pinball game on the Amiga way back in the day. I become totally obsessed with it - just one more go, to beat my previous high score. I have played many, many pinball games since - from the traditional to the wacky - and have never been able to capture that 'just one more go' feeling. Waited decades for a game that would recapture that addiction - this game has that secret sauce. I think that is due to the logical layout of the boards - if you lose the ball, or miss points, it is totally your fault (Spiderman did not pop up and sling the ball in a random direction). Add to that the killer feature. You get to place a few bumpers on the board yourself. This all sounds simple enough, but it is such a great idea. It adds significantly to the 'just one more go' as you are not only trying to best you flipper-skills, but also best how you modified the board to your advantage. It is a perfect game to just pick up and play when you have a free moment. It is chill as heck, but also very challenging. As the game has only just come out, it is a great time to jump in and see yourself on the leader-board - when those with more nimble eye-hand coordination turn up this sense of 'Hey, I am good at this' will soon be taken from you! The tables are great, from billiard tables, outer-space themes, and tables made on the beach. There are not many at this stage - but more than you get for the same price (or less) than you would get as DLC on Pinball FX (and then have to buy all over again when they update!). Also, because the table are sound, you will stick with them, rather than flitting from one to another. Thee tables range from very simple (but no less challenging for that) to complex. Every one is logical and fun to play. Even if you only have a casual passing interest in these sort of games, it is definitely worth picking up. ... I am totally in for DLC down the line. ;-) ------------------------------------------------- Update Just realised that this is not new out, but has been around a while. Man, how easy it is to miss good games! If this wasn't on the Flat2VR discord, I would have missed it entirely.