Pinball Construction Game for kids?

zmcvay · May 26, 2017

So my son (age 7) is wanting to make his own virtual pinball tables. I used to play around with Bill Budge's Pinball Construction Set back in the 80's when I was just a bit older than he is now, and I figured something like that must be around, but I'm coming up with nothing so far. The Construction tools that come with future pinball or Visual pinball are probably just a bit too advanced for him, I was hoping someone would know of something simpler that he could play around with basic ramp/bumper/target setups. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Heretic · May 26, 2017

There was a very very basic one on iOS made by john popadku(I think) but it's gone...Zaccaria will soon have its own pinball editor (on pc at first but planned for mobile) sounds pretty click and play, I'm not sure of the time frame of it will be suitable but sounds like you can smash together something in five minutes heh

Zaccaria

http://digitalpinballfans.com/showthread.php/12524-Pinball-Editor-is-coming

vikingerik · May 26, 2017

How about the original Pinball Construction Set itself? It's pretty easy to find online. http://www.myabandonware.com/game/pinball-construction-set-1sk

That will play the DOS version right in a browser, or download to play through Dosbox. Although the Apple II version looks better (more colors) and might be worth finding an Apple emulator.

Only downside is the controls have to be a joystick or arrow keys on a keyboard, no mouse input.

zmcvay · May 26, 2017

Thanks for the suggestions, I missed the update about the Zaccaria editor, that might work best when it gets a release. I've got PCS working on my PC, but like most emulated software from the 80's, it's not without issues. I'll try introducing him to it, but I'm not sure it will hold his interest alongside things like Mario Maker, Minecraft or Planet Coaster.

Heretic · May 26, 2017

I look forward to sacs editor myself weekend random tourneys with a new feature table a week, hope it works out, great to see a kid with such an interest these days...great father and son thing kudos

Worf · Jun 3, 2017

I know it was for virtual pinball tables, but I saw this in a store the other day - The Pinbox 3000. It's a cardboard pinball table construction kit - you assemble the base of the table and create the playfield yourself. It includes a shooter and flippers out of cardboard and the whole thing is fairly cheap ($50 for the kit). Assembly takes around an hour to get the framework up and the playfield design is up to you.

Considering pinball is supposed to be played for real, this is a cheap and easy/safe way to build your own tables (get two kits and make a two player battle mode) and is probably the easiest (and most tactile) way to build without complexity of 3D modelling and all that. I know doing things on screen is "in" but I think this might be the thing to do offline (OK, you can use the computer to print out the artwork and glue it on).

Pinball Construction Game for kids?

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