Which tables work best on a phone?

mikehg

New member
Feb 5, 2014
213
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Hello!

I downloaded TPA to play on my tablet, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that it works very well on my phone (a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, a comparatively low powered Android device) too.

So that set me wondering, what criteria do you think make a table work on a phone, and which ones hit the spot for you?

For me;

1) Frame rate / visibility - some tables are just too complicated for most hardware out there, and pinball is unforgiving when it comes to framerate.

2) Small area of focus / works with 'low' camera angle. I find with a 'normal' size phone I need to run it in landscape with camera set to 'low' or 'normal' at a push, or everything is too small and my fingers / thumbs obscure the play field. That rules out anything with complex player input happening at the top of the table - though this is somewhat mitigated by the camera behaving well (quickly shooting up to bonus multiplier lanes, and back down again, for example).

3) Not focused on multiball. Multiball is no fun with your thumbs. It isn't impossible, it just feels disappointing because you know you could be doing so much better. A table with multiball is fine, a table in which multiball is the primary goal just depresses me.

4) Accessible objectives. Doesn't matter whether it's toys (MM, AFM, MB), or just an immediately challenging playfield (Firepower, Gorgar, Big Shot), you don't want a table that involves drawn out games before the 'payoff'. Both because phone games tend to be games of opportunity, and because the constraints of the controls / view tend to increase chance drains, so working hard for a goal can feel like wasted effort.

----

The tables I like playing on my phone (in no particular order):

Attack From Mars
Space Shuttle
Firepower
Medieval Madness
Monster Bash
Gorgar
Big Shot
Genie

Others that work OK, but haven't necessarily got into yet...

Scared Stiff
Tales of the Arabian Nights
Cactus Canyon
Theatre of Magic
Central Park
White Water
Harley-Davidson
The Champion Pub
Cirqus Voltaire
No Good Gofers
Black Hole

P.S. Hope this isn't a dupe, I did search... And obviously although it relates to IOS and Android it fits in neither forum specifically, so I put it here.

Cheers.
 

night

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May 18, 2012
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I have got a teeny tiny pocket HTC with chop-chop frame-rate, but from what I have tried, Firepower was the most visually playable table because it does not have much playfield clutter. But the best pinball app that works for me on a phone is Revenge of the Rob-o-Bot! (Check it out, it's fun). But don't you think all this just works better on your Nexus 7? The screen-size of a phone really makes my eyes hurt when I try to focus on the ball. :) (Although some phones these days are larger than my iPad..)
 

mikehg

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Feb 5, 2014
213
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Don't get me wrong - as long as the battery holds out I play on my Nexus :)

But when I'm on the bus, I need my fix... :)

Also, I've found that some tables work really well on the low camera angle / landscape, and I wouldn't have necessarily tried them like that if it weren't for playing them on the phone. I sometimes even play them on my tablet like that now...
 

superballs

Active member
Apr 12, 2012
2,653
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I prefer to play on my nexus when not on steam but I can play any table on my phone.

Mind you that's a note 2 and it's big but I find resolution is more key than screen size in regards to everything except thumb interference
 

superballs

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Apr 12, 2012
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Oh an I second night on his revenge of the rob of bot recommendation. And him and I don't agree on anything
 

vikingerik

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Nov 6, 2013
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Taxi sounds perfect for what you want. Simple open playfield, no action you care about obscuring anywhere besides the flippers, objectives that can be reached in a couple minutes. Multiball is only two balls and isn't required for the big million scores.

Scared Stiff is probably the most accessible goal-oriented DMD game, multiball is important for points but not for achieving the objectives. Terminator 2 is good for some simple ball whacking, the points are multiball-heavy but at least the super jackpot shot is usually done under catch control. Victory is the deepest table without any multiball, though the playfield is rather mazey. Maybe Flight 2000, which has an objective of medium depth to start multiball but then there's no particular payoff intrinsic to multiball itself.

(All guesses from a PC version player. :) )
 

mikehg

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Feb 5, 2014
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I guess I'll have to install Revenge of the Rob-O-Bot at some point now... I'm sold on the video :)

"Flashing lights! Chunky blippy sounds! Three orange flippers!"

Taxi sounds perfect for what you want. Simple open playfield, no action you care about obscuring anywhere besides the flippers, objectives that can be reached in a couple minutes. Multiball is only two balls and isn't required for the big million scores.

Scared Stiff is probably the most accessible goal-oriented DMD game, multiball is important for points but not for achieving the objectives. Terminator 2 is good for some simple ball whacking, the points are multiball-heavy but at least the super jackpot shot is usually done under catch control. Victory is the deepest table without any multiball, though the playfield is rather mazey. Maybe Flight 2000, which has an objective of medium depth to start multiball but then there's no particular payoff intrinsic to multiball itself.

(All guesses from a PC version player. :) )

Good input, thank you.

Unfortunately Taxi and T2 drop framerate on my phone. Victory I wasn't sure about the camera movements to the little mini field in the top right, but I might give it another go. Flight 2000 I honestly can't remember if I even tried - it's not a table I've played much on my tablet either.

Scared Stiff I haven't played much of, but if anything I fear it's *too* easy. I only had a brief twenty minute bash at it, without knowing anything about the table, and just kept getting extra / multi balls completely by accident...

At the moment I'm really digging the simple stuff - mostly Gorgar, Firepower, Big Shot. I wish Centaur worked, but that's another one with low framerate...
 
Last edited:

superballs

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Apr 12, 2012
2,653
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I guess I'll have to install Revenge of the Rob-O-Bot at some point now... I'm sold on the video :)

"Flashing lights! Chunky blippy sounds! Three orange flippers!"



Good input, thank you.

Unfortunately Taxi and T2 drop framerate on my phone. Victory I wasn't sure about the camera movements to the little mini field in the top right, but I might give it another go. Flight 2000 I honestly can't remember if I even tried - it's not a table I've played much on my tablet either.

Scared Stiff I haven't played much of, but if anything I fear it's *too* easy. I only had a brief twenty minute bash at it, without knowing anything about the table, and just kept getting extra / multi balls completely by accident...

At the moment I'm really digging the simple stuff - mostly Gorgar, Firepower, Big Shot. I wish Centaur worked, but that's another one with low framerate...

A shame about centaur that's a great table and at least you can pound away at it on your tablet. Flight 2000 is a really nice table as well with multiball being a genuine challenge to start and a few different things you need to score high. Couple that with a persistent bonus multiplier that doesn't reset every ball and a spinner value that grows throughout the game as well meaning scoring is well rounded. Just don't get complacent. I've noticed that I tend to have few prodigal games on this one and many lackluster games.
 

mikehg

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Feb 5, 2014
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Well I tried Victory, which has framerate issues, and Flight 2000, which just seems the wrong shape for my screen - it doesn't have a 'low' camera angle, presumably because of the width, and in the other camera angles the flipper area is a tiny bit too small to really work. I'll give it a bit more of a whirl on my tablet though...

Definitely a shame about Centaur, it's one of my favourites. Kinda wish I had a clue what he was talking about - I swear he keeps mumbling something about a "Soup party". I've never been invited to a soup party. I have no idea what you'd wear.

Oh well. That's still 19 tables which work pretty well on a low-spec phone - can't exactly complain :)
 

mikehg

New member
Feb 5, 2014
213
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As an addendum, I bit the bullet and bought season 3, and both Black Rose and Fish Tales work fast enough, though they both feel a bit cluttered.

21 tables and counting... That's more than I really need in my pocket, isn't it... Consider me a happy customer :)
 

superballs

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Apr 12, 2012
2,653
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Well I tried Victory, which has framerate issues, and Flight 2000, which just seems the wrong shape for my screen - it doesn't have a 'low' camera angle, presumably because of the width, and in the other camera angles the flipper area is a tiny bit too small to really work. I'll give it a bit more of a whirl on my tablet though...

Definitely a shame about Centaur, it's one of my favourites. Kinda wish I had a clue what he was talking about - I swear he keeps mumbling something about a "Soup party". I've never been invited to a soup party. I have no idea what you'd wear.

Oh well. That's still 19 tables which work pretty well on a low-spec phone - can't exactly complain :)

If you put the ball down an return land that's already lit, or a lot rollover, he either says"bad move human" or "slow aren't you".
 

mikehg

New member
Feb 5, 2014
213
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Thanks - I should have mentioned, I figured it out from a comment on ipdb eventually.

Still sounds like "soup party" though... ;)
 

mikehg

New member
Feb 5, 2014
213
1
Another quick question then - since you've got better ears than me :)

When you hit the Queen's Chamber, sometimes it says "Queen's Chamber", sometimes something else, sounds a bit like "Hopefully singled out" - though I'm guessing that's not it. Any idea?
 

Espy

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Sep 9, 2013
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I think El Dorado would work well on a phone. Nothing up the top of the table aside from a bank of drop targets.

I really like this table, underrated in my opinion.
 

vikingerik

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Nov 6, 2013
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Yeah El Dorado's playfield is actually pretty fun. Problem is the scoring is so bland. Once you collect the EB, there's nothing else to do until you drain to do it again. If Dorado actually had some worthwhile reward for completing the drops (like Black Hole's scoring accelerator), it would be an excellent table.
 

mikehg

New member
Feb 5, 2014
213
1
I'm not a huge fan of El Dorado yet, but it's certainly on my radar...

Framerate issues on the phone again though :(
 

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