and awesome pinball league action inside!
Tonight ended up being one of my better league nights of the season.
I finished with 25 points,
tied for 6th place on the night,
and I remain 9th overall in the season standings with 368 points heading into the final week.
What makes me happiest isn’t just the results—it’s how much I learned along the way.
Thank you to The Outpost Arcade crew: Kaydee, Olivia, Krisha, Nancy, and Elana!
Running the league and opening your doors on your day off is so appreciated!
Epic Potluck included:
Tripps Watermelon Bites,
and Baked Ziti from Nancy.
Yum!
Game 1: Game of Thrones (Pro)
4th Place
I got off to a rough start.
I got the game moving in the direction I wanted, but didn’t manage to follow through on the things I was setting up. Looking back, I know I got distracted from my game with other stuff on my mind.
It wasn’t the way I wanted to start the night, but sometimes pinball is like that.
The important thing is that I didn’t let one bad game turn into a bad night.
—
Game 2: Blackwater 100
2nd Place
This was the game that settled me down.
After the rough start on Game of Thrones, I put together a solid performance and finished second. It wasn’t flashy, but it got me back on track and reminded me that a league night is a marathon, not a sprint.
—
Game 3: The Walking Dead (Pro)
2nd Place
This game gave me one of the biggest lessons of the night.
I realized afterward that I spent too much time focusing on the Barn and got distracted by Bicycle Girl.
In the process, I completely forgot about progressing Well Walker, which had been part of my original plan. I also got punished by the dangerous left ramp return more than once.
Even with those mistakes, I managed a second-place finish.
The biggest takeaway was simple:
Stick to the plan.
—
Game 4: Star Trek: The Next Generation
1st Place
This was where the night really took off.
I started by launching the Probe, then immediately forgot how to fire it. Once I figured that out, I started fighting for control and eventually got a mission started.
Then I started hitting ramps.
And hitting ramps.
And hitting more ramps.
At some point I realized the machine was rewarding me heavily for it, so I just kept doing it.
On my third ball, I started another mission and continued pounding the left and right ramps as much as I physically could. Apparently that was exactly what the game wanted me to do because the score absolutely exploded.
Final scores:
Me: 350 million
Harley: 273 million
Elaine: 127 million
Patrick: 86 million
I walked away with first place and a new mental note:
When in doubt, start a mission and shoot ramps.
Live long and prosper. 🖖
—
Game 5: Ultraman: Kaiju Rumble (SE)
1st Place
This game was really interesting because it was a mix of preparation, observation, and execution.
I knew one important thing coming in: there was a skill shot that would immediately lock a ball and help me get to multiball. That part was entirely mine.
What happened next was a little different.
I watched Gabrielle start a mode and saw how she approached it. I copied the path she took to start the mode and selected the same mode she did.
Then things changed.
I got the skill shot lock, started the mode, hit a bunch of pink shots, and eventually started multiball while the mode was still running.
That turned out to be huge.
Gabrielle had to complete her mode while managing one ball. I was working on the same objective with multiple balls in play, which gave me more opportunities to make progress and keep scoring.
On my third ball, I tried to repeat the process and start another mode. It didn’t work nearly as well, but by then I had already built enough of a lead.
Final scores:
Me: 52.3 million
Gabrielle: 44.1 million
Elena: 24.5 million
Valerie: 9.1 million
I won the game and finished the night with back-to-back first-place finishes.
—
What I Learned Tonight
The biggest lesson of the night was that missions matter.
On both Star Trek and Ultraman, I was rewarded for committing to objectives instead of randomly shooting whatever was lit.
I also learned that watching other players is a skill.
On Ultraman, I absolutely borrowed an idea from Gabrielle. There’s no shame in that. Good players learn from what they see. The difference is that once I understood the concept, I combined it with the ball lock and multiball strategy I already knew, and it paid off.
Finally, I proved to myself that a bad first game doesn’t define an entire night.
My results went:
4th → 2nd → 2nd → 1st → 1st
That’s a pretty satisfying recovery.
Heading into the final week of Season 3, I’m sitting in 9th place overall, and more importantly, I feel like I’m understanding these games better every week.
Tonight wasn’t just about points—it was about learning, adapting, and trusting what the machines were telling me.
Still counts.
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