Some Monday nights are about chasing IFPA points. Others are about the people, the food, and the stories that come along with them. This week was definitely a little bit of both.
Twenty-one women showed up to kick off Season 4 at The Outpost Arcade, and after driving over from the west side of the Valley (yes, I’m still a West Side girl!), we got five rounds of pinball, a brand-new machine, and one incredible bowl of potato soup.
Before league even started, Tracy Lindberg’s mom, Nancy—known affectionately as “Mama” to me—had a crockpot full of homemade potato soup waiting for everyone.
🎶Tracy’s Mom Has Got It Going On!🎶
It was loaded with little chunks of ham and Tillamook cheese and honestly tasted like potatoes au gratin in soup form. Rich, cheesy, comforting, and absolutely delicious. It reminded me that soup isn’t just for winter.
Between my own chicken corn chowder and Mama’s potato soup, I’m starting to think soup belongs in Arizona summers too.
Round 1 – Theatre of Magic 🪄
I started with an ugly 16 million on Ball 1, but I stayed patient. Ball 2 brought Trunk Multiball, and Ball 3 was one of those magical pinball balls where everything finally clicked. Skill shots, ramps, and a huge bonus carried me to 243.3 million, good enough for 2nd place and 5 league points.
Round 2 – Sorcerer 🧙
Every pinball player has that one game.
I know how to play Sorcerer, but apparently Sorcerer decided it didn’t want to play with me. House balls, missed drop targets, butterflippers, and even when I got the ball up the ramp, I basically handed the multiball opportunity to someone else. It just wasn’t happening.
I finished third in our three-player group for 1 point and moved on. That’s pinball.
Round 3 – Labyrinth 👑
This one was a lot more fun. Meghan gave a really great tutorial on the game before we started playing, in true Belles and Chimes fashion.
After getting into Fireys mode and the Red and Blue Doors mode, I managed to start Brick Multiball on Ball 3 and exploded to 7.9 million. I came within about 228,000 points of first place, finishing second and earning another 5 points.
Round 4 – Transporter the Rescue 🚁
Talk about a close finish.
I started with another house ball and had to dig myself out of a hole again. By the end of Ball 3, I squeaked into second place by just 2,040 points.
Sometimes every spinner, bumper, and drop target really does matter.
That finish earned me 4 more league points.
Round 5 – Weird Al’s Museum of Natural Hilarity 🎶
Please don’t judge me. 😂
I’d never played this machine before.
It has extra buttons, unusual flippers, and enough Weird Al references to make your head spin.
Kaydee was kind enough to give us a quick run down on how to play before we started, but it mostly went over my head. Lol
I was hoping for Eat It, my favorite Weird Al song since I memorized it in first grade after hearing it on the radio, but I got Amish Paradise instead, which is a pretty fantastic consolation prize.
I finished fourth in the tournament game, but afterward I stayed and played a couple more practice games.
That turned out to be one of the best decisions of the night.
By the end of those practice games, I was:
• Hitting skill shots.
• Starting modes consistently.
• Getting a feel for the unusual flippers.
• Beginning to understand how the game flows.
I still haven’t seen multiball yet, but now Weird Al feels like a machine I can actually learn instead of one that completely confused me.
Final Thoughts
Week 1 finished with 16 league points, including three second-place finishes.
More importantly, it reminded me why I love Epic Women’s League.
It’s competitive, yes. But it’s also a place where someone makes homemade soup for everyone, friends cheer each other on, and even a brand-new pinball machine becomes something to laugh about instead of fear.
Some nights you win.
Some nights the machine wins.
And sometimes you leave with a full stomach, a few more IFPA points, a new favorite pinball machine to learn, and a story worth telling.
Oh, and a little movement.
Incidental Exercise Receipts
I’d call that a pretty successful Monday night. 💜🕹️🥣
Still counts. Always.
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