Thank you Zen Studios for providing us with a month’s access to the tables!

Pinball FX is Zen Studios latest platform for releasing their renowned original and re-created pinball tables. Pinball FX was an Epic Games exclusive title until April of 2023, when it released onto Steam with mixed reviews. A majority of the tables available at launch were available in previous Pinball FX titles and are not able to be imported. As a token of appreciation, Steam users can get a discount on previously owned tables.

Cross-platform support is not available yet, but is promised to ensure playability of tables purchased across different platforms. VR tables are also missing from this new release. Tables exclusive to Pinball FX are starting to be rolled out and they look promising. The previous tables have been updated with the latest Unreal Engine and pro-style physics.

The base install of Pinball FX will come with three free-to-play tables (Fish Tales, Sorcerer’s Lair, and Wild West Rampage). The rest of the tables are available to try in a trial mode. Alternatively, you can purchase Pinball Coins to unlock a vast majority of the tables for monthly or annual increments. Tables are still available to purchase through Steam and Zen’s in-game storefront.

Pinball Coins can be purchased in the Shop tab and you can buy 100 for $9.99, 150 for $14.99, 220 for $19.99, 575 for $49.99 and 1200 for $99.99. To put things in perspective, a 30-day pass is 150 coins ($14.99) and a year’s access will set you back $99.99 for 1200 coins. Tables range from $4.24 - $9.99 apiece and bundles with multiple tables can cost up to $29.99. Some tables like the Marvel and Indiana Jones are not accessible past a trial with the Pinball Pass.

There are Events that you can play to earn season points. Each event has a limited amount of time that you can play them before they expire. Events can only be played on tables that you have available to you. There’s also a daily limit (usually 10) on how many times you can play an event. Season points earned through events can be spent to unlock collectibles and leaderboard customization items. You can usually earn more season points by meeting a minimum score requirement. Acquired collectibles can be used to decorate your Pin Hall.

Each table has multiple collectables that can be unlocked as you complete milestones while playing them. Currently, my Tables Room is pretty sparse. I need to unlock more collectibles and earn some trophies to display and deck it out.

There are lots of user-created tournaments available to compete in. Some of the tournaments cap the number of players (entries) while others allow infinite challengers. The objectives vary from distance challenges to seeing how much you can score with only one ball. Other fun challenges include Flips Challenge where you get infinite balls, but only a set number of times you can use the flippers.

The three free tables are pretty family-friendly. Wild West Rampage has some references to gun duels. Sorcerer’s Lair is a bit more disturbing with gargoyles and magic/runic symbols scattered throughout the pinball table.

Between the contests and table releases, Pinball FX is worth checking out. I look forward to storefront sales to re-build my table collection. It’s a shame that they are not carried over like the previous entries. Thankfully, Pinball FX 2 or FX 3 is not going away anytime soon, so I can still play my VR and regular tables there.