What are the easiest "no-nudge-required", "no-cheap-drains" tables?

[ScotchYeti]

What are the easiest "no-nudge-required", "no-cheap-drains" tables?

What do you think are the easiest tables where no nudging is required to keep the ball alive? Where skill counts more than luck?

I was trying some of the tables on my friend's iPad and many of them immediately disqualified. I guess it's different for everyone but for me it's not so much fun to play a table with cheap drains. It's realistic, yes, but I can live without frustrating experiences and rather play something else. After the unexpected drains on "Cactus Canyon" a rather surprising addition was "Space Shuttle" where the bumpers shoot the ball into the right outlane.

What would you recommend?

 

[Carl Spiby]

Funhouse is pretty easy.

 

[dach]

The 2 Elvira themed tables dont drain that often and are friendly. Attack from Mars is high scoring and the drains dont cheat plus its funny with all the quips from the Martians. Medieval Madness is fair just don't fire at the trolls hard when they pop up.

All the tables have little areas to learn to avoid which is part of the fun.

 

[Rudy]

Funhouse is probably your best bet, back when I was starting out with the game Funhouse was the only game that I could consistantly play for a long period of time.

Saying that, the second table I mastered was Tales of the Arabian Nights and then Monster Bash, those are probably the 'fairest' tables to put it mildly. Tales has the magnetic ball saver that seems to pop up when you need it the most and Monster Bash has so much going on that you're almost guarenteed a safe shot by just hitting it as soon as it hits the flippers.

Gorgar is cheap until you've mastered the flipper physics, Medieval Madness is horrifically cheap until you learn how to hit the ramps perfectly (otherwise it's just post->straight down the middle in every game) but both of those games are really satisfying once you chip away at the learning curve.

The Elvira games aren't THAT difficult, but Elvira and the Party Monsters features far less cheap drains than Scared Stiff (where a failed ramp shot is an instant drain, plus the leapers) and the table pack it's in comes with No Good Gofers which is also pretty relaxed on draining (kickbacks are plentiful, chance of an extra ball every few putts, multiball is straightforward, VERY wide ballsaver lanes).

I'm guessing that if it's the ipad version you're looking at then Tales of the Arabian Nights is already free, so I'd suggest picking up Table Pack 3 (Monster Bash / Gorgar) and Table Pack 6 (Elvira and the Party Monsters / No Good Gofers) to put you on. Those five tables should be perfect for someone starting out, and I still play those regularly today.

Oh, and if after those you're still looking for a table that's even easier I'd suggest checking out Harley Davidson, but the problem with that is that there's almost no difficulty at all which means that once you master it it becomes the most boring table in TPA.

 

[xNiCeGuYx]

TZ, just do left ramp, right ramp, piano all the time.

 

[ScotchYeti]

Good points, Rudy, thanks!

Regarding Medieval Madness, the PS3 version looks so much better that's hard to play it on the iPad. Unbelievable what difference a good light show can make!

 

[Andassaran]

Theatre of Magic is fairly easy. You've got the magnasaves that activate fairly often, and the entire top ofthe table is a valid shot. Even a sloppy shot usually will hit something . Only thing to watch for is the ball can really get moving on that table and as such sometimes the magnasave can't catch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB-G0g2zubQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[Kolchak357]

To me Scared Stiff, Attack From Mars, Harley Davidson, Funhouse, and Theatre of Magic are the easiest pins that don't require much nudging.
But you are missing out on some of the best if you only stick to this criteria.

 

[ScotchYeti]

To me Scared Stiff, Attack From Mars, Harley Davidson, Funhouse, and Theatre of Magic are the easiest pins that don't require much nudging.
But you are missing out on some of the best if you only stick to this criteria.

I have all the tables on the PS3 but don't like nudging on mobile devices so the question is: can we have some fun with pinball without worrying about cheap drains?

The overall winner seems to be Funhouse. I remember that in the PHOF version hitting Rudy was VERY dangerous. Not so in TPA anymore and it's a lot of fun.

 

[Kolchak357]

Can't go wrong with Funhouse. It's a classic. The only big drain hazard is the start of multiball. He often spits the ball down the the left outlane. That is just about the only required nudge on that one. But you have plenty of time to nudge and you know exactly when it is coming.

 

[Fungi]

Star Trek:TNG. No wait. That one is ALL-nudge, ALL-cheap-drains.

 

[xNiCeGuYx]

Star Trek:TNG. No wait. That one is ALL-nudge, ALL-cheap-drains.

It is like a pinball table should be imo. FH is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too easy on TPA and bores the hell out of me.

 

[Squid]

Ripley's is pretty forgiving in the cheap drain department. The only real threat is the red bumpers and the idol. My nudging on this table is mostly (key word) used to gain control of the ball.

 

[brakel]

I agree with Harley Davidson. I know it gets a lot of hate on this forum but its a good friendly pinball machine.

 

[norbert26]

Star Trek:TNG. No wait. That one is ALL-nudge, ALL-cheap-drains.

same with firepower.

 

[Man-Machine]

I think that TZ is actually quite forgiving on TPA.
And the most brutal ones?
Big Shot and Firepower.
We should perhaps start a new thread for those.

 

[boy-oh-boy]

the easiest table in my eyes is SS and thats a really shame cause i like the look and the sound of the table. you can play a hole afternoon with one coin^^.many xtra balls and no drains. in real this table is easy too but not far too easy like the tpa version.

have fun

boy-oh-boy

 

[Tabe]

It is like a pinball table should be imo. FH is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too easy on TPA and bores the hell out of me.

I'm the complete opposite. I don't mind tables that are challenging or whatever. What I hate are games that punish you even when you've made a good shot or where you drain without getting a chance to prevent it. It's one thing to punish you with an automatic drain if you miss a ramp shot or whatever. It's another thing entirely to have the game simply fire the ball into an outlane after you've made a successful shot.

Of all the tables, I'd say probably Attack From Mars is the most fair. Funhouse isn't far behind. It's probably no coincidence that Funhouse is far and away my best table. A lot of that is that I know absolutely every aspect of the game from having played it so much in real life. And the TPA version replicates it pretty much perfectly (other than making it easier).

 

[Jeff Strong]

Theatre of Magic.

 

[xNiCeGuYx]

I have to nudge very often on tom.