newsletter July 2026
- Emma TM
- 31 minutes ago
- 15 min read
Welcome to our monthly newsletter!
This month, we're taking a closer look at Dune.
Ever wondered how our much-coveted trophies are made? We go behind the scenes with Ashley to explore the design and laser-cutting process behind YOPS' miniature pinball trophies.
We also share an interview with Danny Bultitude, look back at the Kiwi Capital Silver Ball, and celebrate the arrival of Pokémon Pinball!
DUNE
The Spice Must Flow
Barrels of Fun released Dune in 2025 as a single edition, with production limited to 1,000 machines worldwide. It is based on Denis Villeneuve's adaptations of Frank Herbert's classic science-fiction novels.
Designed by David van Es and Travis Moseman, the game features artwork by Jonathan Bergeron, while the rules and software were developed by Bowen Kerins, Phil Grimaldi and Eric Priepke.
Translating Frank Herbert's vast science-fiction universe into a pinball machine is no easy task. Dune captures the scale and danger of Arrakis through sandworms, spice harvesting and a ruleset built around long-term progression and careful decision-making.
Lead designer David van Es has said the team wanted their second game to be very different from Labyrinth. One of Dune's defining features is the giant sandworm, which was conceived as a centre-piece of the machine from the outset. Although early estimates suggested the mechanism would be prohibitively expensive, the team decided to build it first and work out how to make it commercially viable later.
Rather than simply chasing points, players manage resources such as Water and Spice throughout the game. Water determines how long Harvester Battles can continue, while Spice can be spent to increase scoring opportunities during Prophecy Modes. One of the game's more distinctive features is that unfinished Harvester Battles don't reset completely. Instead, the game remembers the battle's progress, allowing players to continue where they left off when the next day cycle begins.
Players can also collect equipment throughout the game. Sand Snorks load a left-outlane ball save, Lasguns add an extra shot during Harvester Battles, and Thumpers can be activated to call the sandworm while increasing the playfield multiplier.
One of Dune's most memorable features is the Pain Box. Rather than acting as a conventional ball save, it recreates the Gom Jabbar test from the films. After a drain, players can choose to activate the feature by holding the action button while making a one-handed shot to earn their save.
Since launch, Barrels of Fun has continued to expand the game's software with additional modes, rule refinements and gameplay features, making Dune a machine that continues to evolve.
Each month, we interview a pinball player.
DANNY BULTITUDE
Kia ora, Danny!
How did you first discover pinball and YOPS?
I know the exact date I first came here: 29 September 2025. Emelyn is quite a big ‘nerd’, and I saw they had a Dungeons & Dragons-themed machine up on the board at the time. Emelyn is a huge D&D fan, so I thought it would be a nice thing to do - grab some dinner and come play.
Neither of us had really played pinball before, so it was a really fun experience. We got quite into it, and I think the first tournament we played in was in February. One of the big things for me is that I'm not a particularly competitive person. I think that's more Emelyn's speed than mine.
Was there another game that caught your attention?
We both really liked Godzilla. I think that's a personal favourite of mine. In terms of theme integration, it's really good, and while it's a bit obtuse at the start, you can really feel your progression as you play.
My other favourite is Close Encounters. There's something nice about its slower pace. I quite like the ceramic balls on Black Hole - they're less predictable, but a bit easier to catch.
What’s your favourite pinball moment so far—not necessarily your best score, but the moment you’ll remember?
For me, at a lot of tournaments, there's usually a table I'm not familiar with, and whoever I'm playing against is doing amazingly, much better than I could ever do. But they're also taking the time to point out what to do to score points and which tactics work best. I think there's something really lovely about that.
Then afterwards, I can go back on my own and put what they've taught me into practice without the pressure of a tournament. Being able to achieve a comparable score and build those skills is really rewarding.
A nice moment at the last tournament was meeting a guy who was there for the first time. I got to swap roles a bit and teach him some of the techniques I'd learned. That was especially satisfying after just six months of tournament play.
What makes a pinball machine memorable to you? Take, for example, Godzilla? Is it the theme, the artwork, the music, the design, or something else?
I think a big part of it is how all those elements coalesce. The design is really interesting, but one thing people don't talk about enough is adaptation. I work in film and do quite a lot of writing, so I'm fascinated by the way pinball machines tell a narrative.
What I find especially interesting is how they take something that already exists in another medium - a movie, an idea, or a band - and translate it into a pinball table. Seeing how they adapt something that already has its own identity is really compelling.
Another thing I love is that some of the themes aren't necessarily huge cultural successes. Johnny Mnemonic, for example, was a flop and has little cultural significance today, but seeing a machine made with so much attention and love is fascinating. The fact that there's a Waterworld pinball machine out there is just awesome. It's cool, funny, and compelling to me that there was enough demand for these tables that manufacturers invested so much in creating them, even when the source material didn't have lasting cultural staying power.
For me, that's a big part of why I enjoy pinball so much. Seeing how a theme is adapted and integrated into a machine is always really fun.
Do you enjoy the competitions?
Yes, I do. Part of the appeal is that they encourage me to pay attention to games I wouldn't normally play. I think that's one of the nice things about machines I haven't really connected with before. Having to take them seriously in a tournament setting is quite rewarding.
Again, I think the community-building aspect is a big part of the fun. I really like the idea that I can engage with people at all different skill levels and learn from them.
You have become a regular at YOPS. What keeps you coming back?
Every time I play one of these games, I end up learning something new about it. Even if it's a machine I've played 10 or 20 times before, there's always something I didn't notice the last time.
That's especially true when you're watching people who are really good at the game. You'll see someone put up a billion points, and suddenly they're revealing something new about the machine. Sometimes it's a strategy, and sometimes it's just a simple physical detail on the playfield that you'd never picked up on before.
Do you find the community positive?
I think that's one of the main reasons I keep coming back. Often, when you go into those ‘nerdy’ spaces, the people involved can be quite antisocial. Here, though, it feels much more inclusive and welcoming.
Compared to some other communities, it feels much more open, and I think that's a big part of the appeal for me.
Do you ever go away and look up a game?
Yeah, a little bit. There's a YouTube channel run by a British company that sells restored pinball machines. They're actually one of the only channels that really go deep, with detailed studies of individual machines.
I'm not that interested in just watching gameplay. What I enjoy is seeing the close-ups and learning about things you can't really see when you're playing the machine yourself.
I also think some of the old advertisements are really fun. One of my favourite machines is Attack from Mars at The Lanes, and there are some rather charming VHS-rip videos and wonderfully odd commercials for it out there as well.
Is there anything you'd like to add?
I think one of the things I enjoy is that YOPS has become something of a date spot for us. There's something really fun about that. Emelyn and I have a bit of a joke that it's different from just sitting and looking at screens, although there are screens all over the place!
We can say, "We're actually doing something." We're not just watching something or playing a video game. It's a bit more hands-on in that sense.
KIwi capital silverball 2026
Friday 29th May - Monday 1st June
The Kiwi Capital Silver Ball brought together players from around New Zealand and Australia for four days of competition across Ye Olde Pinball Shoppe and The Lanes. After the tournament, members of the YOPS crew reflected on the weekend.
Ashley
2026 was my second time organising the Kiwi Capital Silver Ball, and this year was even better than the last.
Events of this scale are never the work of one person, and I would like to acknowledge and thank everyone involved: the staff at Ye Olde Pinball Shoppe and The Lanes Bar & Bowling, scorekeepers, tournament directors, and Sam Stonnell for designing the merch.
Most importantly, I would like to thank everyone who played. I hope everyone had as much fun playing as I did running the show.
Hamish
I was blown away by the quality of work that Ash put into organising the event, and Simon put into preparing the games. Personally, it felt like a gathering of the tribe - genuine friends who only get to see each other at pinball events like ours, and it makes me want to keep sharing and growing this community with new players.
Simon
For me, this event was easier to throw together than the NZ Champs, because all the machines were contained within the YOPS arcade rather than at Fork n Brewer.
We still managed to squeeze in an extra half-dozen machines or so and remove a few that were not “tournament-friendly” for this event.
I loved having the opportunity to bust out my 3 Terminator 2 machines. One was my own original copy, and the two others had come to me as repair jobs, whereby the owners decided to sell them, and I bought them as well. Being a huge Steve Ritchie fan, one can never have too many King-Of-Flow machines. If you want to purchase a great refurbished T2 machine, let me know. I added my Terminator 3 machine for ArnieMax.
The idea was also to remain open to the public as much as possible, which meant we were only open on Saturday until 7 pm, after which we were closed to the public.
I was not a fan of the unlimited Best Game attempts. I do not believe it is best practice for players who only need to log 16 scores on 10 machines to have close to 150 attempts. It’s just crazy and quite rigorous on the machines. If we were to have them on coin drop, and a player wants to spend $300 making 150 attempts, then that’s their choice, but to do so on a Freeplay format seems a bit extreme.
As for the machines, from a tech point of view, I was very happy with how the games held up. We had NO game resets, which is rare for the 1990’s WPC platform and given the heavy use. I think my future-proofing of the machines is working.
We all tried our best to ensure the games were completely dialled in, with no bugs or flaws.
Ashley did a tremendous job of organising and running all the comps and providing a good variety of formats. The people who came to the KCSB all seemed to have a great time.
Finals for Multiball Maidens - KCSB Edition
The Friday night Multiball Maidens tournament drew a fantastic turnout, with players enjoying a fun and competitive evening.
Congratulations to 1st - Casey Lochead, 2nd - Micah De Vos, 3rd - Stephanie Mason, 4th - Magda Gianola.
POKEMON PINBALL LAUNCH
To celebrate the arrival of our new Pokémon pinball machine, YOPS hosted a launch day on Saturday, 13th of June, welcoming both first-time players and experienced pinball enthusiasts.
The arcade was buzzing throughout the day as players stopped by to put the new machine through its paces.
Sunday saw the competition step up a gear, as players battled it out in our Pokémon Pinball tournament.
GAMETOKEN
Hamish’s Gametoken app continues to move forward, with the first hardware going into machines this week. We're now looking for volunteers to help test the app and its security features. Interested? We'd love to hear from you.
Email: hamish@pinballshoppe.co.nz
Not Your Average Trophy
‘The more I make them, the more ideas I get.’
We talk with Ashley, who makes our highly coveted trophies!
At YOPS, the winner of each month’s Pōneke Pinball tournament gets to choose the game for the following month’s trophy. Last month’s winner, Patrick Fisher-Evans, picked Swords of Fury.
Ashley starts with a generic template, then sources the artwork and arranges the different elements so they work together. Some games are much trickier than others. Cabinet decals and high-resolution artwork can be surprisingly hard to find online, and sometimes extra design elements are added as well. Everything is laid out in 2D first, to ensure it all fits once the final design is modelled in 3D.
When the design is ready, Ashley builds the file in Adobe Illustrator and sends it to ‘Imagine That’ in Porirua. The artwork is printed onto a sheet of acrylic, covered with a masking layer, and laser-cut into the individual pieces that make up the miniature machine. The finished pieces then return to YOPS, where the masking tape is peeled off by hand, and the trophies are assembled.
The masking layer stays on during assembly because taking it off too early can spoil the ink. Ashley uses Acri-Bond 105 because it doesn’t leave visible residue. Removing the masking is one of the final steps in the process.
The earliest prototype was a laser-cut piece of wood that Ashley pressed together with PVA glue as an initial proof of concept. The design has been refined over time, and the first acrylic version was so tight that the slots had to be widened slightly to allow a bit more wiggle room. The current design is built to scale, using CNC files for a Williams cabinet as a reference point.
Ashley usually makes five trophies each month: one for each of the top four players, plus one for the B-Division winner. Additional trophies are also made for events such as Pump & Dump. For larger tournaments like KCSB, the process scales up to a much larger acrylic sheet, with the cost driven more by the time required to cut everything out than by the sheet’s size.
As the trophies have evolved, so have the ideas behind them. The latest design draws its inspiration from Swords of Fury, which includes the upper playfield. You will have the chance to compete for one at the next Pōneke Pinballers tournament on Thursday, July 2nd. Beginners are always welcome. Doors open at 6.00 pm, the tournament starts at 6.30 pm, and entry is $25 (cash or EFTPOS at the door).
Strategy to progress through and score on Dune
Dune Pinball arrived on the Shoppe floor earlier this year. While I could appreciate that it was a cool game, I never really had the urge to dive deeper into what it had to offer. However, after hearing Patrick Fisher-Evans talk it up in June's newsletter and watching him beat the final wizard mode, I decided to give it another chance.
Turns out this game is actually sick. It's quickly become one of my favourite games from the last few years.
Always be playing modes
When playing Dune, you're constantly cycling between Day and Night.
Day = Harvester Battles (orange modes)
Night = Prophecy Modes (blue modes)
These modes alternate and can't be stacked together. Every mode starts at the left scoop and ends when you complete it, time runs out, or your ball drains.
To light your next mode, you need to advance the day/night cycle. The easiest way to do that is by shooting the top spinner a few times.
Always have a mode running.
Harvester Battles (Orange Modes)
At the start of every game, a Harvester Battle is already lit. Start it at the scoop. During these modes:
Use the right flipper to shoot the worm ramp.
Use the left flipper to shoot the right ramp.
After a few successful shots, the battle finishes and the game pauses briefly before lighting the Sacrifice Jackpot.
This is where the early-game points are. The Sacrifice Jackpot is a hurry-up collected at the worm magnet, and I'm usually seeing values around 20-50 million.
If your action button is glowing blue, press it before collecting the jackpot for 2X scoring. (More on that later.)
Prophecy Modes (Blue Modes)
Once you've finished a Harvester Battle, advance the day/night cycle by shooting the top spinner until the scoop is lit again.
Every prophecy mode is different, but you only need to is follow the flashing blue shots around the playfield.
Each prophecy mode has two phases. After completing the first phase, the game pauses and lets you either:
- Collect the current jackpot, or
- Continue into Phase Two for bigger points.
Around 80% of the time, I'll continue into the second phase. In a tournament, though, if the jackpot is already worth around 50 million or more, I'm probably cashing out.
Phase Two is simply more lit blue shots.
Multiball
On default settings, Desert Power Multiball is lit at the start of Ball 3.
This cannot be stacked with a mode, so if a mode is currently lit, I'd usually avoid the scoop beofre Multiball.
Before starting multiball, you can lock a ball on the right side of the playfield to increase your jackpot values. It's a nice bonus because if you drain early during the lock sequence, the locked ball is released and your turn continues.
That lock shot is fairly dangerous, though, so I generally avoid it unless there's a ball save running.
To actually start multiball, simply shoot the ball over the worm magnet.
During multiball:
- Red shots are jackpots.
- The yellow targets beside the worm move the jackpots further away from the centre.
- The further away a jackpot is from the worm, the more it's worth.
There is also Fedaykin Multiball on the far right, which can be stacked with a Harvester Battle. I don't have much time on that muliball and rarely find myself aiming for that shot.
Drop Targets
The three drop targets in the middle of the playfield won't progress you through the game much faster, but they absolutely help your scoring and can extend your ball times.
The lower-left flipper is great for sweeping through all three.
Next to the targets, you'll see three award lights. These aren't tied to individual targets - they represent the reward currently selected.
When all three targets are raised, use the right flipper button to cycle between the awards.
Knocking down any target locks in the currently selected award for a short time. If you knock down all three targets before time expires, you collect it.
It sounds more complicated than it really is and will happen naturally during gameplay.
There are three awards, but I mainly care about two:
Sand Snork:
- Lights the left ramp yellow.
- Shooting the left ramp gives you a left outlane ball save, which is incredibly valuable.
Thumper:
-Lights your action button blue.
- Pressing it starts 2X scoring for a short time (this doesn't work during Prophecy Modes).
Once you've used either reward, you can immediately relight it through the drop targets again.
I'm sure the third award is cool too.
Skill Shot
I'll keep this one simple.
- Before plunging, use the right flipper button to move the red skill shot so it's pointing behind the upper-left flipper.
- Hold the upper-left flipper up and plunge the ball between the flipper and the scoop.
- Easy 10 million points in your pocket.
Keeping the Ball Alive
Rules and scoring are cool and all, but none of that matters if your ball times are only 30 seconds. Here are my do's and don'ts:
Don't
Avoid the tight shot to the right of the drop targets. It sits between two large targets.
It isn't worth much, isn't particularly easy, and if you miss, you'll often get an extremely fast return straight back at your flippers. Half the time, the targets launch the ball over your flippers entirely.
If I've got the ball on the left flipper, you're better off shooting up the middle through the spinner or taking the right ramp if it's lit.
Dune has three flippers, but honestly, I treat it like a two-flipper game most of the time.
Unless the ball has a lot of speed, letting the ball pass the upper flipper usually feeds your right flipper nicely for a drop catch. That keeps the ball under control and prevents it from getting tangled in the slingshots.
Of course, if there's a lit shot using the upper flipper, then go for it.
Do
Dead bounce!
The ball is constantly coming out of the scoop, and depending on the copy (or the day of the week), you're better off keeping the right flipper down and letting the ball bounce over to the left.
It won't be perfect every time, but it usually slows the ball down and gives you control.
The top spinner is your best friend.
The spinner is one of the safest bailout shots in the game.
You can hit it from either lower flipper; it advances your day/night cycle, and by not using the upper flipper, it naturally feeds your right flipper for another controlled shot.
Scoop hack.
Whenever you're shooting at the scoop, hold the upper flipper up.
The ball can sneak in behind it, just like the shots behind the flipper on James Bond 007 and King Kong.
30-Second Tournament Summary
Skill Shot:
- Move the red skill shot behind the upper flipper.
- Hold the upper-left flipper up and plunge between it and the scoop.
Modes:
- Start modes at the scoop.
- Follow the flashing shots until they're complete.
- Harvester Battles finish with a big Sacrifice Jackpot at the worm.
- Advance the day/night cycle by shooting the top spinner to relight your next mode.
Multiball:
- Lit automatically at the start of Ball 3.
- Shoot over the worm magnet to start it.
- Starting a mode first will delay multiball until the mode is finished.
Keep an eye out:
- When the left ramp is lit yellow, shoot it to light a ball save on the left.
- When the Action button is lit blue, press it to start 2X scoring.
INCOMING GAMES
Swords of Fury is in the arcade! Simon has prepped and future-proofed it for the arcade. Come and play this 1988 release!
Stay in the Loop with YOPS
Get updates on new machines, tournaments, arcade news, special events and exclusive offers.
Mid-winter Christmas party season has arrived!
Trade the office small talk for multiballs.