Stop-and-go V Flow

quses

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I noticed comments in other threads about categorizing pinball games into these two categories: stop and go, and flow. I think it might be an interesting discussion to talk about what games we think fall into these categories, and which styles we prefer. I would also like to add another dimension: linear verses non-linear progression. Let me give you an example:

I would say Whitewater is a type game with linear progression - there's pretty much a set number of goals to reach to get to the end and a certain approach to playing to get there. Other games like Who?Dunnit or Fish Tales are not as linear in nature (you can score more points by completing various random goals than trying to solve the cases). I would say Twilight Zone has both linear and non-linear progression (meaning there are multiple goals and different ways to progress).

What type of games do you like and what games fit into these categories?
 
In my experience, players who like to shoot "on the fly" prefer the flow games. Players with a more "control" style either don't care or prefer the stop-and-go games. By control, I mean that they use techniques like drop catch, live catch, post pass, bounce pass, trap, backhand, etc. a lot. And they try to keep the ball fairly slow and "in control" as much as possible.

TZ and FH are definitely stop and go. The control style is very effective on these games.

T2 and T3 are more flowy games. You can shoot left ramp > right ramp > left ramp > right ramp all day if you want, and you can get some fantastic scoring going that way if you can do it without missing. I would also put AFM and DM in the flow category.

John P. games seem to be a mixed bag. I would say ToM is somewhat flowy but CV less so.

One thing I like about avatar and IM is they seem friendly to both styles, but I would have to give the edge to "control" on Avatar after having seen some very good players on it.

Personally, I really like to control the ball as much as possible but as I'm getting better I'm learning there are limits on this approach and shooting on the fly is a very necessary skill - especially with older SS and EM games.
 
As for linear vs non-linear I much prefer non-linear, especially with lots of stacking opportunities. One exception however is pinball magic which for some reason is always fun to me despite being so linear. The variation in shots and needing to shoot shots over the whole playfield keeps it interesting.
 
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