Pachinko, for those unfamiliar, is a Japanese gaming device somewhat akin to a vertical pinball machine. The machines are typically found in “pachinko parlors" featuring large numbers of the devices.
As Wikipedia describes the game,
Players can buy metal balls by inserting either cash, a pre-paid card, or their member’s card directly into the machine they want to use. For 1000 yen, 250 balls can be bought (4 yen per ball). These balls are then shot into the machine from a ball tray with the purpose of attempting to win more balls. The pachinko machine has a digital slot machine on a large screen in the center of its layout, and the objective here is to get 3 numbers or symbols in a row for a jackpot.
Originally, pachinko machines had a spring-loaded lever for shooting the balls individually, but modern machines use a round “throttle" that merely controls how quickly an electrically fired plunger shoots the balls onto the playfield. The balls then drop through an array of pins. While most balls simply fall through to the bottom of the pachinko layout, occasionally some will fall into the center gate and start up the digital slot machine in the center screen.
On-Core has just released an iPhone adaptation of this classic combination of pinball and slots. Pachinko [App Store] for the iPhone and iPod touch emulates the original, levered mechanical machines of the 70s. The on-screen launch lever is touch controlled and determines the force with which the ball is fired into the pegged play area. The game features settings for the starting number of balls, jackpots, and number of balls required to win the game.
Pachinko is an interesting game to play (in a parlor or on the iPhone) and likely a new experience to most of our readers. Having spent hours and hours on an actual, upright pachinko machine I was given as a kid, I can say that On-Core’s release provides a faithful rendition of the physical game on the iPhone screen.
See the developer’s gameplay video for a look at the game in action.
App Store Link: Pachinko, $0.99
