Nothing can prepare you for the intense experience of Orbitor 1, one of the most unique pinball machines ever created. Thanks to our partnership with GR Pinball, you can play this rare game at Pinball Land for a limited time only: October 5 until October 9, 2022! Afterwards, it will blast off forever! Read on to learn more about this incredibly unique pinball machine!
Prepare to Enter the Third Dimension
What makes this game so special? Orbitor 1, by Stern Electronics, holds the distinction of being the first – and only – pinball machine with a curved playfield. Instead of being made out of wood, the Orbitor 1 playfield is actually a curved piece of clear plastic laid over a secondary plastic playfield which is detailed to look like the surface of a moon. The result is a one-of-a-kind experience your senses will not be able to process right away, if at all.
Not only is the playfield curved and 3D, the backglass is, too! Orbitor 1’s backglass is very special. It’s actually made of two pieces: an inner piece that acts like your traditional backglass or translite and an outer “bubble” that goes over the traditional glass. But even that traditional glass isn’t so traditional.
Orbitor’s backglass has a twist – it actually has depth! It’s made of a piece of vacuuformed plastic laid over a piece of standard glass, giving depth to the elements in the design, including the text. The result is stunning! It is further enhanced with the addition of the plastic” bubble” covering it all.
Unique Pinball Experiences
Orbitor 1’s curved playfield offers many unique experiences pinball players will find only in this game. For example, the ball can actually roll around behind your flippers! There are no inlanes and no way for you to trap the ball and easily aim your shots. Most everything has to be hit on the fly, adding to the randomness, confusion, and some may argue, the fun.
A typical spinner is present on the playfield, in a fairly typical location even, however this spinner is anything but typical! Since there are no in-lanes to feed the flippers for an accurate shot, you will find the ball will end up going through the spinner backwards more often than from your flippers. You never know what to expect with Orbitor 1!
Spinning Bumpers
There are also no standard pop bumpers on Orbitor 1! In their place is a unique mechanism found only on this game. These stand-out mechanisms are special rubber-covered wheels that spin very quickly. Many players assume these are somehow magnetic, but they are simply located in the dips in the curved playfield so the ball tends to roll close.
When the ball gets too close to these spinning wheels, there’s no telling where they will fling it! The spinning bumpers might be helpful and throw the ball through the spinner for you, or maybe take out some targets. They could also spell certain doom and send the ball right to the bottom! You have to really be on your toes when these special spinning bumpers come into play.
Time is of the Essence
Additionally, Orbitor 1 features a minimum game time. The Orbitor 1 at Pinball Land is set to the lowest time possible: 90 seconds. This means that no matter your score, your game will last at least 90 seconds across all three balls. If you drain your third ball before you’ve played for 90 seconds, the game will continue serving you new balls until you reach the minimum time.
But wait, there’s more! Orbitor 1 also keeps track of the amount of time spent on each ball and displays the elapsed time on its own special display. This creates another challenge for players as they attempt to not only score a lot of points, but also keep the ball alive longer than their opponent.
Partnership with GR Pinball
Orbitor 1’s arrival at Pinball Land marks the beginning of a wonderful partnership between Ryan Thompson, owner or Pinball Land and Matt McKenzie, owner of GR Pinball. Matt is one of the top pinball mechanics not just in the Grand Rapids area, but in the entire state of Michigan. GR Pinball will be setting up one of the terrific games from their inventory every month or so at Pinball Land arcade in Rockford, MI.
Pinball Land’s Ryan Thompson and GR Pinball’s Matt McKenzie pose with an Orbitor 1 pinball machine at Pinball Land arcade in Rockford, Michigan.
Orbitor 1 is just the beginning! There are so many more unique and fun games that GR Pinball plans on bringing to Pinball Land for you to experience. We don’t want to spoil the surprises, but we will let you know when new games are arriving. Keep checking back here at the Pinball Land website or on our social media sites for announcements of new games.
Blasting Off Soon!
You only have a limited window to play Orbitor 1 – October 5, 2022 thru October 9, 2022. After Sunday, it’s blasting off and heading back from whence it came. Don’t miss your chance at flipping this awesome, rare game at Pinball Land, this week only!
