Despite being almost a century old, pinball continues to capture the imagination of players all over the world.
And places like The Arcade and Kirby’s Flipside are keeping the fascination alive in Wichita.
Ryan Bell is the co-owner of Kirby’s Beer Store, a legendary dive bar known for hosting an eclectic array of live music. In 2020, his business took a hit when the pandemic shut down live performances for several months.
That’s when Bell came up with the idea to incorporate his hobby into his business.
“We wanted to offer something other than music, obviously, because that wasn't an option,” he said. “So, we basically took my collection of pinball machines and put them next door.”
At the same time, Bell was also helping Wichita’s growing pinball community. People gathering to play pinball is something that can be found all across the country, he said.
“It doesn't matter your level of play,” Bell said. “If you just want to spend an evening playing pinball, talking to people, you can find it in every community.”
Bell said the relationships he’s been able to form through pinball are what make the game special.
“When you hit that perfect shot, or you hit a good combination of shots, or you get a good score, there's obviously joy that comes from that,” he said. “But really what I think gets down deep into the collector and the hobbyist’s motivation is really, you make friends and you develop friendships.”
Another main hub for pinball in Wichita is The Arcade. Michael Jensen is a co-owner of the business and also maintains all of its arcade and pinball machines. He said it’s important to keep machines clean and functioning.
“When you walk up to a pinball machine and the playfield is covered in dirt, it just makes you not want to play it,” he said.
Jensen has been fixing machines for 18 years and said it takes a lot of work.
“It's literally daily maintenance on pinball machines,” he said. “Every day, there's either a light that goes out or a part that breaks or a button that's sticking or rubber that breaks.
“It's a never-ending battle.”
One of the pinball community's biggest stewards is Sam Swain, who helps organize leagues and tournaments in Wichita.
Tournaments are registered and sanctioned through the IFPA, or the International Flipper Pinball Association. Swain said tournaments average about 20 to 30 people.
Several pinball machines can even scan individualized QR codes to keep track of online leaderboards through a system called Stern Connect.
“It's cool to see how you're doing and how you're progressing and how well you're playing against everybody else that plays here on the same games as you, even if they're not here at the same time,” Swain said.
There are also women’s leagues in Wichita.
“We have two different women's groups here in town,” said pinball player Susie Sprankle. “We have the Ball Busters, and then the Belles and Chimes.”
According to Sprankle, coed groups can offer a fun and competitive environment, but pinball can be a very male-dominated hobby. She said the women’s groups offer a friendly environment for female players to bond.
“They're always a little more welcoming,” she said,“because we're women trying to support other women doing this random kind of thing. And it's not really random, but it's random. It's pinball.”
The pinball community can be broken down into three categories: collectors, competitive players and casual enthusiasts. One of the benefits of having a community is that the more experienced players can help newer ones elevate their game.
For new players, Swain offered this advice:
“It's you versus the machine, and it doesn't matter how well you play. At the end, the ball is going to drain. And you have to work through that.
“Go to the next shot, figure out what you're going to do and keep playing.”
