Turner Pinball Launches Merlin's Arcade
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Merlin's Arcade Pinball Overview
Hot off the heels of Multimorphic's announcement of their new game, Portal, we have a new game annoucnment from fellow Texas-based company, Turner Pinball. This marks the second commercial release for the upstart pinball manufacturer, following the well recieved Ninja Eclipse. This time, the Turner team eschews Ninjas for Wizards in another mostly original IP based approach.
The Merlin's Arcade game concept was originally under development by deeproot pinball, with Jon Norris leading the project. That game was loosely based on Eight Ball Deluxe, and this game appears to borrow at least some of that work, as evidenced by the long bank of stand-up targets on the right side of the playfied.
The game looks set to be revealed at the upcoming Texas Pinball Festival, and the company is accepting deposit orders ($1,000) now on their website.
Who's Who for Merlin's Arcade Pinball
Merlin's Arcade looks to return much of the design and consulting team for Ninja Eclipse, such as Jon Norris, Chris Turner, Brade Duke and others. The full credits include:
- Playfield Design: Jon Norris
- Ruleset Design: Jon Norris, Quinn Johnson
- Story Writer: Quinn Johnson
- Art and Video: Brad Duke, Mike Grover
- Programming: Matthew Brozusky, Chris Turner
- User Experience Design: Brad Duke, Chris Turner
- Engineering: Gabe Hernandez, Chris Turner
- Team Pro: Collier Whitefield
Merlin's Arcade Pinball Pricing and Availability
Turner Pinball is offering Merlin's Arcade in two trim lines. A Legendary Edition for $8,995 and an Arcade Edition for $6,995.
Games are currently set to ship in the Summer of 2025.
Notable Game Features
Legendary Edition (No more than 500 produced)
- Premium Sound + RGB Speaker Lighting
- Yellow Powder Coating for Legs and Glass Frame
- Merlin Figure with Moving Body and Arms
- Mordred and Morgan Figures with Glowing Eyes
- Huge Foosball Knight Super Spinner
- Two Additional Super Spinners
- Light-up Arcade Machine Toy
- Pop Bumper Bobble Head Toys
- Barrel Physical Ball Lock with Subway
- Sculpted Castles and More!
- Anti-Reflective Glass
- Illuminated Topper
Arcade Edition (Unlimited production)
- Black Powder Coating for Legs and Glass Frame
- Huge Foosball Knight Super Spinner
- Two Additional Super Spinners
- Virtual Ball Lock for Multiballs
- Flat Plastics in place of Toys/Figures
Common Features
- Removable Glass Frame w/ Std Size Tempered Glass
- Connectorless RGB Lighting on Glass Frame
- Dual Flipper Buttons w/ Finesse Feature™*
- Abrasion Resistant Playfield Surface
*Cool Note on Finesse Flippers
This unique feature (which is the reason for two flipper buttons on the cabinet), was invented by Jon Norris around 2017. See the video where he demonstrated how the feature would work on his YouTube channel. It's like an easy button for advanced flipper skills!
Merlin's Arcade Rules & Story
The playfield layout and game ruleset were both designed by renowned pinball designer Jon Norris.
- Eight Light Knight Battles
- Eight Dark Knight Battles
- Four Duel Boss Modes
- Special Multiball for Each Knight (Light and Dark)
- Merlin Multiball
- Two Wizard Modes
Story Synopsis
Welcome, brave squire, to Merlin's Arcade! The merry wizard Merlin dares you to challenge the mightiest knights of the realm in a variety of games of skill:
- Sir Lancelot, master of pool!
- Lady Percival, duchess of darts!
- Sir Galahad, lord of air hockey!
- Lady Gawain, video game champion!
- Sir Bedivere, guardian of shuffle alley!
- Sir Kay, ruler of the court!
- Sir Tristan, the pinball wizard!
- Sir Dagonet, foosball player extraordinaire!
But beware! The femme fatale sorceress Morgan Le Fay and her brutish henchman, Mordred, have crashed the party! She will bewitch your noble friends, turning them into dark knights, and steal the Holy Grail!
Can you defeat every knight, win the duels against the forces of darkness, and rescue the Grail—and Merlin's Arcade—from evil's clutches?! Let's see if your legend lives up to the hype! Merlin himself might even take you on...
Additional Game Photos
