1v1 Pinball Game ‘Tilt Rivals’ Announced

Steam offers plenty of games to satisfy a competitive gamer. As more games use leaderboards and high scores to pit players against one another, pinball is a genre with strong potential to become a hotbed of 1v1 action. Independent Canadian studio Hollow Light announced its debut game, Tilt Rivals, a fast-paced arcade pinball game built around head-to-head competition. Here’s what we know so far.

In Tilt Rivals, players face off on one table against an opponent, and every return is a chance to attack. Players defend their side of the table and aim to send the ball past their opponent. A ball lost through the middle or either side lane gives the rival a point. The first player to reach the target score wins. There’s also a high score component, which can be boosted by power-ups, well-timed nudges, and defensive pistons. There’s even a double ball mechanic that leaves both players scrambling to keep up on both offense and defense. Players can challenge rivals online, face a friend on the same computer, or take on the CPU in Solo mode. XP earned earns skins for paddles and boards.

One element of arcade games and pinball in particular has always been outperforming friends or initials on a leaderboard. Sharing a table, like air hockey, makes it appealing to see how this feels compared to the traditional experience. There’s a good chance some people who aren’t pinball fans find their way to this. The same goes for competitive game junkies who don’t think much about pinball. Sometimes, a genre-bending experience is just unique enough to catch fire. I could see Tilt Rivals being one of those success stories once it launches.