- Original Release: 2022
- Developer: Geoff Engelstein
- Publisher: WizKids
- Platform: Board Game
A roll-and-write pinball game with a Star Trek theme. Super-Skill Pinball is a series of similar games, and the Star Trek one brings its own twists.
Super-Skill Pinball is one of those games that sounds very complicated when trying to learn it, but is simple when you get the hand of it. Each turn, two dice a rolled and you pick one of them to “move” your pinball. You start at the top of the pinball machine and have to drop down to a lower level onto a space matching your chosen dice, which you then fill in.
Once you reach the flippers, you can then launch the ball to a space that matches the colour of the flipper, dropping down again in later turns. If there are no spaces below you that you can reach, you lose your ball. The game is played over three rounds (with one exception) and each board has unique features.
Starfleet Academy is the basic board, with one unique aspect being the “Kobayashi Maru” section which needs a roll of 7 on the dice to complete (there is a way to complete it using other parts of the board).
The Trouble With Tribbles is all about managing tribbles – you’ll keep track of your current tribbles on your backplate. You can manipulate how many tribbles you have and even transport them to other players.
Lower Decks plays differently to the others – there are no rounds. Instead, the entire board flips for every 10 points you gain. This one is a little bit broken in that you can create an infinite loop to make the game last for hours.
Borg Attack has you preparing for a Borg Invasion for two rounds, unlocking ships, torpedoes and modulations. In round three, you use what you have unlocked to fight a Borg cube, starting from the bottoms and working up to the number 6 at the top. The borg attacks your ships as the pinball bounces back and forth between your fleet and the borg.
This is a fun solo game, but I don’t think it works as well with others – due to how the game works, people will be finished and have to wait around for everyone else to finish theirs – which on some boards can be a while. Having to wait for everyone to decide what to do on their turn (everyone uses the same dice roll each turn) is also frustrating.
Browse Games By Year
1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979
1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009