Inspired by the wave of frustration-driven titles popularised by Bennett Foddy and his infamous Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad fully embraces its identity from the very first second.
Developed and published by Azimuth Studios, A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad, is an over-the-top pinball game that focuses on long range progressesion rather than repetitive gameplay.
It doesn’t pretend to be subtle, clever, or misunderstood. It tells you exactly what it is, and then it dares you to press start anyway.
Some games want to challenge you. Some want to inspire you.
A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad wants you to question your life choices.
Clearly cut from the same cloth as Bennett Foddy and the wonderfully controller-throwing Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, this is another entry in the proud tradition of games designed less for player enjoyment and more for emotional endurance testing.
The difference?
You only press one button.
That is it. One button. No complicated inputs to master. No awkward control schemes to blame. Just a flipper, a ball, and a level designer who clearly wakes up every morning choosing violence.
It is almost admirable how much frustration can be squeezed out of something so mechanically simple.
One Button, Endless Suffering
At its core, this is a very long and very mean pinball table. Your objective is straightforward. Guide the ball from start to finish using carefully timed flipper presses. That is the entire game.
In theory, that sounds manageable. In practice, the table layout feels like it was drafted during a personal grudge.
Angles are tight. Platforms are narrow. Bumpers are positioned with suspicious precision. The physics are consistent enough that you cannot accuse the game of cheating, which somehow makes it worse. When you fail, and you absolutely will, it is technically your fault.
Technically.
The cruelty lies in how the level design constantly resets your progress at the worst possible moment. You will line up the perfect shot, feel that tiny spark of optimism, and then watch the ball rebound off some awkward surface and tumble all the way back down. Minutes of careful progress erased in seconds.
It is less about reflexes and more about endurance. The game wants to see how many times you are willing to try again before your patience evaporates.
Polite British and Mad
As if the gameplay was not enough, a dry, sarcastic British narrator hovers over the entire experience. He comments on your failures, questions your competence, and generally treats your repeated mistakes as a source of light entertainment.
Normally, this kind of running commentary would feel smug. Here, it is oddly tolerable. The game is not pretending to be above you. It knows exactly what it is doing. It is trolling you openly and without shame.
Some of the lines genuinely land. I found myself laughing more than once, usually right before immediately failing again. There is something disarming about how upfront it is. It does not hide behind artificial difficulty spikes or pretend this is some grand philosophical statement about perseverance. It is a pinball table that wants to annoy you, and it says so.
Merciful, But Not Really
Surprisingly, A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad includes a few quality-of-life features that prevent it from becoming completely unbearable.
If you spend too long stuck in a particular section, you can skip it. The narrator will mock your lack of skill, of course, but the option exists. There are also occasional checkpoints, and they feel like small miracles when you reach them.
These features keep the game from crossing the line into outright hostility. At the same time, the difficulty escalates quickly. New sections introduce tighter gaps, more awkward rebounds, and increasingly precise timing windows. Just when you think you have adapted, the table finds a new way to humble you.
It is relentless, but not entirely unreasonable.
Mad Visual Noise
Visually, the game is serviceable. The assets do not look bad, and the lighting effects are crisp enough. However, there is no clear art direction holding it all together. It looks like a collection of ideas thrown onto a table simply because they could be.
It works from a functional standpoint. You can read the environment clearly, and nothing gets in the way of the action. It just never rises above being visually adequate.
Mad Outcome
A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad delivers exactly what its title promises. No hidden depth. No secret emotional payoff. It is a carefully constructed frustration machine with a sense of humour.
It is beatable, but only through repetition, stubbornness, and a willingness to accept that you will fail more often than you succeed. Recommending it depends entirely on your tolerance for self-inflicted irritation. If you enjoy punishing, precision-heavy experiences that test your composure, you will likely appreciate what it offers.
If not, there is a clearly labelled Rage Quit button waiting for you. The game will not judge you for pressing it. It will just make a joke at your expense.
