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Stern Pinball

Insider Connected

  • Stern Pinball

  • Challenge

    A beloved and pioneering name in the arcade gaming world, Stern Pinball wanted to modernize the classic pinball experience, making it relevant to a new generation of players while staying loyal to their brand fanbase.

  • Solution

    An extensive process of conceptualizing and designing a true-to-pinball digital strategy, leading to a new platform that brings the best parts of the arcade experience online.

  • Results

    A seamless interaction between connected pinball machines and mobile devices so players can track progress, engage with the community, and participate in promotions, without sacrificing the classic feel of a pinball game.

A New High Score. For over twenty years, Stern Pinball has created fan-favorite pinball machines, delighting players in arcades and in homes. In 2019, Stern set out to connect players with a new pinball experience, bringing the joy of their games into the modern age. We helped Stern leverage their physical games for an authentic multi-device experience. Together we concepted, branded, designed, and built Insider Connected — the industry’s most extensive digital platform that connects players’ devices with pinball machines around the world to track achievements, chat with other players, complete localized Challenge Quests, and more.

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“Insider Connected will transform how players interact with pinball machines, and operators will benefit greatly from new tools.”

Gary SternChairman and CEO of Stern Pinball, Inc.
The Insider Connected brand needed to be distinct but clearly part of the Stern Pinball family.
The Insider Connected brand needed to be distinct but clearly part of the Stern Pinball family.

Experience Enhancement

Multi-Device Interaction

The physical limitations of pinball machines had driven Stern’s growth opportunities and the industry’s modernization. Now players can walk up to a connected pinball machine, scan their QR code, and access the broader universe of Stern Pinball, all from the palm of their hands. But Insider Connected was never about mobile gaming – we designed it to connect devices to enhance what players really love: the classic Stern game. We built Insider Connected in React, with Django and Python on the backend, to provide an interaction-driven experience that players and machine operators will love.
App overshadowing a person playing pinball

Connecting the Experience

A Complementary Design

Stern Pinball knew the industry was eager for modern ways to engage with the classic pinball game, but they couldn’t risk their decades-old brand. Our UX and visual designers completed exhaustive discovery to ensure the app would be an extension of what players love about Stern, while simultaneously offering a new, broader experience. The Insider Connected UI complements Stern’s games, ensuring players feel right at home with the Stern brand, whether they’re logging a high score on Deadpool at an arcade or challenging a friend on Godzilla across the world.
Insider Connected enabled Stern to introduce an all new achievement system, adding a whole new dimension to the playing experience. How many achievements will you earn?
Demonstration of what the app provides to the user
The Overview screen shows a player's recent activity across multiple games and machines, something that previously was limited to locally stored information on one machine.
The new experience extends beyond personal devices and onto the LED screen of the machine, representing logged in users, high scores, achievements, and more.
Track your achievements, study the rules, and check out Insider All-Access content for each connected game.
Create and customize your player profile in as little as three steps.
With new user accounts, Stern can now facilitate discussions with their fans on the all-new Forums, engaging in everything from upcoming games to events.
Insider Connected All-Access users get sneak peeks at upcoming releases, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive Stern stories.

Summary

We helped Stern Pinball modernize their classic game experience by creating the industry-first Insider Connected. Now, users can engage with the entire Stern universe, tracking high scores, challenging friends, and more.