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Demon's Tilt

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Demon's Tilt
Cover art
Developer(s)Adam Ferrando (WIZNWAR)[6]
Publisher(s)Flarb
Composer(s)Charlie Heinrich (ec2151)
Platform(s)
ReleasemacOS, Windows, Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
  • WW: December 23, 2019[3]
PlayStation 4
Genre(s)Pinball
Mode(s)Single-player

Demon's Tilt is a pinball video game by American[7] developer Adam Ferrando under his handle WIZNWAR, released on Steam Early Access in January 2019,[8] with eventual publication on Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in December 2019. The game features occult inspiration pulled from H.P. Lovecraft, tarot and other horror themes. The game has been called a spiritual successor to the Crush Pinball series of pinball video games, namely Devil's Crush.[9] A sequel, Xenotilt, is currently in development.[10]

Gameplay

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The start of a Demon's Tilt game, showing off the second tier ("Lilith") of the game board. Gameplay elements like the tilt meter, score, and ritual objectives are displayed as overlays

Demon's Tilt occurs primarily on a pinball board that spans across three separate screens,[11] one for each of the sections: Lilith, Hermit and Zodiac.[12] They contain different objectives or items which help add to the player's multiplier score. The player is given three balls per game and moves the ball around the board by four pairs of flippers (two pairs on the first tier, the remaining two divided up among the other two tiers). By shaking the table, the trajectory of the ball can be shifted with the game's Nudge feature, designed to help the player control the ball.[13] The player will face a number of enemy characters and obstacles around the board, along with boss characters that can cause ball loss.[14] Unlike other pinball games, the tilt mechanics add a "hack 'n slash" gameplay element, allowing the player to use the ball to attack enemies and avoid obstacles. Another gameplay element is the incorporation of bullet hell mechanics, where enemy characters will fill the board with bullets that halt ball progress.[15] A game over is triggered by the player losing all of their three balls.

Development

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Development of Demon's Tilt was inspired by an email chain between Adam Ferrando ("WIZNWAR") and Ralph Barbagallo of FLARB, LLC, about their shared love of video pinball games from the early 90s. Discussions between the two brought up their main inspirations for developing the a game heavily inspired by the 16-bit Crush Pinball series of games, drawing heavy inspiration from Alien Crush on the Turbografx-16, Devil's Crush also on the Turbografx-16 and Sega Mega Drive, and Jaki Crush on the Super Famicom, along with KAZe's pinball games for the 32-bit Sega Saturn.[16] Development of the game began some time in 2017, with the prototype of Demon's Tilt being finished in late-2017. Development on the main game began in April 2018 after Barbagallo approached Ferrando about publishing the game.[17] The game was released for Steam Early Access on January 22, 2019, with a full release on December 13, 2019.

Music for the game was composed by ec2151, and tries to emulate 16-bit video game chiptune soundtracks, with the Yamaha YM2612 specifically being a reference for style and sound limitations.[18]

Reception

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Demon's Tilt has received generally positive reviews. PC Gamer reviewed the Steam Early Access release positively, praising the game mechanics and bullet hell game mechanics.[15] PC Gamer to date has not given a full review of the commercial release, but featured it on their list "The hidden gems of PC gaming in 2019".[19] Rock, Paper, Shotgun, also reviewing the Early Access release, praised the game's chaotic gameplay along with the chiptune soundtrack[20] and featured it on a "best new indie games" list.[21] Nintendo Life gave the released game an 8/10, praising the visuals, the soundtrack, and the gameplay but noted that the Switch release lacked some of the extra visuals of the PC release.[22]

References

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  1. ^ Ferrando, Adam (13 December 2019). "Steam :: DEMON'S TILT :: OUT OF EARLY ACCESS!". Steam.
  2. ^ Birch, Nathan (December 4, 2019). "Xbox Game Pass December Lineup Headlined by The Division and Age of Wonders: Planetfall". Wccftech. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  3. ^ McFerran, Damien (December 11, 2019). "Devil's Crush Spiritual Successor Demon's Tilt Is Coming To Switch". Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  4. ^ Barker, Sammy (November 13, 2020). "Guide: New PS5, PS4 Games This Week (9th November to 15th November)". Push Square. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  5. ^ Reiner, Andrew (August 17, 2020). "Here Are The Games Hitting This Week". Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  6. ^ Fenlon, Wes (9 March 2020). "Demon's Tilt". PC Powerplay. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Adam Ferrando". Twitter. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  8. ^ Ferrando, Adam (4 January 2019). "Steam :: DEMON'S TILT :: EARLY ACCESS RELEASE DATE: JAN 22". store.steampowered.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  9. ^ McFerran, Damien (11 December 2019). "Devil's Crush Spiritual Successor Demon's Tilt Is Coming To Switch". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  10. ^ Fenlon, Wes (26 January 2023). "Exclusive: The sickest pinball game of 2019 is getting a sequel". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Demon's Tilt". Retro Gamer. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  12. ^ Cunningham, James (22 January 2019). "Reviving an Old Pinball Dream in Demon's Tilt". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  13. ^ Yamachan (1 February 2019). "ハロー!Steam広場 第227回:「エイリアンクラッシュ」を彷彿とさせるオカルト系ピンボール DEMON'S TILT". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  14. ^ Pear (24 February 2019). "【PCゲーム極☆道】第三十八回:『DEMON'S TILT』 悪魔の弾幕ピンボールゲームは意外にも親切!?". IGN Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  15. ^ a b Fenlon, Wes (12 February 2019). "Demon's Tilt is an insane '80s metal album cover x bullet hell x pinball crossover". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  16. ^ WIZNWAR (December 13, 2019). Memento for Demon's Tilt: Developer's Scrapbook. FLARB, LLC. p. 3. i know you like pinball but are you into Devil's Crush or Jaki/Alien Crush? (necronomicon/kaze pinball on saturn)
  17. ^ WIZNWAR (December 13, 2019). Memento for Demon's Tilt: Developer's Scrapbook. FLARB, LLC. p. 29.
  18. ^ WIZNWAR (December 13, 2019). Memento for Demon's Tilt: Developer's Scrapbook. FLARB, LLC. p. 26. Must have that distinctive dirty/gutteral/round Genesis sound, do not use generic NES sounding chip.
  19. ^ Gamer, PC (27 December 2019). "The hidden gems of PC gaming in 2019". PC Gamer. Future. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  20. ^ Tarason, Dominic (22 January 2019). "Demon's Tilt flips into early access today". Rock Paper Shotgun. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  21. ^ Vega, Sin (4 February 2019). "Unknown Pleasures: The Gang of Five". Rock Paper Shotgun. Gamer Network. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  22. ^ McFerran, Damien (20 December 2019). "Review: Demon's Tilt - A Worthy Successor To Devil's Crush". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
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