TWIPY WEEK!

Song of the Week

Judging by the response to the last Song of the Week pick, y’all really vibed with Kit Sebastian. So, let’s dip back into that well, this time with a fresh single from Σtella (pronounced Stella, as in Stella Chronopoulou), an artist out of Athens, Greece.

Her latest track, Adagio, carries that same vintage ‘60s Euro-pop elegance that made Bul Bul Bul such a hit. But beyond the infectious melody, the video is a whole cinematic mood. It spins a dreamy, slow-burning tale of a chef and diner locked in a kind of primal, romantic dance, building to a final moment that’s, well… chef’s kiss.

Unlike Kit Sebastian’s Bul Bul Bul, Adagio is fully in English. But if you want to hear Σtella working in her native tongue, check out Omorfo Mou. She doesn’t drop much Greek-language material, so it’s a rare treat. Full disclosure: I’ve probably played Omorfo Mou more than Adagio, but when it comes to picking between an official music video and a lyric video, I’ll always lean toward the one with a visual story.

Σtella’s new album drops April 5th.

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Pinball News of the Week

TWIPY WEEK!!

Our TWIPY Updates of the Week section gets moved into the Pinball News section this week since the live show is finally here!

To headline it, we’ll be streaming The Pinball Community Awards (aka The TWIPYs) live tomorrow (Saturday) starting at 7 pm CT. You can find us on all of The Wormhole’s social channels, where we’ll be broadcasting on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook. Tune in to see who will be taking home the pinball community’s ultimate prizes!

Speaking of the ultimate prize, check out these awesome trophies from our vendor, Caldron Falls Trading Co. All 2024 winners will receive their own customized version of these, complete with their name and award category inscribed on the trophy. I’ve had a few samples in hand for weeks, and I can say they are a joy to hold and display.

Oh, and if you want to show off your TWIPY pride, we’ve got merch! Thanks to Silverball Swag, you can grab official TWIPY gear at twipys.com/merch.

Kisses All-Around

We released this set of dueling tutorials from James McFatter last week to coincide with Valentine’s Day (we frequently publish on Kineticist first before sharing things here). First, have a read through Classic Kiss, which covers how to play the OG Bally version, released in 1979. Then, have a gander at Modern Kiss, which covers Stern’s 2015 refresh by John Borg. Then go make smoochy faces at a loved one or something.

Behind the Scenes at INDISC 2025 with Scorbit

Excited to welcome Scorbit’s Ron Richards for his first guest contribution to Kineticist. In it, he goes behind the scenes of Scorbit’s work at INDISC 2025, where they were responsible for logging all the tournament scores throughout the weekend. He also goes full pinball nerd on us with some crunchy analysis of the qualifying scores and what it takes to get your ticket punched for the next round.

How Does The New Hybrid Best Game Format Work?

Matt Owen gives us some helpful advice on approaching the IFPA’s new 2025 pinball tournament format, Hybrid Best Game. I really like how this makes an attempt to eliminate some of the “pay-to-win” aspects of other IFPA-sanctioned tournament formats, where all competitors get an equal number of opportunities on a machine, regardless of the number of entries purchased.

Stern Reveals John Wick Accessories

Coming nearly a year after the game launch, Stern this week revealed the official John Wick game accessories, including a topper ($1,499.99), side armor ($269.99), expression lights ($599.99), and shooter knob ($199.99). You can see the trailer here.

The most interesting of the bunch is the interactive topper, which features a mechanical hourglass mech (complete with real sand) that’s tied to a topper-exclusive mode called Tick Tock Mr. Wick. Designed to be reached over the course of several games, players compete to be the first to drain the hourglass by making shots and completing combos. Whoever drains the hourglass first will get a shot at completing the mode, which is essentially a 3-minute long hurry-up and what looks to be a points bonanza.

Barrels of Fun Teases Something New

As part of the TWIPY festivities, ticket-holders are getting an exclusive tour of the Barrels of Fun factory in Houston, plus a delicious BBQ lunch. The BoF team is taking things a couple of steps further, however, and will be sharing a demo of a currently unknown future project. I truthfully have no idea what it is, though rumors are making the rounds. I won’t be able to share details for a bit, as signed NDAs will be required for what is shaping up to be a memorable factory tour experience.

Pinball Map Location of the Week

Ryan and Scott from Pinball Map run a regular series that highlights one new pinball location each week. This week, Scott writes about Caffetto Coffee House in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Growing up in the 90s, coffee was introduced to me in two ways: 1) a drink that all adults consumed, often from a styrofoam cup, and 2) something grunge musicians would guzzle while lounging on couches festooned with holes. Coffee wasn’t for me. I wasn’t an adult, and my musical tastes leaned more towards Weird Al. I was a Mt. Dew boy. By the time I reached adulthood, coffee had evolved beyond styrofoam cups and was now served in sterile spaces resembling Apple stores—places where the playful sounds of a pinball machine were decidedly unwelcome. This feels like a genuine loss for the pinball community, missing the chance to pair coffee—a drink that sharpens the senses—with a game that demands lightning-fast reflexes. Instead, pinball was confined to bars, where late nights and cold, sense-dulling drinks left you unfit to face the silverball. Coffee should be the drink of pinball, not beer. Enter Caffetto Coffee House, a Minneapolis-based coffee shop (or house?) that appears to take both coffee and pinball very seriously.

Caffetto seems to be capturing that “dream of the 90s” thing you heard about in the 2010s, but in Minneapolis rather than Portland. The floors look dusty, there’s a bunch of crazy crap on the walls, and the staff does not suffer fools. You can load up on all the usual coffee things (e.g. a cup of coffee) and maybe even eat a pastry (e.g. coffee cake). Maybe you settle into a chair, attempting to read a book, only to realize you've been flipping through pages without actually absorbing anything. This is the moment to take a thoughtful sip from your cup, chuck your book in the trash, and discover Caffetto's real treasure – a basement filled with eighteen pinball machines.

Can you imagine the effort it took to haul all those machines down there? You can tell there's real passion behind this setup. It's not just a random collection of shiny new Sterns that a passing operator stashed underground like so much scat. The lineup includes classics like No Fear, Last Action Hero, and Earthshaker. You can appreciate them with a caffeine-fueled clarity you never thought possible. I would love to see a real scientific study comparing the scores on Caffetto’s Twilight Zone to those at an average bar. Maybe it's not too late to redefine our relationship with pinball.

Caffetto Coffee House is located at 708 W 22nd St in stately Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have a one-star review on Yelp that claims, “The girl at the front counter was annoyed that I asked a question and was laughing at me when I used some change to pay.” Sounds good to me!

Caffetto Coffee House
708 W 22nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55405
Instagram

Links of the Week

• Cary Hardy gave us a first look at Road Trip pinball from Ramp’s Manufacturing

• The Nudgecast interviewed Chris Kooluris of Kaneda’s Pinball Podcast

• 904 Pinball Zine interviewed Stern’s George Gomez at Pinball at the Beach

• PDubs Arcade Loft interviewed some of the product team behind Alice Goes to Wonderland

• Wizards & Warriors interviewed INDISC champ Zach McCarthy and recapped all of INDISC

• Tickets and hotel rooms went on sale this week for Pinball Expo in October. Get those rooms booked soon; they tend to sell out fast!

Poll of the Week

Last Week’s Poll Results

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