Dune [Barrels of Fun 2025] Detailed First Thoughts After Flipping on Location

Got a chance to flip Dune at the NW Pinball & Arcade Show, as well as speak briefly with pinball manual writer veteran Butch Peel, while playing (he gave me some tips on how to play Dune). Also, caught the ending of his presentation on Dune.

Clearly, those that do buy this game are going to get one heckuva detailed owner’s manual. Put me in the group that buys pinball machines and hope I rarely need to consult an owner’s manual, but if I did, I’d want Butch Peel writing the manual. The guy really nails the detail.

Owner manuals aside, how does the game itself look and, more importantly, shoot? Let’s dig in.

Dune [Barrels of Fun 2025] Detailed First Thoughts After Flipping on Location

LIKE – Theme

If you’re a reader of science fiction, Frank Herbert’s Dune is essential reading. It spawned multiple sequels and various attempts have been made to adapt the story to the screen. Sci-fi can be difficult to translate well, particularly more complicated stories. To simplify Dune is not easily accomplished.

The basic premise of the ecological fantasy-science fiction story is involving a planetary control over an important mind drug known as spice on a desert planet. There are great sand worm creatures that seek to protect the drug. Computers and robots do not play a part, they have been destroyed, so it’s not a traditional technological sci-fi story, but one more targeting ecological and political conflict.

The tones and colors are very dull and brown and yet Barrels of Fun has done an admirable job of maintaining the style and boring brown colors and yet building a playfield that draws the landscape and theme well.

LIKE – Playfield Design, Mechs & Toys

The design of the playfield somehow takes a very boring desert color palette and transforms it with shape and structure in interesting ways. There is a worm platform in the top back left that grabs the ball with a magnet, then rises and dumps the ball to a ramp. A cool effect that reminded me as sort of a reverse building mech from Godzilla. I don’t recall the name of the mode when playing that is triggered with this, but it’s a cool way to start the mode.

Think this is one of Dune’s strongest points is the stuff that’s on the playfield ready for interaction from the player. Stay with me, because once we get to the gamepay flow, looks are a bit deceiving.

LIKE – Translite, Side and Playfield Artwork

How this earthy desert-like planet translates to a pinball playfield is fascinating. It could go either way: be too earthy, too plain and brown and look like some ever-expanding boring desert. It doesn’t. Props here to the artists working on this, they’ve made an appealing to look at game.

MIXED – Plunger / Skill Shots

It’s not immediately apparent on the first play what the plunger skill shots are, but there are skill shots. I tried holding the left flipper button to see if any lights changed or any additional lights on the playfield started flashing and nothing. Got to play this more to see what sort of skills shots exist here.

MIXED – Gameplay Flow

Although visually I like the design, my biggest problem with Dune was how clunky it shoots. I was bricking shots that should have been made — frequently. Am sure with repeated plays, I’d get the geometry down, but initially it’s too erratic shooting for my taste. I’m sure with repeated plays I’ll warm up to the geometry, but something isn’t right here, not right away as it should be. Compare this to King Kong and you’ll immediately feel the difference in shot selection and how smooth the shots feel.

Came away somewhat disappointed in how the shooting flows. At least initially.

DISLIKE – scoring

Scoring is on the low side and similar to Labyrinth. Too low scoring, IMO. When 25-50 million is a good game that takes 5-10 minutes that scoring is too low.

MIXED – LCD movie assets and callouts

There was a hold-up in the licensing for mode assets to be approved by the IP holder Legendary, and fortunately, the version I played, didn’t have the message indicating they were waiting for approval to activate and display the modes.

What I saw of the LCD assets was very good. Better than Kong, not as good as Evil Dead. The callouts seemed a bit sparse. Seems like maybe the code isn’t completed yet? Stern does this too, they prioritieze getting placeholder stuff in place and then add a bunch of callouts in future code versions. Not sure if something similar will be happening here with Dune.

MIXED – Music/sounds

Couldn’t hear the music very well, but did hear some sound effects and those were average and unremarkable.

MIXED – Lighting

Lighting for Dune is nothing special. Hard to have much of a lightshow when you’re dealing with a boring color palette.

LIKE – Additional Game/Video Modes

Several good and interesting modes were experienced. Played a mode where you have to hold the action button with your left hand , while trying to make a ramp shot to save your ball. Pulling that off one-handed is satisfying, unique and fun.

DISLIKE – Connected features

Same scenario as Labyrinth: no connected features. Disappointing. Barrels of Fun needs to step up this part of their games. If a smaller company like Turner Pinball can added their own IC-like program surely Barrels of Fun could roll their own progam.

DISLIKE – Pricing

The fact there were constant lines at the show and yet only one of two machines actually had “SOLD” on it is revealing. The price — $11,600 with a $2,000 deposit — is too high. They sold out of Labyrinth with similar pricing, so time will tell how many pinbuyers throw down for this once the initial rush of interest buying subsides.

What should the price be? Closer to the price of a Stern Pro ($7,000) or Turner Pinball’s games that do have connected features.

Am far and away not alone in thinking that modern pinball games are too expensive. Instead of railing against it again, I’ll just link up this: OPINION: Active, Interested Buyer: New in Box Modern Pinball Prices are 20% (at least) Too Expensive

Overall early feelings – Like the artistic visuals and choices, found the game a bit messy to shoot flow-wise, not interested in buying, but interested in playing more

Think Labyrinth is a tiny bit better than Dune for me, at least shooting and fun factor wise from the first play. I do like both games and think Barrels of Fun is doing pretty good with their games so far. They look interesting, professional and play better than most Spooky pinball games. They have comparable flipper feel to a Stern. They aren’t as fancy as a JJP, which hurts them when it comes to pricing. You can’t price a game like a JJP and not have comparable bells and whistles. It just makes the competition look much more desirable.

Ultimately, I think Dune shoots better than most of the JJPs and several, but not all, of the Spooky’s. Dune is light years better than Pinball Brothers ABBA

Dune doesn’t blow me away play-wise, unfortunately, but liked it enough to want to play more. Zero interest in purchasing one. King Kong is a much more fun game to shoot. I kind of wish Elwin had done the geometry and shot selection here, because I think what’s on the Dune playfield is interesting, it’s just not placed as well as it could be.

Grade: C+

Dune is a strictly on location play for me. I don’t think any amount of code updates are going to fix the layout for me which, again, looks amazing, but doesn’t play amazing. Flip Dune, then flip Kong and get back to me in the comments which shoots better. Barrels of Fun hasn’t made a bad game yet, unlike pretty much everybody else. For that, at least, they should be lauded so far

Enjoy reading articles like this? Here are other detailed first thoughts after flipping for other games released in the last few years

1. Dune (Barrels of Fun 2025)
2. [A-] King Kong: Myth of Terror Island (v0.82 code) Stern Pinball LE 2025 [5,176 words]
3. [D] ABBA (Pinball Brothers 2024) [1,239 words]
4. [B-] Portal (Multimorphic P3 2025) [1,180+ words]
5. [B] Evil Dead (Spooky 2025) [1,303+ words]
6. [B] Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye (0.85 code) Stern Pinball Pro 2025 [2,446+ words]
7. [C+] The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Spooky 2024) [2,167+ words]
8. [C+] Ninja Eclipse (Turner 2024) [1,764+ words]
9. [B] Metallica: Remastered (Stern 2024) LE [3,347+ words]
10. [C] Avatar (Jersey Jack Pinball 2024) [1,933+ words]
11. [B-] The Uncanny X-Men (Stern 2024) [3,992+ words]
12. [C+] Pulp Fiction SE (2023) [1,379+ words]
13. [D+] John Wick Pro + Premium (Stern 2024 v0.81 code) [2,518+ words]
14. [B-] Labyrinth (Barrels of Fun 2023) [1,161+ words]
15. [C-] Looney Tunes (Spooky 2024) [1,828+ words]