This guide exists because of limitations in the User Interface (UI) currently implemented in FarSight Studios' The Pinball Arcade (TPA) for Android. In its current form, the UI is limiting, it confuses customers, and offers an unsatisfactory User Experience (UX) for new and seasoned users alike.

The Pinball Arcade Fans community and I have been working around issues caused by the UI for close to two years now. The number of cases I’ve personally encountered where customers are just plain confused about features is getting to the point where I have no choice but to take action.

The Users Guide contains information about features in TPA that can’t be adequately explained in-game because of a combination of UI limitations and/or the complexity of the feature.

A lot of things in this guide can be figured out by playing around with the UI: you might be comfortable doing this. If you aren’t comfortable doing this, you may be in for a rough ride: some features really aren’t intuitive, and some features may unpleasantly surprise you down the track if you don’t fully understand how they work.

This guide is not a tool created to disrespect FarSight and their product. Quite the opposite: it is a factual testimonial from a customer who happens to be a volunteer beta tester and Technical Writer.

TPA really is the only game in town if you want to play real pinball from the leading manufacturers. If the UI and UX can be fixed, then the game will continue to grow. I fear that if it doesn’t improve, the game will fall behind it’s competitors.

I hope this guide helps you get the most out of the app.