Date: 1st June, 2023 New French pinball company HEXA Pinball have revealed their launch title, Space Hunt. The left side of the Space Hunt game The theme of the game involves you playing the role of ball-shaped Spherus who is battling to lead his people to freedom from under the cruel tyrannical rule of the Space Hunters. Elements of the game had been previewed through the company’s social media feeds in the lead-up to the launch including a poll to choose the backglass artwork, but today sees the official reveal of whole Space Hunt machine. The front of the Space Hunt game The game uses a traditional cabinet design with the ball shooter, start button, flipper controls and coin door all in their familiar positions. The backbox features a Stern/Spooky-sized LCD panel with stereo speakers either side. The game includes a 3-channel stereo sound system, with a woofer mounted in the base of the cabinet. The right side of the Space Hunt game The game is available in two versions – Standard and Elegance. The Standard model is shown above and it features stainless steel lockbar, siderails and legs with a translite in the backbox. One of the two laser-cut speaker grilles The Elegance package includes a mirrored backglass, RadCals-style cabinet art, Violet Bordeaux paint for metalwork, interior art blades, anti-reflective glass, upgraded PinSound speakers and a PinSound shaker motor. So, what’s on the playfield? The Space Hunt playfield There are more than 120 RGB LEDs throughout the game, with a spinner, three illuminated drop targets, a mini-playfield and up to 4-ball multiball. On the playfield we have a complex arrangement of stainless steel ramps with a twelve-shot fan arrangement and an elevated mini-playfield. The flipper area with one inlane and one outlane on either side Avobe the main two flippers are inserts relating to the eight main modes in the game: Hunt, Bomb, Hide, Wake Up, Safe, Spy, Sniper and Flight. The left outlane and inlane spell the letters H-U, while the top rollovers spell N-T and the right inlane and outlane complete the set with E-D, to spell H-U-N-T-E-D. The final two letters of H-U-N-T-E-D on the right inlane/outlane Working clockwise around the playfield, there is a red circular Spherus standup target above the left inlane/outlane pairing. This is one of three red Spherus targets. Next comes a scoop to start missions and collect mystery and extra ball awards. There is a flasher dome on top to warn when the ball is about to be ejected. Above that is the left orbit lane which includes the game’s sole spinner. The spinner in the left orbit lane To the right is the first ramp shot, which is a long steel ramp protected by a controlled RGB illuminated drop target which travels around the top of the playfield, leading to the game’s raised mini-playfield. The mini-playfield The mini-playfield features a mini-flipper which can shoot the ball around a gravity loop. Once enough loops have been made, there is a pendulum target hanging in the central circular cutout to shoot. This drops the ball down onto the main playfield level, as does the Gravity Exit if the ball isn’t flipper quickly enough. The next major shot is the inner-left ramp which is one half of a pair of ramps leading to the left wireform ball return. The inner-left ramp feeds the left wireform ball return The wireform takes the ball down to the left inlane and back to the left flipper. The game’s ball lock is the next shot on our tour of the playfield. This is in roughly the same place as the Castle Lock on Medieval Madness, but this has another RGB-lit controlled drop target in the lock lane which leads through a one-way gate into a saucer. The lock lane The game’s second red Spherus standup targets is next, followed by the exit from the game’s pop bumper area. The central Spherus target The exit from the pop bumpers is on the right of the second Spherus target There are two pop bumpers with two rollover lanes above which add the letters N & T to the spellout of H-U-N-T-E-D. One of the two pop bumpers Next, we have the inner-right ramp which is a 180º ramp feeding a wireform to send the ball back to the right inlane. The Space Hunt playfield The next shot is the outer-right ramp which is the companion to the inner-left ramp, sending the ball to the centre and down the wireform to the left inlane. Then comes the right orbit lane which matches its counterpart on the left side. This is followed by the third red Spherus standup target and, finally, by a third RGB-lit controlled drop target which allows for a shot back into the shooter lane. Combo shots and playfield artwork The game is available to pre-order, but at the time only appears to be sold by three distributors all of whom are based in France. Putting in a pre-order appears to require a deposit of €2,000 against the full price of €8,900 for the Standard Edition or €11,000 for the Elegance Package. These prices include 20% Value Added Tax which is the standard purchase tax rate across the European Union. For export orders outside the EU, the pre-tax price would be €7,417 and €9,167 for the Standard and Elegance models respectively. HEXA Pinball estimate they will start shipping Space Hunt in the fourth quarter of 2023. More details of the game, the team behind it and the storyline can be found on the HEXA Pinball website. If you are in France, you will get the opportunity to try Space Hunt for yourself at the upcoming Flipper Sud-Ouest show at Salon de Pontacq on June 10th & 11th.
