This page contains two lists: a list of people who have designed tables for Zen Studios' pinball video games, and the tables they have designed - followed by a list of designers who have designed physical tables recreated by Zen Studios.
Pinball FX Designers[]
Designers are listed in alphabetical order.
| Name | Tables designed | Williams tables recreated | Years active | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andras 'Babar' Klujber | Battlestar Galactica, The Princess Bride (with Daniel "Dolby" Vigh) | 2023-2024 | Designer of Zen's Operencia: The Stolen Sun, Battlestar Galactica is Andras' first Pinball FX design. | |
| Anna Lengyel | Trolls, Curse of the Mummy (w/ Peter "Deep" Grafl), Homeworld: Journey to Hiigara, Xena: Warrior Princess | Twilight Zone (w/ Thomas Crofts) | 2021-2023 | Zen's first female pinball designer. Originally designed Trolls for novice players such as herself, and developed the LCD displays for the 2022 Pinball FX reboot. |
| Daniel "Dolby" Vigh | Snoopy, World War Z, Kong, The Thing, Terraforming Mars, Camp Bloodbrook, Tomb Raider: Secrets of Croft Manor, The Princess Bride (with Andras 'Babar' Klujber) | 2021-present | The first Zen designer to take advantage of advanced physics. Dolby's tables require the player to play as accurately and precisely as possible to score big. | |
| Eniko "Doe" Mihalyi | Exploding Kittens | 2023 | A former contributor to Gergely Vadocz' tables, Eniko became a Zen designer a year after she started. | |
| Gabor "coltos" Andrassy | The Walking Dead, CastleStorm | 2014-2015 | coltos' two designs for Pinball FX have a wide variety of orbits and ramps to shoot, and a single "mode start" shot for main missions. | |
| Gaspar Viragos | Godzilla, Star Trek: Discovery | 2022-2023 | Gaspar's tables might be tough to learn, but are a ton of fun to master with many strategic implications and unique layouts unlike anything done in real life. | |
| Gergely Vadocz | Wrath of the Elder Gods, Crypt of the NecroDancer, Dead by Daylight | 2022-2023 | Zen's former PR specialist-turned pinball designer, a horror fan who designs games with a mix of experimental and traditional rules. | |
| Gergo 'Rockger' Ezsias | Verne's Mysterious Island, Duke Nukem's Big Shot Pinball | 2022-2023 | Inspired by digital pinball of the 80s and 90s, Rockger's tables are some of the toughest Zen originals, requiring advanced rules knowledge and gameplay skills to excel on. | |
| Imre "Emeric" Szigeti | Biolab, Blade, Moon Knight, Plants vs. Zombies | 2010-2012 | Emeric's tables aim to convey a story through pinball, and typically require features to be unlocked before they can be started. | |
| Ivan "Mad_Boy" Nicoara | Mars, Iron Man, Thor, World War Hulk, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Darth Vader, Doctor Strange | 2010-2013 | Specializes in fast-flowing "valley" style designs, with multiple upper flippers and many side modes in addition to the main modes. | |
| Mate Szeplaki | Ninja Gaiden Sigma II, Earth Defense, Spider-Man, Epic Quest, Civil War | 2009-2012 | Mate's tables are a treat for the eyes, with tons of ramp shots and habitrails scattered across the playfield. | |
| Peter Horvath | Alien: Isolation, Fallout, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park: Pinball Mayhem, Star Wars: Battle of Mimban | Black Rose | 2016-2018 | Horvath enjoys telling unique stories in his pinball machines, which take full advantage of the digital nature of Pinball FX. |
| Peter "Deep" Grafl | Fantastic Four, Mrs. Splosion Man, The Infinity Gauntlet, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, South Park: Super-Sweet Pinball, Star Wars Rebels, American Dad! (w/ Gabor "coltos" Andrassy), Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Back to the Future, Son of Zeus, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Curse of the Mummy (w/ Anna Lengyel), Knight Rider | Fish Tales, Medieval Madness, Junk Yard, The Getaway: High Speed II, Theatre of Magic, The Champion Pub, Hurricane, White Water, Monster Bash, Cirqus Voltaire, Space Station | 2011-present | One of the longest lasting Zen designers, Deep's nickname says it all; he loves deep rulesets that encourage stacking multiple modes. |
| Peter "Pewet" Kovacs | Kung Fu Panda, Sky Pirates: Treasures of the Clouds | 2021-2023 | One of the newest Zen designers, who started with the DreamWorks Pinball pack. | |
| Szucs "ndever" David | South Park: Butters' Very Own Pinball Game, Wild West Rampage, Family Guy, Alien vs. Predator, DOOM, Jaws, Star Wars: Ahch-To Island | 2014-2018 | ndever's tables are some of the fastest-flowing tables in Pinball FX, with a reliance on ramp and orbit shots that can be made repeatedly and missions that require the use of the entire playfield. | |
| Tamas Stephen | Rome | 2010 | One of the initial designers for Pinball FX2, who moved to support other Zen projects following the game's release. | |
| Tamas "Ypok" Pokrocz | Star Wars: Starfighter Assault, Deadpool, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Archer, Adventure Land (finished by Thomas Crofts) | 2013-2015 | Ypok's tables have a wide variety of modes for different shots on the playfield, and scoops that kick out the ball to many different places. | |
| Thomas Crofts | X-Men, The Avengers, Super League Football, Star Wars: Droids, Guardians of the Galaxy, Portal, Bob's Burgers, Aliens, A-Force, Adventure Land (designed by Tamas "Ypok" Pokrocz), Jurassic World, Star Wars: Calrissian Chronicles, My Little Pony, Garfield, Brothers in Arms, Godzilla vs. Kong, Gloomhaven, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Tomb Raider: Adventures of Lara Croft (original design by Martin "Drahaka" Horvath) | Attack from Mars, Safe Cracker, Swords of Fury, Twilight Zone (w/ Anna Lengyel) | 2011-present | Crofts' signature style has changed with the times; he started with tables that featured perks for each shot, then moved to combo focused tables. Currently, his designs are aggressive, but have easier rules to make up for the difficult shots. |
| Viktor Gyorei | Sorcerer's Lair, Captain America | 2010-2011 | One of the initial designers for Pinball FX2, who moved to support other Zen projects following the game's release. | |
| Zoltan 'Hezol' Hegyi | A Samurai's Vengeance, Texas Chainsaw Massacre | 2022-2023 | Hegyi's tables aim to replicate a "world under glass" with props related to the theme that can be hit and accessed with the ball. | |
| Zoltan "ZaPo" Pataki | Grimm Tales, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline | World Cup Soccer, The Addams Family, Whirlwind | 2021-2023 | This designer is heavily influenced by the Williams tables of his youth and attempts to recapture the aesthetic and thrills of those tables. |
| Zoltan Somorjai | Pasha | 2010 | One of the initial designers for Pinball FX2, who moved to support other Zen projects following the game's release. | |
| Zoltan Vari | Shaman, Tesla, El Dorado, V12, Excalibur, Paranormal, Secrets of the Deep, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Fear Itself, Star Wars: Boba Fett, Star Wars: Han Solo, Star Wars: Masters of the Force, Venom, Ant-Man, Star Wars: Might of the First Order, Champions, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Jurassic Park, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: Classic Collectibles, How to Train Your Dragon, Pinball Noir, Borderlands, Chucky's Killer Pinball, System Shock | The Party Zone, Red & Ted's Road Show, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tales of the Arabian Nights, No Good Gofers, Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray, FunHouse, Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure, The Machine: Bride of Pin·Bot | 2009-present | Vari's tables take inspiration from 90s pinball machines, and tend to be stop-and-go designs with select emphasis on combos and some very tight shots. |
Williams Designers[]
Designers are listed in alphabetical order. Only the tables released in Zen's Williams table packs are listed for each designer.
| Name | Tables designed | Years active | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Oursler | Space Station, Hurricane, Junk Yard | 1978-1996 | Originally designing solid-state pinball tables, Oursler was one of the earliest designers to adapt to DMD tables. Many of his tables feature ramps that can be repeatedly shot, or "looped", and target banks on both sides of the table. Having passed away in 2022, Oursler's impact on the pinball industry is still felt to this day. |
| Brian Eddy | Black Rose (w/ John Trudeau), Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (w/ Mark Ritchie), Attack from Mars, Medieval Madness | 1992-1997; 2019-present | Eddy's designs are regarded as some of the best in the industry, and often feature a centralized shot with several orbits and ramps surrounding it. In 2019, he returned to Stern Pinball and continues to design new machines. |
| Dennis Nordman | Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray, The Party Zone, White Water | 1986-1996; 2006-2007; 2019; 2022-present | Nordman popularized the "valley-style" layout, with long stretching banks of standup targets and a mix of easy and difficult shots that require advanced flipper timing skills. Since his tenure at Williams ended, Nordman has worked on and off for Stern Pinball as a designer, and is currently employed at American Pinball. |
| Dwight Sullivan | Red & Ted's Road Show (w/ Pat Lawlor), Junk Yard (w/ Barry Oursler) (design); The Getaway: High Speed II (w/ Steve Ritchie), The Champion Pub (w/ Pete Piotrowski) (software) | 1990-present | Never having designed a table all by himself, Sullivan still contributed a lot to many famous pinball machines, from design ideas to code. Sullivan is currently working on software for Stern Pinball releases, and his games are known for complex, yet accessible rules. |
| George Gomez | Monster Bash | 1994-1999; 2002-present | After designing video games like Spy Hunter for Williams, Gomez turned to pinball design, further expanding on the fan layouts that would become common in later pinball machines. He currently works as Chief Creative Officer for Stern Pinball. |
| John Popadiuk | World Cup Soccer, Theatre of Magic, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Cirqus Voltaire | 1994-1997 | Popadiuk's games intend to immerse the player in a "world under glass", with unique mechanics that were never done in earlier pinball machines. Over the 2010s, he made several failed attempts to return to pinball as an independent designer. |
| John Trudeau | The Machine: Bride of Pin·Bot (w/ Python Anghelo), Black Rose (w/ Brian Eddy), Creature from the Black Lagoon | 1981-1995; 2014-2016 | Trudeau started out as a designer for Gottlieb before moving to Williams in the early 90s, and his games tend to have a mix of repeatable and more difficult shots - often having a large gap in between the flippers. |
| Mark Ritchie | Fish Tales, Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (w/ Brian Eddy) | 1983-1996, 2023-present | Brother of famed pinball designer Steve Ritchie, Mark uses some of the flow-driven design concepts his brother popularized, but is also known for criss-crossing, repeatable ramps. |
| Pat Lawlor | Whirlwind, FunHouse, The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, Red & Ted's Road Show (w/ Dwight Sullivan), Safe Cracker, No Good Gofers, | 1988-1997; 2001-2008; 2017-2022 | Lawlor's games are some of the most experimental games in the industry; his games are predominantly known for having at least one upper flipper, a shot between the bumpers, stop-and-go style gameplay, and quirky themes. Before retiring, his final design credits were for Jersey Jack Pinball. |
| Pete Piotrowski | The Champion Pub (w/ Dwight Sullivan) | 1998 | Originally working on Williams' pinball machines as a concept creator for toys and other mechanics, Piotrowski got his turn in the spotlight in 1998, when he designed The Champion Pub - a table he had dreamed of making for years before it became a reality. |
| Python Anghelo | The Machine: Bride of Pin·Bot (w/ John Trudeau) | 1985-1996 | Python believed that pinball could be just as valid of a platform for storytelling as any other medium and contributed many concepts to several mid-80s to early-90s pinball machines. His magnum opus, The Pinball Circus, was never properly released by Williams. |
| Steve Kirk | Swords of Fury (w/ Tony Kraemer) | 1968-1988 | An advocate for competitive pinball at a time where the industry was at one of its low points, Steve Kirk's tables are known for featuring an emphasis on drop targets and rules that encourage the player to attempt different strategies. |
| Steve Ritchie | The Getaway: High Speed II (w/ Dwight Sullivan), Star Trek: The Next Generation (w/ Dwight Sullivan) | 1977-1995; 2003-present | Steve Ritchie's games often take on a "player vs. the machine" angle, and have set antagonists that the player has to take on. His designs accomplish this with fast, brutal shots that require the player to continuously make shots across the playfield and be on their guard at all times. He is currently employed at Jersey Jack Pinball. |
| Tony Kraemer | Swords of Fury (w/ Steve Kirk) | 1977-1990 | After contributing to several innovative pinball machines in the late 70s and early 80s, Kraemer worked with various other well-known designers to create unique games with low production runs. |