As I’ve said before, I’m not a gamer. I can’t be bothered much with video games (I’ve played for maybe a few hours tops over the past year, including console and time at Dave and Buster’s), I don’t go out of my way to play board games (I’ll play if someone asks) and RPGs bore me after the first 15 minutes or so. But there is one kind of game that I will never pass up and actually seek out at times: pinball.

Since I was a kid I’ve loved playing pinball. Sure, I’d play the occasional video game in an arcade, but nothing could compare to the pinball machines. There is something about the tactile sensation, the erratic movements, the control and lack of control as that silver ball ricochets from post to post. It’s all very zen to me (and I’m not the meditative type).

On our recent epic geek road trip, I was able to indulge my love a couple times. The first was in a place called Yestercades in Red Bank, NJ (just down the street from Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash). It was full of retro arcade games and had a dozen pinball machines. We were there for an hour and, yes, I played every one of those machines, a couple of them more than once (I really liked the Ghostbusters one).

Later that same day we were is Asbury Park, home of the Silverball Museum. It has 200 pinball machines, mostly older, non-digital models, and all of them playable. I left the newer ones alone and went straight to the vintage varieties, which I prefer. I think I played games from every decade of the twentieth century… it was fantastic!

There is something to be said for being able to truly indulge in a passion. Playing pinball for a couple of hours in great locations was a little slice of heaven for me.