Overview:
More than 400 games filled the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown, where longtime collectors and new players shared an enduring obsession.
Blake Karkosa arrived early at the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown with one machine at the top of his list: Stern Pinball’s new “Fallout” game.
“I’m incredibly excited to be here,” Karkosa said. “There’s a bunch of cool things to check out.”
The newly released machine, inspired by the “Fallout” television and video game franchise, drew steady interest from attendees across the convention center from Sept. 11-13, 2026. It was one of more than 400 games brought together for an event that attracts everyone from serious collectors to children encountering pinball for the first time at the Denver Marriott Tech Center.
Dan Nikolich and his wife, Holly, started the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown in 2004 as a way to bring fans together and introduce more people to the game.
“At the beginning we didn’t know much about running in advance and just kind of did it. We had it at the fairgrounds the first year; we probably had 200 people and maybe 80 games,” Nikolich said. “Now the festival has grown to over 400 games and thousands of people that attend the event every year.”
More than two decades later, Nikolich said thousands of people attend each year. The showdown has also expanded beyond pinball to include classic arcade games, console gaming and tabletop games such as “Dungeons & Dragons.” The only year the Nikoliches did not hold the event was 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s definitely the largest in the Rocky Mountain region,” Nikolich said. “Probably one of the largest in the country.”
The convention brings together longtime collectors and newer enthusiasts such as Erika Svensson, who traveled from California for her first Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown.
Svensson bought her first pinball machine in 2022 and now runs the YouTube channel Erika’s Pinball Journey, where she chronicles the collection she shares with her father.
“This will be my first time attending. I’ve heard about the show, but I have not yet had the pleasure to travel to it,” Svensson said. “It’s very cool because a lot of people in the pinball community are so welcoming.”
That community spans generations. Nikolich said attendees range from young children playing alongside their parents to people in their 80s who remember encountering machines decades ago.
“We have kids that are two years old to people that are 80 years old, and they all have their own experience with pinball,” Nikolich said. “Some played pinball when they were kids in the ’60s and ’70s, and then there are families that are experiencing pinball that have never played before.”
Nikolich believes some of pinball’s longevity comes from offering something increasingly rare in a world dominated by phones, computers and other screens.
“People are always looking at a screen. They’re always doing something digital,” Nikolich said. “What made pinball so popular is that it’s something analog. It’s something you can feel. It’s something you can touch.”
Modern machines may incorporate screens, elaborate lighting, licensed characters and increasingly complex game modes, but players still physically launch a ball, hit buttons and react as it ricochets around the playfield.
“It’s the community that comes together,” Svensson said. “There are just so many people that love pinball so much because not all the time are these games from one person’s collection. eople are encouraged to bring their game to shows for others to play.”
She said hauling a machine into a convention is itself an act of generosity.
“It’s a really cool thing for people to just take a 300-pound object out of their house and bring it to a hotel for others to play and share their enjoyment,” Svensson said.
That enthusiasm was not limited to collectors, manufacturers or content creators. Attendee Tanya Mander offered a considerably shorter explanation for why she came.
“Pinball is life,” Mander said. “I’m obsessed with pinball right now. I like the kinetic feel of the game. I like all the themes. I love the newer machines and how loaded they are with all the different modes.”
