Goblin Contest

The Goblin Contest pinball machine, from Phénix Pinball of Vienne-le-Château, France, is an unusual and still-unreleased addition to pinball history. First announced in 2016 under the working title "Olympic Goblin," the game was renamed "Goblin Contest" in 2018 after a National Olympic Committee objected to the earlier name's use of "Olympic." As of the last reporting in October 2022, there is no confirmation that this game ever entered production; what has been seen publicly is a single traveling prototype, and the flyers that exist are computer-generated renderings of the game and its playfield.

Goblin Contest is a solid state electronic game with a goblins-and-monsters theme. Its documented playfield features two flippers, three pop bumpers, and a 3-bank drop target system (nine drop targets total) with a spinning target, and notably has no slingshots. The game uses an escalating scoring mechanic: at the start of play, three of the nine drop targets are lit as priority targets; hitting all three resets the banks and lights four targets, then five, and finally all nine.

The machine's design uses plexiglass overlays on a wooden playfield, with a fluorescent tube providing backbox illumination (playfield illumination is unconfirmed). Because production status remains unresolved, Goblin Contest stands as an intriguing but still-unfinished chapter in pinball history rather than a game with a confirmed run in the field.