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For the 2025 competitive season, the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA) has introduced a new type of tournament format, dubbed “Hybrid Best Game”. Similar to some other long-running formats, but with distinct differences, Hybrid Best Game was designed to eliminate any “pay to win” aspects of qualifying. The IFPA pitches this as the fairest test of skill for competitors across the board, but like with all pinball tournament formats, there are some specific tips to keep in mind that will help you succeed.
To get my toes wet with this new event class, I took a trip to Kidforce Pinball in Berea, OH to compete in their Grand Re-Opening Hybrid tournament, and figured out all the tasty tips so you don't have to. So, if you're planning on playing some competitive pinball in 2025, here's everything you need to know about Hybrid Best Game before it's your turn to flip.
You can read the official rules for Hybrid Best Game on the IFPA website, but it's a pretty easy format to understand. Like “Unlimited Best Game”, this qualifying format has you playing single-player games on a variety of machines, where your scoring position on each machine determines your overall rank in standings before finals. However, Hybrid very specifically offers 4 attempts per machine included in the tournament, removing the chance to purchase extra attempts. As the IFPA points out, this means that all players have an equal amount of attempts, regardless of the size of their wallet.
In practice, Hybrid Best plays very much like other single-player qualifying formats, including “Card” formats or “Herb-Style Qualifying”. Here, your skill is not measured by how much you can outscore a group of opponents, but how far you can push your scoring potential on a wide variety of machines. It's also important to note that you can use your entries as you see fit, and are not forced to play each machine 4 times. For instance, you can play a few games once, use a dozen tries on one machine, and in some cases, completely ignore specific games if you so choose. The pros and cons are subjective, but for the most part, it's a better way of ensuring that everyone is on even ground and puts more control in the player's hands.
At the Kidforce Pinball Grand Re-Opening tournament, I had an enjoyable experience playing Hybrid Best Game and learned some crucial lessons in the process. Organized by Joe Kiskis and Galvin Morgan, the tournament offered 12 different machines, granting a total of 48 attempts. The games were set tough, but thanks to the hard work of techs/TDs like Logan Foley and Ethan Smilg, the qualifying period went pretty smoothly overall. After 2 days of qualifying, I came woefully short of the cutline (just 2 positions under), but it was very much worthwhile for the knowledge alone. During my nearly 50 games of qualifying, here are some essential tips I learned for playing Hybrid Best Game.
When you first start out with your qualifying session, I recommend playing every game once to get a feel for things. Keep in mind, you have 4 tries per game, so use 1 of those to test out each title and figure out the games you like and don't like. This is a good time to test out stuff for later, more serious games, including tilt sensitivity, kick-outs, skill shots, and more. Play for a good score, of course, but don't sweat things too much as these attempts are meant to help you identify strengths and weaknesses in the game bank.
It might be tempting to look at the score leaderboards for each machine, but especially early on, you won't do yourself any favors by obsessing over the standings. Hybrid Best Game tournaments will often offer multiple days of qualifying, so perceived “big scores” might falter as the weekend goes on, changing the landscape of the leaderboards. Generally speaking, don't worry about pinball math too early during Hybrid Best Game qualifying. There's a time and place for that, and it comes later.
After you've played your initial round and have gotten familiar with the bank, it's time to pick your “core games”. Depending on your specific tournament rules, you may not need to score high on every machine, leaving some wiggle room. For the tournament at Kidforce Pinball, only your 9 best score out of 12 games counted. In this case, it's wise to take a few moments to consider what games you've enjoyed playing or feel confident with, and then focus on those for your next attempts. Remember, you get 4 attempts per game, so if you choose to completely ignore a few titles, you'll have some extra attempts to work with.
To that point, it might feel like you have a ton of attempts, but that safety net will slowly and surely shrink. This isn't a pump and dump tournament, so you can't just buy back your wasted attempts. As such, you should be conservative when retrying a particular machine over and over. Even if you think you are capable of hitting a target score, if you keep coming up short, know when to cut your losses. For example, I wasted over a dozen attempts on Fish Tales and Paragon, two games that I'm very familiar with, mostly because I got into a weird mental grudge match with myself. When qualifying ended, my scores on both machines were not high enough to be included in my 9 best, so all of those attempts were fool's errands. Know your limits and don't waste your entries, because you'll wish you had those extra ones later on.
Once you're down to your last few attempts and qualifying is almost over, that's when it's time to start doing some quick pinball math. Depending on your standings, you may only need a few points here and there to qualify, and more often than not, there will be a path of least resistance to discover. Take a look at your lower-scoring machines and consider trying something new or committing to one title in particular. More popular machines will be tougher to increase your position on, so unless you think you can increase your score substantially, it's likely smarter to go for a lesser-played game. In some pinball tournament formats, looking at standings will only cause you mental turmoil, but in Hybrid Best, there's some meaningful information to learn. Instead of blindly playing random games in the hope of getting a better score, use said information to gain an upper hand however you see fit.
Overall, Hybrid Best Game is a satisfying pinball tournament format that is both fair and fun, and I have to thank Kidforce Pinball for trying out the new event class so early in the year. Congratulations go to Aaron Rich, who nabbed first place in A Division finals, with Tim Breidenstein, Galvin Morgan, and Jared Schmidt earning second, third, and fourth. I'm looking forward to playing another Hybrid Best Game tournament during the 2025 season, and for those reading, I fully recommend the format. Now, get out there and play some competitive pinball!
Matt Owen is a lifelong gamer and overall media fiend. He can often be found playing endless hours of games or watching an absurd amount of movies and television: action, horror, mystery, and sci-fi in particular. When he's not bingeing entertainment media, Matt enjoys reading and writing fiction, playing pinball, broadcasting, and attempting to cook.
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