Space Cadet Pinball
Pinball game in Games & consoles
People recommend it for nostalgia from the Windows bundle and as a fun, well-designed pinball game. Critics call the programming poor and find it underwhelming.
People recommend it for nostalgia from the Windows bundle and as a fun, well-designed pinball game. Critics call the programming poor and find it underwhelming.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Nostalgia from the Windows PC days
“SCP has had such a massive influence in my life up to the point of getting into the real world of pinball”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux” “Having a fun game bundled with every Windows install was really something special”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux” “I love this, I used to play this game a lot when I was bored at my brothers place”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux” - Comment from 21 May 2026 in “DOS Zone”
Well designed, balanced and fun
“Space Cadet is a very good pinball game in terms of design, balance, and interest.”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux” “space cadet is a simply great game to play, it feels great”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux” Faithful to the original, including web version
“Web based version for those feeling nostalgic”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux” “it looks and feels identical”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux” Keeping the old game alive
“it is absolutely wonderful there are people who love our old pinball game enough to keep it alive”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux” “It's great to see the ongoing interest in this game!”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Underwhelming compared with alternatives
“I was always underwhelmed by Space Cadet Pinball on windows.”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux” “Space Cadet was hopeless garbage in comparison.”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Space Cadet Pinball on Linux”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Space Cadet PinballThis page | 15 | 4 | 79% | 3 | — | — |
| Visual Pinball | 6 | 2 | 75% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
19 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Many fond memories of it on the family PC.”
“It's great to see the ongoing interest in this game!”
“SCP has had such a massive influence in my life up to the point of getting into the real world of pinball”
“It was a nice break from reality, an evergreen gamer and user experience.”
“It had a "plot". You "upgraded weapons"”
“its inability to store the high score leaderboard upon reload”
“I love this, I used to play this game a lot when I was bored at my brothers place”
“Having a fun game bundled with every Windows install was really something special”
“Space Cadet Pinball got me through a lot of long, boring nights.”
“it is absolutely wonderful there are people who love our old pinball game enough to keep it alive”
“some tables require way too much work”
“The sound effects sound really cheap”
“Web based version for those feeling nostalgic”
“Space Cadet is a very good pinball game in terms of design, balance, and interest.”
“it looks and feels identical”
“space cadet is a simply great game to play, it feels great”
“Space Cadet was hopeless garbage in comparison.”
“the programming for Space Cadet is pretty awful”
“I was always underwhelmed by Space Cadet Pinball on windows.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.