Welcome to the first in a regular series of GamerPops features: Value Play. As a dad, I don’t generally have $60 or $70 to grab the latest hot new game that comes out. But between greatest hits, sales, and affordable downloadable games, I’ve been able to fill out my game collection quite nicely. In Value Play, the GamerPops will share some of our steals, deals and cheap favorites.

I’ve always loved pinball. Any chance I had to get on a pinball table, I took. But it’s getting harder and harder to find pinball tables in the wild, and until GamerPops really takes off, I don’t have a $1000+ to put a machine in my basement. Until then, I have to rely on video pinball, which still hadn’t hit the sweet spot. Then Zen Pinball arrived, and I finally had what I was looking for: a great looking, great playing video pinball game that was cheap. $10 cheap in fact.

From the start, the game offers four tables, with the promise of future tables released as DLC. Each of these tables mix unique play options, great hi-def graphics and very smooth physics, creating an ultimately enjoyable pinball experience.

The quality of each of the tables is high, paying homage to different eras of modern pinball tables. Each table features a variety of ramps, targets and minigames, and no two of them feel the same. But each table seems to play as it would in real life, with good physics and ball movement. The game also features a number of different viewing angle options, which hopefully will include the angle that works best for you.

Of the four tables, Tesla was immediately my favorite, with its great twisting ramps and early late 1800′s science lab setting. Shaman, has an old school feel with a comedic tribal vibe, with fewer ramps and one elevated surface. The automotive-honouring V12 has plenty of ramps and feels like the widest of play tables, but I seem to have no luck keeping the ball out of the outlanes. Finally, El Dorado seems like the most modern of the bunch, with a wide variety of elements on the table, and unique mini-games.

Pinball makes for great multiplayer when you’re all standing around the machine watching each other play, but that doesn’t easily translate to video pinball. Zen Pinball’s solution is a first past the post multiplayer option where up to four players compete with unlimited balls to hit a set score. It’s a little weak as far as game modes go, though one upside for the novice player is that unlimited balls lets you try to make more

At only $9.99 on PSN, Zen Pinball is the perfect example of a value play. You can pop on and play a couple of games, or you can really dig in and try to knock out the hardest trophies, it’s entirely up to you. Either way, you should easily get your $10 worth out of this download. And if that’s not good enough, there’s also a demo you can check out, to see whether it sates your appetite for pinball.

Zen Pinball is definitely a great value play.