Introduction

Pinball is amazing, so use Scorbit to make it even more fun! Engage with millions of players around the world. Share and stream live games and scores, challenge others, and participate in machine leaderboards – for any machine in any location! Follow your favorite pinball players and track what games they play and how they are playing. Streamers and Collectors can use Scorbit to add real-time scores or leaderboards to their streams and game rooms for big displays! Operators can use Scorbit to monitor their machines remotely, reducing downtime, and earning more revenue.

Scorbit is connected pinball!

 

This guide has two sections: Quick Start and Full Instructions.

 

• If you want to get playing as fast as possible, and you already have a Scorbit account, read the Quick Start below.
• If you want a full explanation of the feature set, proceed to the Full Instructions.
• If you haven't yet connected your machine to Scorbit, please refer to the Installation section of the guide.

These next steps require that you download the Scorbit application to your iOS or Android smartphone. You can download them here:

 

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scorbit/id1505831174

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scorbit

 

Quick Start

When launching the app, using Scorbit may be done in four steps:

1. Find and select the pinball machine.
2. Start a game as you would normally (press start).
3. Claim your player slot.
4. Save or share your score.

Step 1: Find and select the pinball machine

 

 

Step 2: Start a game as you normally would (press start).

 

Step 3: Claim your player slot.

Press any slot to attach your name to that slot. A long press releases a slot. You may do this at any time during the game or immediately after the game.

 

 

Step 4: Save or share your score.

 

 

 

Full Instructions

Overview

Scorbit's goal is to get more people playing pinball! In this document, we will cover how to use the Scorbit application. Scorbit's features, on the app, ScorbitVision or third-party integrations, are designed to bring people together and share the joy of the game. This document is focused on the Scorbit app. For information about ScorbitVision, please refer to the ScorbitVision guides.

 

The app features are focused on three areas:

 

Finding Games

Scorbit’s platform allows owners of pinball machines to create venues and machines so other players can find and play them. There are tens of thousands of pinball machines from all over the world, and you can choose any one or create one to start building a leaderboard. You can view these high score lists at any time, with no limit to the number of entries!

 

Playing Games

If a machine is added to the Scorbit application, scores can be submitted to that machine's leaderboard. If a machine is also connected to the Scorbit platform, game data is updated in real-time. If a player slot is claimed during or after a game, other users of the app or viewers of the ScorbitVision web tools can view your games as they happen. Score submission can be automated, and participation in social or competitive features are enabled.

Machines can connect either directly (such as a Jersey Jack machine) or through the use of a Scorbitron, Scorbit's custom hardware. Scorbitrons can be used to connect machines from the 1970's until today, including much, if not all of the games you play.

Using the Scorbit app, you and other players near you can claim player slots, automatically placing your chosen display names next to those player numbers in the system for others to see. When your game is complete, adding your score to the leaderboard or sharing with your friends is as easy as pressing a button on the game session screen!

For games not equipped with Scorbit’s hardware, when your game is finished, you can take a photo of your score and submit it to the same leaderboard and share your experience with others.

 

Pinball Community

Scorbit not only creates a record for your own profile personal bests, but also allows you to take any game, at any time, and share it with people you choose on the platform. Using the community features of the app, you can curate a list of people you like to follow, either in advance or after a game. After you play, you can choose from that list with who you want to share with or challenge to play – or throw the score away, it’s up to you!

When the people you follow also save scores to leaderboards or challenge you, those scores appear in your self-curated community feed. You can also visit other player’s profiles and see what games they are playing, and how they are doing.

The browse tab, along with the play tab, allows users to navigate, search and view pinball machines at various locations. The play tab also allows players to play machines that have Scorbit hardware installed, as well as share and challenge other players. If there is no Scorbit hardware installed, they can manually submit scores by taking a photo of the score. The community tab defaults to other users they follow, allows users to browse other users, view user profiles and see other users’ scores and challenges.

 

Using the Scorbit Application

Scorbit's application is 100% free and allows you to take advantage of connecting your pinball machine to the cloud. With Scorbit, your games can be shared in real-time with anyone you like. You can share your scores with others, participate in various types of leaderboards and challenges, and many more features to come.

When logged in with a free Scorbit account, you can associate that account with any number of posted leaderboards, live scoreboards, and manage lists of the machines you own.

 

Important Safety Tip: When using the app, SWIPING RIGHT will generally take you the the previous screen.

 

Login and Registration

 

When loaded, you will be greeted with a username and password screen. At this point, if you already have a Scorbit user account or created one through the website, enter it here. If you haven't registered, click the REGISTER button at the bottom. If you have an account but can't remember the username or password, click FORGOT.

 

 

If you need to register, you will be taken to the new user registration screen. It will ask you for a valid email address, a unique username, and a password. When you click the REGISTER button, it will tell you that you must validate your email address to continue. Check your email inbox and click on the provided link to verify the account. After which, you may be instructed in to login again.

 

 

Finally, you will be taken to the home screen. At this point, your phone may ask permission to use location while using the app. Location awareness is important to how the app functions, otherwise finding your machines will be more difficult, so please give permission to the app to know your location. There will be a list of close by pinball venues listed:

 

 

Note that at this point, if your venue (such as your home) doesn't already exist, it won't show up on this list. If you've already created your venue where you are playing, it should be on the top of the list. You may use a city, zip code, or venue name to find a venue. Also note that some venues are private (such as other people's homes), and some are public, so not all venues are visible to all people.

 

Account Menu

In the upper right-hand corner of the screen, you will see an account menu indicated by an avatar. If you click it, you will be given a list of menu options:

 

 

The menu consists of a few important features to help you on the platform.

 

Profile

 

When you select your player profile, you see your avatar, how many followers you have, how many people you are following, and a list of your submitted scores on any machine.

 

Clicking the Edit button gives you access to the Edit Profile screen. Here you can change your display name, your full name, and your initials. Changing these values here will immediately reflect thosechanges everywhere on the Scorbit platform, such as live views, leaderboards, or views within the app. Clicking on the avatar photo will allow you to change your avatar.

 

 

If you wish to review the list of other players you follow, or people who follow you, click the word Followers or Following on the Profile page. Here you will be presented with a list of names (we start you off with the three co-founders of Scorbit). If you want to add people to the list, see the Community section below. In the world of Scorbit, just like leaderboards on machines, anyone can follow anyone else, but you can also use the menu to remove or block someone you do not wish to follow you, as well as remove people from the list you follow:

 

   

 

My Machines / My Venues

The My Machines and My Venues areas are to access, or create, the list of machines or venues that you own (or co-own with others). Anyone can create a venue or a machine, each withtheir own permissions, leaderboards and vitals. More on the use of these features are referenced in the installation documentation.

 

   

 

Invites

Invites gives you a list of challenges that have been sent to you by other players. More on challenges will be explained below in the Play and Community sections.

 

 

Settings

Finally, the Settings menu item allows you to reset your password, access the Feedback or Concerns option, the Privacy Policy, the Terms of Service, and the version of the app you are using.

 

 

Main Screen

The app consists of three basic tabs at the bottom of the screen, left to right:

• Browse
• Play
• Community

The Browse tab allows you to find venues to play pinball that aren't near you. The Play tab is what you access when you want to play games and share/submit scores to leaderboards or challenges. The community tab is for seeing what other players are doing!

 

Browse and Play Tab Navigation Screens

The app defaults you on the center Play tab, with the big Scorbit S. Navigation for both Browse and Play tabs starts with the current location, performing a search for venues that have pinball machines in our database sorted by distance. If a player is inside a venue, the app will open in the play tab within that venue. Otherwise, both tabs allow you to find machines by typing an address, zip code, name of venue, or in the case of the browse tab, a name of a machine if you’re looking for a particular one close by. 

 

 

Venues include limited information about location. Not all venues are public, and users who own machines at home may also have venues that only they (or people they choose) have the permission to see. Selecting a venue from the list presents you with a list of machines located there:

 

 

Selecting a machine will take you into manual submission or connected game session.

 

Manual Score Submission

Games with no Scorbit icon on a list are not yet connected to the Scorbit platform. If you select one of these games, you are presented with a manual score submission screen:

 

You must enter the score and supply a photo of the screen with the final score, after which you will be placed on the leaderboard and score submission screen. You can cancel by swiping right or selecting another tab.

 

Connected Game Sessions

 

When selecting a connected machine within a venue, including your own venue, you can watch a game that is in session (Scorbit-enabled machine) or choose to play on that machine. At the beginning of the game session, before the start button on the game is pressed, you are presented with a Waiting for Session screen:

 

 

Once someone presses Start on the actual game, anyone viewing this session screen will be presented with player slots for each of player added to the game. If a player hits the start button on the physical pinball machine once, it’s a one player game, and if they hit the start button four times, it’s a four player game, etc.

If you do nothing else at this point, you're a spectator. Initially, the slots do not have player information besides the generic “Player 1, Player 2…” However, before or during play, you may press a player slot and “claim” the slot! Other users of the app and other visualizations of the game sessions will see that player’s chosen display name. You may only choose one slot per Scorbit user. A long press will deselect a slot and make it available to claim again. 

 

When the game is over, if no slots are claimed, you have a limited time to claim a slot before a timer expires and you can no longer claim scores for the leaderboard. If a player slot is selected during the game or immediately after, the session ends and the player is encouraged to submit their score.

 

When you click SUBMIT SCORE, it takes you to the the leaderboard for that game. Your score is presented on the list with a ranking to indicate where the score would sit on the list if saved. Clicking SUBMIT again will save the score, and the red button will abort the save.

 

 

Note that submissions to the leaderboard are automatically reflected on anyone viewing that leaderboard, any online visualizations of the leaderboard, or any third party integrations that referene that leaderboard. The leaderboard is specific to that machine.

 

Sharing Scores

After the leaderboard submission process, you can choose from a list of other users to share your score and challenge others to beat it from the Scorbit community. The players listed are the ones you already follow. You can also search for people to challenge or on the list. 

 

 

 

Community

 

The app also has several features related to community. As explained previously, through the account menu, you may edit and access your own profile, which highlights your name, display name, number of followers and people you follow as well as you scores.

Similarly, from the Community tab, you can find other people’s profiles. By default, the Community tab shows you a feed of scores and challenges from other people you follow:

 

If you choose to add people to your list to follow, you can being typing a name into the search box and a list of matching player names will appear. You can press the green + sign to follow someone and the x to unfollow them.

 

Clicking on a player's avatar will take you to their profile. Similar to your own profile accessible from the account menu, you can view another player's profile and see their recently posted scores. You can also follow or unfollow someone from this screen.

 

 

Please check for updates often, as we expect to roll out bug fixes and additional features over time. For information about the machine management and installation features of the app, please refer to the Installation Guides.