History Pinball / TotalNuclearAnnihilation

* SpeedRun: Starting with version 1.2.1, the game tracks reactor uptime (starting when the player activates one, and stopping when they destroy it), and displays the fastest time for every individual reactor and destroying all of them cumulatively.

* AfterTheEnd: [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] by the artwork, which depicts a ruined landscape afflicted by war.

* TitleDrop: Destroying every reactor nets you a "Total Nuclear Annihilation" bonus.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Scarlett (the woman on the backglass) has blue hair.

* FingerlessGloves: Scarlett (the woman on the backglass) wears a pair of these.

** The ball saver, traditional for modern pinball games, is fleshed out considerably here. For starters, the playfield has a timer clearly indicating how long it will last. Furthermore, completing 3 of the S-A-V-E rollover lanes allows the player to reactivate the ball saver when the ball goes into the unlit one; this can be delayed in order to repeat this process and stack ball saver levels. Finally, the scoop invariably ejects the ball unusually quickly after the latter enters it - since this can easily catch players off-guard, the ball save will briefly activate after the ball gets ejected.

** An option added in version 1.3.0 allows tilting to be disabled entirely if the ball is in the shooter lane.

The game's focus is instead on the actual pinball action, which centers around starting, overheating, and destroying nuclear reactors (in that order). Shooting the flipper activates them, hitting the grid drop targets heats them up, and making various random shots will finally [[GoingCritical explosively overload it]]. Repeating this process will ultimately result in the titular total nuclear annihilation. This stripped-down approach results in a rather difficult but deceptively simple game that is well-suited for competitive play.

''Total Nuclear Annihilation'' is a [[PhysicalPinballTables pinball machine]] designed by Scott Danesi and released by Spooky Pinball in September of 2017. It was originally an independent project by the former before the latter picked up the design to put into wider production.

[[http://www.scottdanesi.com Danesi's website]] hosts updates and other information about the game.

** When the player receives a Mystery Award, one of the random options that flashes by is "Lionman!!!", a [[Memes/{{Pinball}} meme]] derived from the late-'80s [[Creator/WilliamsElectronics Williams]] game ''Swords of Fury'' that had become an in-joke at Spooky Pinball. Likewise, a poster for what appears to be a movie titled ''Lionman!!!'' can be seen on the backglass, and "Lionman" is one of the default high scores.
** The backglass features several barrels of toxic waste, one of which is labeled “Parts from Terry”; this alludes to Scott Danesi's job at Pinball Life, a parts shop owned by his longtime friend Terry.

** According to WordOfGod[[note]]specifically, [[http://specialwhenlitpinballpodcast.libsyn.com/ep-72-quality-over-quantity this]] episode of the Special When Lit podcast[[/note]], the LCD display replicates the screen on Scarlett's wrist computer as she goes about targeting each reactor.

* AllThereInTheManual: [[http://www.scottdanesi.com/?page_id=783 This page]] contains a link to a desktop wallpaper that reveals the woman on the backglass is named Scarlett.
* AmbiguousSituation: The game's premise is founded upon one, with the player's motive for causing widespread nuclear devastation left completely unaddressed. [[spoiler:This is only compounded by the fact that doing so destroys ''everything'' – including the player themselves. Whether the player's role is that of an [[OmnicidalManiac omnicidal]] VillainProtagonist, an otherwise decent person DrivenToSuicide, or any other number of interpretations is completely up in the air.]]

* DownerEnding: An implicit one. [[spoiler:Destroying every reactor means that you have destroyed ''everything'' (including yourself) along with it.]]

* PaintingTheMedium: [[spoiler:The game ends completely when you destroy every reactor, shutting down the flippers and voiding any remaining balls. This is because you have achieved total nuclear annihilation, destroying everything - including ''yourself''.]]

** The ball saver, traditional for modern pinball games, is fleshed out considerably here. For starters, the playfield has a timer clearly indicating how long it will last. Furthermore, completing 3 of the S-A-V-E rollover lanes allows the player to reactivate the ball saver when the ball goes into the unlit one; this can be delayed in order to repeat this process and stack ball saver levels. Finally, the scoop invariably ejects the ball unusually quickly after the latter enters it - since this can easily catch players off-guard, the

** The ball saver, traditional for modern pinball games, is fleshed out considerably here. For starters, the playfield has a timer clearly indicating how long it will last. Furthermore, completing 3 of the S-A-V-E rollover lanes allows the player to reactivate the ball saver when the ball goes into the unlit one; this can be delayed in order to repeat this process and stack ball saver levels.

* SelfImposedChallenge: There is an operator setting that affects the number of reactors the player needs to destroy (9, the default, being its maximum). Scott Danesi has proposed setting it to 1 in order to create a noticeably different competitive experience – namely, one that prioritizes getting the reactor value as high as possible and as soon as possible [[spoiler:(since the game immediately ends afterwards, with the end-game bonus getting multiplied by the number of balls remaining)]].

** When the player receives a Mystery Award, one of the random options that flashes by is "Lionman!!!", a [[Memes/{{Pinball}} meme]] derived from the late-'80s [[Creator/WilliamsElectronics Williams]] game ''Swords of Fury'' that had become an in-joke at Spooky Pinball. Likewise, a poster for what appears to be a movie titled ''Lionman!!!'' can be seen on the backglass.

* NintendoHard: The game demands good understanding of ball control to properly master – among other things, the grid that the game centers on is a risky shot to make[[note]]hence why most players prioritize activating multiball before making significant progress on overheating a reactor, as the former adds insurance[[/note]], and the playfield's only scoop has a tendency to shoot the ball out very quickly and unpredictably.

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: [[spoiler:The game ends completely when you destroy every reactor, achieving total nuclear annihilation... because ''you'' have been destroyed as well.]]

* FingerlessGloves: The woman on the backglass wears a pair of these.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: The visor-wearing woman on the backglass has blue hair.