Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye is a pinball machine, based on the Forgotten Realms setting, that was designed & manufactured by Stern Pinball, Inc. to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. It was released in 2025.
Description[]
The Tyrant's Eye cabinet was produced in three variations: Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition. Each is visually distinguished by different decals that were hand-drawn by illustrator Vincent Proce. The Pro cabinet depicts the game's adventuring company facing off against Xanathar and his pet Sylgar, the Premium cabinet depicts the dragonborn Ardor riding a gold dragon against the red dragon Rath the Relentless, and the Limited Edition depicts Tiamat and Xanathar. The latter is also distinguished by having a reflective foil treatment on its decal.[1]

Rath the Relentless yearns for sweet release from his pinball prison.
All three cabinets depict the same playing field, an abstract map of Mid-West Faerûn, featuring a number of previously established locations like Arabel. It also features hazards in the form of a gelatinous cube, which traps balls through use of an electromagnet, and the dragon Rath the Relentless. Rath's head is a mechanical fixture with illuminated eyes. In the Premium & Limited Edition cabinets, Rath's head features multi-axis motion, and omnidirectional impact sensing technology, granting it a range of motion and the ability to react to the player's actions.[1]
The cabinets also feature a wide cast of voice actors, with over 11,000 recorded lines of speech.[1]
The most distinct of the three versions is the Limited Edition cabinet, of which only 740 will be produced. In addition to its distinct cabinet decal, the LE cabinet features a plaque denoting its numerical designation among the 740 produced, the Speaker Expression Lighting System, an upgraded sound system, a full-colored mirrored backglass that was inspired by dragons, a red finish to the body of the cabinet,[note 1] an autograph on the bottom arch by the cabinet's designer, an anti-reflective quality to the playfield glass, and a shaker motor. Beyond the cabinet itself, purchasers were given a signed Certificate of Authenticity.[1][note 2]
Summary[]
An adventuring company known as the Dragonshield Guild fights to thwart the goddess Tiamat's latest scheme for arising on the Prime Material, which has triggered "the War of Dragons", all the while trying to interfere in the machinations of notorious threats Balinor, Sammaster, and Xanathar.[1]
Gameplay[]
Going beyond the typical pinball experience, The Tyrant's Eye features three campaigns playable by four distinct characters—Anya the halfling rogue, Ardor the dragonborn paladin, Helenir Weavhart the high elf wizard, and Frey Curlyfoot the dwarf cleric—by up to four players. The player can later unlock three additional characters by beating each of the game’s three endings: Goregath the goliath barbarian, Juniper Amari the wood elf bard, and Rhyme the tiefling ranger.[1] By pressing the Right flipper at the start of a game, players can select their character, while pressing the Left flipper allows them to select which of the locations on the map to start at.[2] In addition to each character having the five common attributes, each statblock includes hit points, armor class, a luck percentile, and four item slots. Through either adventuring or visiting the game's store, Fizmo's Shoppe, and spending accumulated gold pieces players can obtain access to inventory items.[1]
Besides the two flippers, there is a central action button that can be pressed to temporarily raise a metal bar between them. Labeled as "shield", this serves to prevent the loss of balls.[2]
By hitting Dungeon targets on the playfield[2] or paying 75 gp to Fizmo's Shoppe,[1] players can open up the "Dungeon Crawl". In the Premium & Limited Edition versions, this takes the form of a grated trapdoor or scoop.[2] By shooting a ball over the "Dungeon Crawl" space or into the trapdoor, players access dynamically generated dungeon levels. In the Premium & Limited Edition versions, this trapdoor holds the ball until a dungeon is finished.[1] There are a total of five dungeon levels that change out on a weekly basis.[2] These levels, as well as animated combat encounters and character stats, all play out on the cabinet's LCD screen.[1]
Fighting enemies during an encounter involves shooting at certain red lights on the playfield.[2] Whether or not an attack connects with an enemy is randomly determined by a dice roll.[1] Initiating combat with Rath requires hitting the three bank targets under the red dragon that represent his treasure horde. This gives players the opportunity to amass gold pieces. In the Premium and Limited Edition models, Rath's head moves from left to right during combat and unleashes multiple balls from its mouth. All versions refer to this as the "Dragon Multiball".[2]
Using integration with Stern's Insider Connected app platform[1][2]–a system originally created for their Venom cabinet (2023)[2]–copies of the The Tyrant's Eye are able to save and load a player's accumulated experience points, inventory items, and campaign progress across play sessions.[1][2]
History[]
The Tyrant's Eye was developed under the codename "ROPE". It was first teased by Stern on December 31, 2024 and received a full detailed announcement the following year on January 3. The Limited Edition soon sold out.
Index[]
Characters[]
Creatures[]
Locations[]
Magic[]
Organizations[]
Religions[]
Tymora
Miscellaneous[]
Appendix[]
This article is incomplete. Requires further information on Fizmo's Shoppe & Tiny's Tavern; not all enemies and items within the game have been catalogued yet; Gameplay section needs information regarding how inventory items affect gameplay You can help the Forgotten Realms Wiki by providing more information. |
Notes[]
Game Credits[]
- Design: Brian Eddy
- Software Design: Elizabeth Gieske, Dwight Sullivan
- Composer / Music Director: Cris Velasco
- Illustrations: Vincent Proce
- Sound: Jerry Thompson
- Voice Actors: Laura Bailey, Mica Burton, Anthony Carboni, Michael Dorn, Luke Gygax, Matthew Mercer, Chris Prynoski, Marisha Ray, Brendon Small, Kevin Smith, Gerard Way
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant's Eye. (2025). Retrieved on 01-06-2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Kineticist: Stern Launches Dungeons & Dragons. (01-03-2025). Archived from the original on 01-08-2025. Retrieved on 01-08-2025.