From Coffee Beans to Bonus Modes: Belles & Chimes Winter #6 Finals

The Finals for Belles & Chimes SATX – Winter #6 – B went down on March 14, 2025, with four players battling it out across three games in just under three and a half hours. The action kicked off at 6:30 PM sharp at What’s Brewing? Coffee Roasters—where the espresso hits hard and so do the slingshots. Christina Cheeseman ran the show, keeping everything on track while the rest of us sipped cold brew and tried not to tilt… metaphorically or otherwise.

Espresso and extra balls

Tucked away on West Rhapsody Drive, What’s Brewing? Coffee Roasters isn’t just serving some of the best coffee in San Antonio—it’s also quietly one of the city’s best-kept pinball spots. This is where latte lovers and flipper fanatics collide. The machine lineup leans nostalgic, the staff keeps things friendly, and even if you’re not chasing a Grand Champion score, the playfield is always inviting. Bonus points for the homemade pastries and the fact that it’s totally normal to show up for a cappuccino and leave with a matchplay victory.

Check them out here: www.sacoffeeroasters.com

Hang ten or drain out

The standout match of the night came early on Surfer, a groovy 1976 electromechanical classic by Gottlieb. Designed by the legendary Ed Krynski, who was basically the father of EM-era layout elegance, Surfer features a split flipper layout and some brutal outlane action that keeps players on their toes. The art package by Gordon Morison is peak ’70s beach vibes—think sun-bleached boards and perpetual summer.

Gameplay-wise, it’s deceptively simple: drop targets, rollovers, and side lanes that reward precision over panic. No ramps, no modes—just you, two flippers, and the unforgiving physics of old-school pinball.

Ambie Lopez, despite being the lowest-ranked player in the tournament, wiped out the competition and rode the waves straight into first place. Ambie’s calculated flips and solid nudging locked in those bonus multipliers like they were born in a drop target factory. Alexa Hart snagged second with a clean run, while Melora Alvarez and Destiny Moreno both wiped out on the left outlane during some risky shots for the 5,000-point target. The skill gap didn’t seem to matter—Surfer humbled everyone at least once.

Three machines. Three eras. One unforgettable lineup.

Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye (Pro) – Stern, 2025
Let’s start with the new kid on the block. Tyrant’s Eye is Stern’s take on classic fantasy IP, and it dropped just two months before this tournament. The machine is built around an RPG-style quest system, with players battling monsters, collecting magical items, and leveling up toward a boss showdown with—you guessed it—the glowing, animatronic Tyrant’s Eye centerpiece.

The standout feature here is the “Eye of the Realm” multiball start, which triggers after completing side missions through orbit shots and spell locks. It’s chaotic, colorful, and fully integrated with the modern Stern Insider Connected system, giving players extra achievements and progression stats. It’s also one of the first Pro models in Stern’s modern era to offer diverter-controlled shot paths—a rare bit of mechanical flair usually reserved for Premium editions.

Attack from Mars – Bally, 1995
This game practically is the 1990s. Designed by Brian Eddy and featuring a dot-matrix display with hilarious alien animations, Attack from Mars is beloved for its explosive flow and tight objective structure. You’re defending Earth from an alien invasion, blowing up saucers, and locking balls for multiball insanity—all while being heckled by green Martians with New Jersey accents.

But here’s the historical kicker: Attack from Mars was part of the final golden era for Bally/Williams, just before the company pulled the plug on pinball manufacturing in 1999. Its success helped pave the way for spiritual successors like Medieval Madness and, years later, Total Nuclear Annihilation and Rick and Morty—games that also mix humor, speed, and clear objectives. If you grew up on DMD-era pins, this one probably rewired your dopamine system.

Surfer – Gottlieb, 1976
Let’s give Surfer a second round of applause, because it’s not just vintage—it’s transitional. Released the same year Charlie’s Angels and The Bionic Woman hit TV screens, Surfer sits at the tail end of Gottlieb’s EM run, just before solid-state machines started to take over. Krynski’s design is all about shot value and ball control. There’s no music, no speech, no mercy—just a bell, some chimes, and that one spinner you swear is mocking you.

What makes Surfer unique is its companion game, Surf Champ, a four-player version of the same layout. The one-player Surfer version was often chosen for home use, giving it a smaller production run and making it slightly rarer today. It’s also one of the few games where the bonus count animation on the backglass is worth watching—even if it’s counting down your heartbreak.

And the champion emerges from the dungeon…

The tournament reached its climax on Stern’s Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye (Pro), a machine that’s already earning a reputation for punishing hesitation and rewarding bold shot selection. Designed for high-stakes drama, the game’s layout builds toward a final boss battle with the mechanical Tyrant’s Eye—a hypnotic, LED-laden toy that literally watches your every move. Add in a deep spell progression system, diverter-controlled shot paths, and stacked multiball modes, and you’ve got a closing act worthy of any pinball saga.

In the final match, it was Ambie Lopez who played like a true adventurer on a mission. They wasted no time chasing down side quests, activated the Orb Lock early, and triggered the coveted “Eye of the Realm” multiball right as the pressure peaked. That multiball, when played well, can flood the playfield with chaos—but Ambie kept their composure, juggling jackpots while making progress toward the final boss. It was the kind of performance that turns heads, especially from a player with just a dozen events under their belt.

Destiny Moreno showed off her experience with smart shot selection and consistent control, but her timing on multiball stacking didn’t quite sync up in the end. Alexa Hart stayed competitive, hitting key combos but couldn’t quite break through the midgame plateau. Melora Alvarez had a solid opening sequence but got stuck in the spell progress grind and couldn’t convert it into a scoring run.

Here’s how it all stacked up when the final flipper flipped:

1. Ambie Lopez – Used multiball timing and Tyrant’s Eye progression to seal a defining tournament win.
2. Destiny Moreno – A polished performance from a local veteran, just shy of the breakout moment.
3. Alexa Hart – Smooth early rounds, but the final battle didn’t tilt in her favor.
4. Melora Alvarez – A valiant run, derailed by a brutal outlane and some unfinished spellwork.

The Lone Star State’s top-tier flippers:

Flipping out and heading home

Huge kudos to Christina Cheeseman for keeping the tournament running smoother than a freshly waxed playfield. And props to What’s Brewing? Coffee Roasters for being the kind of place where great coffee and great pinball go hand in hand. Whether you came for the caffeine or the chaos, this Finals for Belles & Chimes SATX was worth the quarters.

Next time you’re in San Antonio, swing by the nearby North Star Mall and walk off your post-tourney adrenaline. And hey—don’t miss out on future pinball tournament news and highlights. We’ll be here, with flippers ready.