Episode 6 - Howdy Pardner!

Howdy Partner: a community-focused pinball tournament format prioritizing fun and inclusion over competitive rankings.

Highlights

• Howdy Partner was created to bridge the gap between new/solo players and competitive tournament play by reducing intimidation and increasing community interaction.
• Traditional IFPA tournaments prohibit coaching and in-game advice during play, whereas Howdy Partner explicitly encourages teammates to help and coach each other.
• Howdy Partner uses cumulative team scores (all five players' scores on each machine added together) rather than head-to-head competition, making it impossible for a single strong player to carry the entire team.
• Team captains in Howdy Partner should be selected for personality, charisma, and ability to make others feel welcome rather than skill level.
• Zoe has run over 500 IFPA-related tournaments and is in the top five to ten for most IFPA tournament appearances of all time.
• The name 'Howdy Partner' comes from the startup call-out on Whitewater, Alan's favorite pinball machine.
• Players in Howdy Partner do not know their team's standing relative to other teams until scores are revealed at the end, reducing pressure to hit specific point targets.
• Howdy Partner requires teams to have funny team names, funny hats, and funny kayfabe as part of the format, whereas most IFPA tournaments do not enforce or encourage these elements.