How to Install 3D Pinball Space Cadet on Windows 11
Enjoy a blast from the past with Microsoft 3D Pinball Space Cadet. Here’s a quick tip on getting it downloaded and installed on Windows 11.
If you’re old enough to remember Windows XP, then you no doubt remember all the classic games Microsoft packaged with it, including 3D Pinball Space Cadet. Unfortunately, with the later releases, including the most recent Windows 11, Microsoft dropped most of the built-in games. In a previous article, we explained how to install all your favorite classic Windows games on Windows 10. Today, follow the steps below to install my favorite classic game, 3D Space Cadet Pinball, on the latest version of Microsoft Windows XP and later, including Windows 10 and Windows 11.
How to Install 3D Pinball Space Cadet on Windows 11 or Windows 10
- First, download the 3D Pinball Space Cadet executable file. You don’t need to extract it; double-click the WinRAR file and click Run.Editors Note: We’ve tested and confirmed the game works on all versions of Microsoft Windows, including XP, Windows 7, 10, and 11.
- Install the game in its default location, and it will show up in the Games folder, just like it did in legacy versions of Windows.
- To launch the game, hit the Windows Start button and look under the Games folder.
- Launch the game and relive this Windows classic! Oh, just one more thing: be sure to down the volume if you’re playing at work. This baby is noisy!
Although the screenshots were taken from previous versions of Windows, we’ve tested it and confirmed that 3D Pinball Space Cadet works on 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and later. This includes all the modern versions, including Windows 10 and 11. In fact, I have it running on Windows 11 22H2 as of the last update of this article (Feb. 17, 2024.)
Have fun!
203 Comments
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Mat Lee
November 26, 2011 at 9:16 am
That was a classic. Countless hours of my life I will never get back trying to make sure no one ousted me as the top score.
Brian Burgess
November 26, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Oh yeah! Man, I used to waste soooo much time at work with this one! I loved it. And I don’t regret a second of the time I spent on it when I should of been working for the man.
Ross
May 23, 2014 at 1:59 pm
Good Lord, I really thought, being something of a Luddite, that I was probably the only one playing what I assumed everyone else thought was “the lame pinball game that Windows stuck in there as a selling point to non-gamers & parents”. Not having a pc at home, I too spent countless hours being paid on 3rd shift to get really good at Space Cadet.
Some years ago, the head office made us all work on a crappy Citrix virtual desktop(w/almost all customizing features removed, ’cause, you know–we’re all children who’ll burn the place down if we’re allowed to pick our own color scheme; they even took away the clock in the taskbar, saying, “What do they need that for?”). Now, I’m still on that awful virtual desktop, but telecommuting from home. When I realized the W7 they made me use to do so no longer had the game, I was severely bummed. I spent years wondering if there was something like it, but not knowing where to look, etc. I was resigned to Free Cell as my only choice when I wanted to zone out for a bit.
Now, I try a vague search on a whim, find this site, and it’s so easy(although I think I clicked the wrong thing–sorta–since I never got Step 2. It just went straight to Start, so I dragged it to Games. Looks like the same end result to me.
Thanks, not only for putting this out there, but for making it so easy even a near-computer-illiterate like me can do it. You’re a mensch.
Melissa
November 21, 2015 at 1:26 pm
I too got paid to play this game when I was doing security (FOMCLOL) at a wood mill. I would stop in on this one station and play a few rounds. I considered that one of my 15 minute legal break. So much fun!
Chris White Jr
November 28, 2015 at 10:40 am
Ross, at this game I was a boss. ain’t got no time fo this comment cause ya boy gotta floss. who will win this epic rap battle, it is truly a toss. ha, random freestyle. I love your comment on this game, as I too spent days in a daze. countless hours I plays. as I figure out this maze. hopin you will be abazed. lol. settin scores ablaze cause I see through this haze. oh dear. needs to stop now. randomly searched for and found this game again, as you did. What joy. just in time for christmas. justin’s crime will diss us. (just because it rhymed.) have a good one Ross.
Jacob
January 30, 2015 at 12:53 pm
Yeah, of all of the XP games, I played Hearts and Pinball. And while I had fun with Hearts, Pinball was soo fun. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! This is one thing I wish they still had…
Jaren Patterson
February 2, 2017 at 11:07 pm
When i was younger i used to book the library computer just to play this and minesweeper
Jack
January 1, 2015 at 5:31 pm
thanks a lot for this man..classic good game!
jake gill
March 4, 2016 at 2:21 am
you’re welcome
jake gill
March 4, 2016 at 2:20 am
I can’t download it. I don’t know how
SamurajXD
November 9, 2021 at 12:39 am
IT first excersise
Brandon Barber
May 29, 2017 at 10:39 am
I miss playing this as a little kid at my elementary school when the teacher wasn’t looking. :D
Ahhh, good memories…
Rebecca
February 7, 2012 at 6:23 pm
I’ve missed this so much…you’re a God of the interwebs.
Steve Krause
March 13, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Yeah…. March 2018, still a great game on Windows 10!
Sharon
February 19, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Thank you SO MUCH for your helpful info. I searched bunches of sites looking for this classic game that I loved on my old XP computer. I found the download files on the weebly.com page, but wasn’t sure whether or not I could trust it or not. Your page made me feel confident that I could.
Thanks again!!
Brian Burgess
February 20, 2012 at 7:36 pm
@Sharon: Glad to hear that! It definitely brings back nostalgic memories for me!
Henrique
April 19, 2013 at 2:39 pm
Heey champs, thanks :D’
Ruben
August 13, 2015 at 3:53 am
its great i love this game it brings me memories
iShotZz (@iShotZzYT)
March 10, 2015 at 11:16 am
Yep it always does, xD
Taylor Garcia
March 4, 2012 at 3:24 pm
after searching for a while. i finally found one that actually works and dosen’t make me do unecessary stuff :)
tooltip86
March 27, 2012 at 9:59 am
Thanks a lot, I didn’t know there was a pinball for win7, so I started using vmware with a xp virtual machine and needless to say its a pain in the butt.
Stefano from Italy
April 16, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Thanks a lot, Brian! The game is ok on my Windows 7 Professional but the help file is not available (part of XP guide, I think…). Is there a way to have it on Windows 7?
Steve Krause
July 13, 2012 at 9:12 am
Help File? Are you having issues with something?
Marek
December 26, 2014 at 7:55 am
The help file conatined a clickable picture of the field that showed the rules of everything you clicked and what it did.
chris
November 19, 2015 at 8:37 am
click on the table image file, shows what you described
Jack
November 19, 2015 at 3:08 pm
Hi Chris,
I do remember on the old Pinball Help files for Windows XP you could click on the image of the table and it would tell you what each element of the table was. There is no help file “How to” for Brian’s download. But there should be tons of tips for the game by searching online.
Regards,
Jack
steve
November 15, 2020 at 4:32 pm
when i go to full-field play mode, which is the only way to play, the controls freeze and the ball disappears. So: unless i play in 4″ mode it is a no go. man, i would like to play again.
John Schneider
May 14, 2021 at 11:25 am
Same for me. I am heart-broken.
Steve Krause
July 13, 2012 at 9:12 am
Great old game. Nothin like going old school. Game is still great after all these years.
Mike
July 17, 2012 at 8:18 am
The game works but there is no sound… I can listen to the music but not the noises when the ball hits off stuff.
I just tried it with some headphones and the sound works. Perhaps it was my speakers. Hope someone finds this useful.
Bradley Vahn Brewer
August 28, 2012 at 8:04 pm
Hey man, I know this is a month late, but I was also having this problem. I found changing my default sound format from 24bit / 96,000Hz to 48,000Hz fixed it. You do this by right clicking your primary sound device and choosing properties. Next click the advanced tab and change the format there. I assumed since it was an older game it would not support the higher format and changed it. Worked for me. Cheers!
Steve
September 3, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Thanks so much for sharing this. The game literally popped into my head for some reason a week ago, and I’ve only just gotten round to looking it up today, and yours is the only one I’ve found without faffing about. Amazing game as I always remembered; I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity to revisit some nostalgic memories of Windows 95, almost 20 years ago. Thanks again :)
Steve Krause
September 3, 2012 at 11:16 pm
Honestly, it’s a great pinball game. I still play it. Hey, why mess with a good thing! :)
Wow… are we really that old! HA
kem
September 11, 2012 at 11:31 am
sitting in the airport and thought of this game. You rock!
Steve Krause
September 11, 2012 at 6:50 pm
I here ya. It’s a great ole game!
Josh Weadick
December 9, 2012 at 5:03 pm
thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!
Marcus
December 21, 2012 at 5:02 pm
Dude I love you for this!! Have a wonderful christmas!
Mlg D'Andre J
January 5, 2013 at 9:42 am
does this work with windows 8?
Brian Burgess
March 14, 2013 at 8:05 pm
Yes! I just installed it on Windows 8 and it works fine. You can also extract the RAR file to a USB flash drive and run it from that.
Mario Castro
April 14, 2013 at 10:31 pm
Hi!, are there some other pinball games as good as this one? have found several online but they’re in slow motion an not as good as Space Cadet, greetings!
John
February 20, 2013 at 2:26 pm
Thanks man – I’m looking to all the pinball games on iOS and Android – and they make me cry… This is the best pinbal game ever!
Weapon
March 12, 2013 at 12:00 am
Thanks heaps!!!
belzebuth
March 27, 2013 at 12:47 pm
many thanks for this game!
Daniel
April 14, 2013 at 1:52 pm
Thanks dude. I haven’t played this since I had my windows 2000, And now I have it on my Windows 7.
Jake
April 17, 2013 at 11:53 am
Thank you so, so much. I have really missed this game and every once in a while I could play this [months would the gap between the last time I play this] and now I play this almost whenever I want. Thank you so, so, so, VERY, Very, much.
Becky
April 17, 2013 at 7:02 pm
Ok, Brian Burgess wins at the internet. Seriously, thank you so much! You’re supremely awesome! I haven’t played this game in years and I’ve been craving it. I used to play for hours when I was like 13. Thank you!!
Emma
April 28, 2013 at 8:15 pm
Can anyone help me plzz. …I can’t get the “sound” to work on space cadet?????. …I’ve downloaded & deleted & downloaded again & again but the sound of the flippers won’t work, everything else works fine though. I’ve read all the above comments and tried to understand one comment about changing the sound format? but not sure how to do this, and not sure how to find my default sound device or format? Sorry but im thick as a brick. …can I plzz annoy anyone and ask for some help I don’t know what the heck im doing lol sorry
Marwan
June 21, 2020 at 11:57 pm
its broken
Emma
April 28, 2013 at 8:58 pm
Sorry to bother you again but I’ve now got the sound working, though I don’t know how I fixed it????? lol. …..I mucked around with the sound device thingy. …didn’t know what the heck I was doing or have done, but now it’s working beautifully.
Just wanted to say I don’t need any help now so you can scrub these msgs from the website if you like. It’s still a mystery how I got it to work but it is working and it’s gr8888888!!!!! I love it thanks for all the helpful advice and the great download link you put up. Woohooooo it’s working. Thankyou again.
waseem
May 6, 2013 at 1:08 am
let me play first
Jim
May 13, 2013 at 10:28 am
Download worked perfectly. Works great on Windows 7 Pro.
The best Pinball Game ever.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!
ron ron
May 16, 2013 at 1:56 pm
Back in the saddle again
mocman
May 19, 2013 at 8:00 am
my high scores are 86,327,000 // 66,111,000 // 63,173,750 // 52,385,250. Game number 2 is 1,000,000,000. I tried the hidden test or something and could not get the original score back. Even though it is the highest points, it still shows as number two.
Loxx
June 10, 2013 at 2:21 am
I think it is saved in the memory that the hidden test will come second
pommer
June 13, 2013 at 10:20 pm
is there a way to get it on windows 8 ???
Brian Burgess
June 13, 2013 at 10:23 pm
Yup. Just install it like normal on Windows 8. I have it running on my Windows 8 Pro system right now!
pommer
June 13, 2013 at 10:28 pm
yo i got mcafee virus protection … a hella good version and it stopped me from downloading it because it has a virus in that file i clicked up at thetop of the page …. everyone who has tried downloading it by clicking that link at the top of the page now has some bad ass virus or spyware!!!!!!!!!
pommer
June 13, 2013 at 10:31 pm
why is my computer teling me this ???
Brian Burgess
June 13, 2013 at 10:34 pm
Well, that’s a false positive. I’ve been running it and before I even suggested the download link, I ran it through VirusToal which scans it with 46 different brands of antivirus utilities.
I would imagine because it’s an executable that will make changes to OS files is why Macaffee is flagging it.
One thing is certain, on this site we ALWAYS verify any files we link to are safe and malware free.
pommer
June 13, 2013 at 10:39 pm
ALSO were did u originally get this file from anyways ???
Sheryl
September 13, 2023 at 7:42 am
Help!!! Space Cadet (sound and motion) is choppy on my Win11. Tried all I can think. Any suggestions???
pommer
June 13, 2013 at 10:36 pm
yea i tried downloading it again and my virus protection is saying its putting my computer at risk and that i need to remove it immidiately …. i guess it would be easy to put a virus in it without anyone noticing…. looks like only a handful of people downloaded so that means a handful of peoples info was probably stolen off there computer after they downloaded this file .!
pommer
June 13, 2013 at 10:38 pm
i really want this game so if it is legit and not full of viruses do u think u could send me a diff kind of link so i could try to download that ??? i cant get enough of the game !! i literally just leftwork an hour ago and i wanna play it some more ..
Brian Burgess
June 13, 2013 at 10:58 pm
I uploaded it to my Public SkyDrive. Here’s the link: http://sdrv.ms/1a9WIPT
The reason it’s being detected as malware is because when you install it, files are added to your root drive in Microsoft Games directory.
Commercial antivirus programs like McAfee and Norton are often overzealous with detection. They also take over your entire system, which is why we don’t recommend those types of antivirus software programs.
You should have a setting in McAfee that allows you to ignore the flag. Again, all I can do is assure you 100% that this is not a virus at all. I have installed it on all 6 of my Windows PCs and this is the first time I have heard of an antivirus program flagging it as a virus. It’s not.
Jordan
June 28, 2013 at 3:51 pm
I’m having no problem at all with the program – I’d just like to install it. I can’t find it though… Can you possibly give me some instructions on how to uninstall the program?
Jordan
June 28, 2013 at 4:06 pm
Never mind on the last comment. I was looking in programs in my control panel instead of just plain files. Deleted successfully! Again, there was nothing wrong with the program. I just needed to uninstall it.
JonO
July 13, 2013 at 4:14 pm
Thanks. Worked perfectly and your site didn’t try to cram a bunch of other software down my throat!
andrew
July 14, 2013 at 8:30 pm
on mine the ball flickers in and out and i can’t tell where the ball is… please help
Christine
August 10, 2013 at 3:03 pm
I have missed this game like crazy. Thanks so much for giving us access to it!
Kieran
September 13, 2013 at 3:47 pm
Hi, thanks for putting Pinball out there, really good game. Unfortunately there is one problem ,for some reason my computer is unable to play in full screen, despite playing in full screen yesterday, it just won’t work now.
My OS is Windows 7 computer and my screen resolution is 1280×1024
Steve Krause
September 15, 2013 at 9:22 pm
Try it again but first turn off Aero Mode. sometimes Aero can interfere with things like this on legacy games.
Let me know…
Kieran
September 19, 2013 at 9:33 am
Hi, thanks for the response. I found the solution, for some reason Pinball wouldn’t play in the resolution I have my computer set to, so I changed it to 800×600 and it worked. Thanks for your help anyway!
Marcio
September 29, 2013 at 3:39 am
I installed it on Windows Vista but it’s not saving the high scores. Any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks alot!
Sam
December 10, 2015 at 10:23 am
Hi Marcio, I have the same problem! I downloaded it on windows 10 and it isn’t saving my high scores, I’m really disapointed.
kiko
July 18, 2016 at 11:26 am
same here.
any help, please? this is unbearable :(
Daniel
October 18, 2017 at 9:49 am
I installed it on Windows 10 Pro and it works fine, sound, high score, and all.
C,Hodge
March 13, 2014 at 5:35 am
Awesome. I have looked and looked since XP was no longer available. Everybody I knew had upgraded to Vista or Windows 7. One fell in my lap one day so I thought I would copy the game to a flash drive. It worked also, but somehow got deleted and the flash drive got stolen with all my others. I had since upgraded that computer to Win 7. I tried to recover it from the old.win file which was unsuccessful. I did see the Pro Works flipper.cad file. That gave me the idea to search using that name. Pro Works Pinball. Here it is. Thank you so much for making it the easiest install ever!. I am a huge pinball fan anyway. They are ICONS now, basically a thing of the past unless you have a lot of money to buy one. I’m 56, a female and this is the only game I like to play other than Keno & Super 8 Keno. I can play these by myself, try to beat my own score. This was just a great experience. I hope this stays available to all those who want it and find it. Meanwhile. I’m going to copy the file to another flash drive just in case this page gets taken down. I don’t want to ever lose this game again. I’m saving the page to my favorites too. It is true that the Aero on Windows 7 can interfere with things, especially wallpaper and screen savers. My resolution is set at 1600×1200, 32bit. Good luck to everybody who loves this game. Also, I use Microsoft Security Essentials, and Spy Bot. No flags for me.
Paul
May 24, 2014 at 8:50 pm
Thank you very much, is it really that long ago…this will make my mum very happy too, can’t wait to surprise her with this. I’ve found a way to get her to sit at the PC again !
dina
June 20, 2014 at 7:48 am
thanks very much, sir! been craving to play this game again for days! i still remember me and my sisters used to have battles for this game and see who got the best score. thanks!
Lawrie
July 17, 2014 at 3:01 am
Infuriating, but addictive game. Problem is (& if you’ve played for any length of time you may have noticed) the game has cheats written into it. Magnets at various points on the game switch on at certain times to screw up your play. The tiny grey button at the bottom between the flippers is 1, the wormhole above the mission ramp & the red button at the entrance to the Hyperspace bonus ramp.
The magnet intensity varies from low to high & can deflect & affect the path of the ball. There is no way to get round this but the frequency of magnet activity can be moderated by; not holding the ball static on the flippers & regularly re-fuelling, use the ’tilt’ function sparingly.
Happy pinballing.
Christopher
August 16, 2014 at 12:25 am
I have a tablet; Visual Land model, Prestige 7G. Will Space Cadet pinball be able to load play on this tablet?
iShotZz (@iShotZzYT)
March 10, 2015 at 11:26 am
Hi Christopher,
It seems that is a Android 4.1 Jelly Bean device. This is a .exe (executable for Windows). The final conclusion is you can’t run it, due to Android always being based on Linux, and Linux doesn’t support .exe files. Sorry man. If you have a Windows 7/8 computer, go on the computer, and download it!
Steph
October 28, 2014 at 11:04 pm
I tried downloading your game the other day and I decided to delete it because the installation wasn’t working. Then today o noticed it popped up on my computer all installed. I was thrilled to play it again but as soon as I clicked it my computer crashed and now all my settings are messed up. I’m running a scan on my computer on safe mode and it says I’m at risk. I’m pretty sure your download has a virus on it. So be aware to anyone else you plans on downloading it.
iShotZz (@ishotzz2)
June 29, 2015 at 1:09 pm
Hi Steph, Please tell me what AVs your using. I wouldn’t recommend the following AVs: Norton and McAfee. These take over your whole system, and detect non-virus files as viruses. It detects it as a virus because it’s trying to install Pinball and it’s copying files to the “Pinball” folder and the people who make it make the AV freak out at installers because they’re copying files that are labeled by McAfee/Norton “viruses”. But they’re not viruses.
Bill
November 1, 2014 at 12:09 am
I can’t tell you how much I have missed this game. Decided to give a search for it one more time, and ran into your site. Thanks a bunch for this…has REALLY made my day, week, month, and year…Yippee. Shows very small on my screen, and have to go to full screen to really see it good…will have to mess around with screen resolutions to see it better. Thanks again!!!!
NDboots
December 2, 2014 at 3:09 pm
I installed in Wins 7 64-bit, help menu does not work, and F keys do not work, the rest does if I use the menu options to operate. I tried running as Admin, and that did not help. Anyone else have those problems with 64-bit?
Bill
December 2, 2014 at 10:14 pm
I have the same situation, but I believe that I read I would from the get-go, so I am not bothered by it. Everything else works just fine, and that is ok with me. I am using Win7 Pro 64-bit.
Dickbutt
January 26, 2015 at 4:53 pm
It made me make half life 3.
PeachKing
January 27, 2015 at 6:06 am
Man this game is the best! I played this on my old windows xp but then it broke. Now I can play this on my new pc!
Helen from Estonia
January 29, 2015 at 10:38 am
THANK YOU!!!! It was years ago…..
Betty
February 7, 2015 at 7:35 am
Thanks, my husband asked me yesterday if I could put it on his computer.
B
March 6, 2015 at 6:52 am
I can’t believe it! Thank you, dude. I haven’t played this since before I finally retired my crappy XP PC 2 years ago. Seriously, THANK YOU!!!
Steve Krause
March 6, 2015 at 9:57 am
Of course! And ya know what, I still play it all the time ;)
Great game!
-S
Luke
March 15, 2015 at 4:39 pm
: )
a
April 3, 2015 at 2:15 pm
i have issue with sound, i don’t have a sound actually..i tried to change sound format as someone said but that didn’t help. Is there any other way to solve this? Thanks.
Steve Krause
July 9, 2015 at 12:46 pm
Hmm.. I just tested and it works 100%. Sorry you’re having issues.
DOESNT WORK
June 29, 2015 at 8:18 am
you cant get the game here.
iShotZz (@ishotzz2)
June 29, 2015 at 1:10 pm
It 100% works, trust me.
rubiks6
July 8, 2015 at 10:15 am
LINK IS BROKEN :(
The link “3D Space Cadet executable file” returns a “404 page not found”.
I’m sad.
Steve Krause
July 9, 2015 at 12:45 pm
FIXED!
Thanks for letting us know. Not sure what happened there. I moved the file to my personal Dropbox (just so I don’t have to pay for the bandwidth when people download the file…). ;)
Enjoy!
iShotZz
July 9, 2015 at 10:28 pm
xD, I thought this was BS but I came here and saw the reply. lol.
rubiks6
July 10, 2015 at 7:58 am
Thank you for the quick response.
———————————————
I suppose you’ll need to update your instructions.
1) you will need to sign up for drop-box, if you have never done so.
2) the file downloaded is a “.msi” file (windows installer package), not a self extracting “.exe” zip file.
I don’t know exactly what a ‘windows installer package is or does. I am fearful of clicking on it, because it came from an unknown source on the internet.
Steve Krause
July 10, 2015 at 9:42 am
Fixed!
Justin
July 19, 2015 at 1:28 pm
Thanks Brian! I’ve been missing this game ever since my Windows XP machine went dead seven months ago. Now I have it again and it works just as well on Windows 7. The only downsides I notice so far are that there is a ten second delay switching to full screen mode (which really should be the default for a PC) and dates are absent from the high scores list. This game is a true classic, so much fun and so popular, it deserves to be upgraded and included in future editions of Windows. Thanks again for sharing this information with us!
ben
July 23, 2015 at 2:14 am
nothing came up when i tried to download it… weird
Steve Krause
July 26, 2015 at 10:38 am
Hi Ben – Which link did you click? Be sure you don’t have some sort of blocker enabled. Here it is again: https://www.groovypost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/3d_pinball_for_windows_space_cadet.exe
Let me know, will try to help ya download it.
Ethan
August 9, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Hi, I downloaded it and the flippers won’t flip. Everything else is fine though.
Chris Minko
August 24, 2015 at 3:25 am
Thanks for this. I’ve downloaded and run it on Windows 10. I had to go to the options and change the flipper keys to get them to work but now I can challenge my grandson to my hearts content.
Ashley
September 19, 2015 at 5:16 pm
THANKS SO MUCH!! ive been missing this game.
Matthew
October 11, 2015 at 9:10 pm
I actually copied it off of my dad’s windows xp computer before he got rid of it since I knew from my laptop that the game was not in windows 7. I have all the files in a folder on my flash drive and I plug it into the computers at school and play it from that. I even uploaded all the files to google drive just in case I ever lose the flash drive. Pinball is backed up more places than my photos.
John
October 27, 2015 at 9:15 pm
Hey, thanks a lot, Brian! I installed this on my current system, which is running Windows 7 Pro, and it works great! The music, the sound effects, everything is awesome! Brings back some good memories of the good old glory days with Windows XP.
This was one of the games that I really missed playing. I even resurrected my old Dell Dimension desktop today (model 2350) just to see if it would fire up but the hard drive on it is failing and it although it ran well everywhere else, it wouldn’t load the game properly (keep in mind that 3D Pinball was pre-installed with XP, too). :( Oh well, I’ll be recycling it in a few days anyway.
But again, my current system ran this game with no problem at all! Thanks again!
Brian Burgess
October 27, 2015 at 10:46 pm
You’re welcome John. BTW, I just installed it on Windows 10 and it works just fine on the new OS as well.
Have Fun!
michael
November 10, 2015 at 4:00 pm
a lot of thanks , Brian
Jack
November 12, 2015 at 5:07 pm
Hi Brian,
Works great for me on both Windows 8.1 for my laptop and Windows 10 for my desktop. Only problem is that the Help feature, the first topic in the drop-down list does nothing, and on Windows 10 I get a warning that my native resolution is not supported in full screen.
Otherwise, perfect!
xshot (@xshot_)
November 12, 2015 at 7:52 pm
Hi Jack,
The help file isn’t working, I have no idea how we would get it…
Set the resolution to a smaller setting and it will go to full screen.
Mr. K.
January 15, 2019 at 7:56 am
I adjusted to a Lower Screen Resolution and that did NOT solve the Issue of The Game going to Full Screen Mode. The Black Background goes Full Screen, BUT the actual Playing Field does Not.
Bram
November 12, 2015 at 11:47 pm
hi. this game doesnt have music.even I turn on the music,there are no music. just sound effect. anybody know how to include music? I only can download the sepearated music files from internet,then play it on windows media player while I play pinball. this is bit annoying
Jack
November 14, 2015 at 11:56 am
Hey Brian,
Thanks again for the Space Cadet Pinball Download link! I do have a question though. If anyone has a problem with the game, from what I understand, there is no way to uninstall it. Right-Clicking and selecting uninstall just goes to Add/Remove programs and the game is not on the list. (Both Windows 8.1 and 10) I don’t have Windows 7 anymore to test.
I realize that it would be unlikely that people would need to uninstall such a great game! But would like the steps just for reference.
Peace,
Jack
reinhold
December 7, 2015 at 12:13 pm
nice
Sam
December 10, 2015 at 10:29 am
Game works fine but my high scores don’t save. Whenever I exit out of game and come back, my high scores are gone. Does anyone else have this problem and does anyone know how to fix it?
slamo27
December 12, 2015 at 5:42 pm
Thanks. I was looking for this executable! Works fantastic in Fedora 23 (64-bit) with WINE.
Steve Krause
July 18, 2016 at 2:29 pm
Awesome to know. Thnx for testing and posting success in the comments!
Sam
December 18, 2015 at 10:43 am
Yeah. I admit, I’ve played Pinball a few times before, and I missed having it on Windows 7. Thanks dude!
Melissa S
December 18, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Wish there was a way to get it via Chrome OS. So miss that game… :-(
guy
December 22, 2015 at 11:27 am
Help. the pinball itself sort of vibrates during the game.
Steve Krause
December 22, 2015 at 12:25 pm
Um – not sure what that means?
Dean
January 8, 2016 at 4:05 pm
WhooHoo!!!! Thought I would never get to play this game again on a newer Windows OS! Works great on Windows 7 Pro. It has been many years since I have played this game.
I was always amazed at how great the action is compared to a real pinball machine on this game. Thanks a bunch! If I had the room I would build a pinball stand,,,,install a LCD tv in it,,,then add the glass over it,,,,attach a wireless keyboard on top at the lower end of the stand of course,,,,VGA the computer to the LCD tv and it would almost be like having the real thing! How cool would that be? Poor mans set up but, would look good once finished. Thanks again!
Risto
January 22, 2016 at 5:13 am
When I try to play the game in “full screen”, the only thing that happens is that the F3 button opens my volume control.
Monica
February 7, 2016 at 12:08 pm
Thank you! Worked great on W7.
Hunter
February 12, 2016 at 6:49 am
I really love this game soooooo much fun. I too used to play this game all the time until i stopped playing it for some reason and now I plan on getting a windows ten computer dell and install it so i can play it almost all the time great game though love it. Also I really like when the ball gets stuck in the worm hole and keeps going in there sooo coool.
Steve Krause
July 18, 2016 at 2:30 pm
Yeah – it’s a great, got 10 minutes to waste kind of game. Always sucks ya in!
John from Switzerland
February 12, 2016 at 12:49 pm
I like this old great game, but I also “misused” it for testing my Key Recorder. The recorder can keep down keys for a certain time. Pinball was the perfect test environment for testing this function. Keeping down the space key ejects the ball….
And finally I can test this function again…. Thank you.
Shrimperone
February 18, 2016 at 2:35 am
Recently I think I agreed to an update for my apple I-Pad iOS. Anyway I’ve lost my Arabian Nights pinball game, which I have had for over a year. No matter wot I’ve tried, I can’t get it back :(
Can anyone help? Thanks.
steve
March 16, 2016 at 6:29 am
very cool game
MLT
June 28, 2016 at 5:31 pm
I don’t mean to sound like the village idiot, but how the heck do you start the game?? I click on it in my apps, and xBox opens with a bunch of boxes with titles above them, New, Studios, Marvel Collection, etc. I just want to play pinball!
mspence
March 21, 2016 at 12:28 am
Unfortunately Windows 8 doesn’t have games anymore so I’m glad I was able to find this (and Windows XP Solitaire as well, another great time-waster from back in the day.)
Timothy Saula
April 4, 2016 at 1:26 am
do did great my brother Thank you very much. child hood game !!! works 100%. Pinball still one of the best
tushar
April 11, 2016 at 2:35 am
it is working
thank you…
Jack
April 12, 2016 at 8:02 am
If need be or there is a problem, does anyone know how to uninstall the game on Windows 8 and 10?
Jack
Jack
April 12, 2016 at 8:05 am
Love this game,
However, performance is sporadic with my game-play ability and has been for years. I only average about 3.5 million and I think have gotten as high as 22 million. My questions are, what makes the game so random? How much is luck, how much is skill and physics? What strategies do you use?
Jack
James M Singleton
April 28, 2016 at 7:41 am
3D Pinball Space Cadet and Hearts were my favorites but, I have moved on to the Windows 10 games with their new algorithms.
James M Singleton
April 28, 2016 at 7:49 am
*Correction
3D Pinball Space Cadet wasn’t the most popular but, the ones that liked it, really liked it!
Bob Geist
May 22, 2016 at 5:24 pm
i just downloaded Pinball Space Cadet I have Windows 10. There is “music” but no “sound”. Can you please help?
Gustaf
June 24, 2016 at 12:11 am
I love this Game!! Thank you so much for this, I will now try this download so I can play on my break at work. Thanks again!
David
June 26, 2016 at 9:09 am
Although I would love to have this Pinball game for this computer (Windows 10), I don’t trust the source where it comes from and feel it to be too risky to download it. An older computer (that seems to be on its last thread and ready to go) has Pinball that came with it. This one does not. I can’t risk having this computer get a virus from an unknown source.
Steve Krause
July 18, 2016 at 2:34 pm
Heya David – I get that. Just know, groovyPost (My blog) has been around since 2007 right here in Seattle WA. Hopefully, that helps ya a bit from a trust standpoint ie: Not a blog outside the country trying to get you to install some Malware. ;)
-Steve
gP Founder
Jack
June 29, 2016 at 1:48 am
Question on this game left by a forum member how to start play
By Default:
1.) Press the Spacebar to move the plunger back. Press again to release if you don’t want a full shot.
2.) The Z and / keys control the left and right flippers. Pressing both obviously movies both flippers
3.) F3 Pauses the current game
4.) F2 Starts a new game
Jack
Steve Krause
July 18, 2016 at 2:32 pm
Awesome Jack – Thanks for finding and posting that.
-Steve
gP Founder
Pittsburgh James
June 29, 2016 at 7:10 am
It took me a while and some googling to find out how to work it. I thought that it was just me.
Microsoft assumes that everyone is intuitive.
Pinball 3D Space Cadet 1.0 is a great game, a true classic.
Steve Krause
July 18, 2016 at 2:35 pm
Glad you found us @James in Pittsburgh!
-S
gP Founder
Stephen C
July 21, 2016 at 8:15 pm
Game appears very small in Windows 10. Anyway to make it play large?
Teresa
September 4, 2016 at 4:18 am
Anyway to get scores to save on windows 10? Love the download btw. Awesome game!
count0
September 13, 2016 at 9:24 am
score should be written in registry (was always, since…) also easily editable ^xoxoxo^
– thank you for classic
howard
October 14, 2016 at 7:10 pm
Help! Windows 10 just updated itself ( October 15th 2016) and now Pinball which was working fine full screen an hour ago won’t go full screen.
Have tried all the compatability modes…just won’t stay full screen for more than half a second.
Thanks Microsoft…uyou’ve just given me another reason to stay with my Ipad for games.
WEN
November 3, 2016 at 6:57 pm
I think I love you … at least a little. The HOURS I wasted playing this. And now I get to do it again! Thanks :)
Marcus
December 20, 2016 at 8:58 pm
Thanks! Haven’t played this game since I was a kid sitting in front of the family PC with my friends.
Qver cat
January 8, 2017 at 12:28 pm
Hey. This is really great, but it does not save the highscores. I am on windows 10. Is there a fiz or settings thing that I have to do?
prajaval jain
March 5, 2017 at 1:56 am
wow thankyou groovypost for providing the best game of my life for free.
Reid
April 21, 2017 at 12:00 pm
i remember this machine, I used to play it in Big Bear, Calif. as a kid, the real machine, not on a computer, wonder if its still out there in a recycle graveyard or some collector has it? this was back in like ’78. being an apple guy, I never used windows, till I used my pops windows xp\vista whatever, on a dell, good fun for killing time.
Shrimperone
April 21, 2017 at 4:40 pm
Got hooked on the real table in The Happidrome amusements Southend, Essex, UK, when I was working there as a student summer job! (Exchanging coins for punters’ bank notes). Now been playing computer versions for years, Arabian Nights & Space Cadet; current top score is 149,000,000 a few years ago – but time has caught up with me (OAP) …… :(
Dono
May 3, 2017 at 2:15 am
Thank you sir :)
Josh
May 5, 2017 at 7:06 pm
Did anyone else get a weird white bar at top after. Not in game buat just in general?
Jeremy
June 27, 2017 at 6:29 pm
Thanks for this!
Just found a terrible version of this in the Windows store (called Pinball Stars). I was so disappointed I went looking for the original, and lo and behold!
Works great, but is there a way to make the window larger? Activating full screen stretches it to fit my widescreen monitor. Not a dealbreaker, but still …
Rich
July 9, 2017 at 8:59 pm
Space Cadet Pinball is the best digital pinball game. It plays much like a cabinet type. There are a lot of tasks and challenges as well. the ball movement is smooth and does not go too fast or too slow.
Steve Krause
March 13, 2018 at 1:51 pm
Yeah – Installs and works great on Windows 10. A true Windows classic!
Abdellah Ramadan
August 3, 2017 at 3:49 am
Thank you Brian, I just thought of this game today. I have been playing it with my two brothers since primary going to secondary school. I searched and found it here. Thank you for the good work.
Mark Hamilton
January 13, 2018 at 12:43 am
Does anyone know how to make it run smoothly on a fast machine on Windows 7? I’ve got an i7 overclocked to run at 4.1Ghz, and 4GB RX 580 video card. It ran much better when I only had an i5 and a 1GB Radeon 6950 video card. I’ve tried playing with the priority and affinity. Restricting it to only 1 or 2 cores didn’t make any noticeable difference (I’m 99.9% sure it can only use a single core, anyway). Raising the priority to above normal and high didn’t make much difference – maybe even worse on high. Setting it to realtime makes it run smoother (mostly), but it goes crazy fast, like when you hit it with the flipper, and it becomes very prone to tilting, so no luck there. Not sure if messing with Wattman will help. I still have a Windows XP computer in good shape – it’s a Dell Dimension 8250 with 1.5GB of 1066Mhz Rambus RDRAM, and a 3Ghz P4 with hyperthreading – totally topped-out. I keep it alive to play old games, but it’d be nice if I could play this on my regular computer with my 25″ WQHD (not that it matters with this game’s resolution) monitors. For those of you having other issues, find the pinball.exe file. Right-click it and go into its settings. Set it to always play as Administrator (enter the password if necessary). Save that and find the folder that it’s in. Right-click and go to the properties of the folder. Click on the Read-Only checkbox until it’s clear. If you can’t do these things, you have your security settings on too high, and Windows is trying to prevent you from screwing-up your own computer. To change that, you need to make yourself an Administrator. I find that turning the UAC (in the Control Panel) down to its lowest setting (sometimes even off) will allow old games and other programs to run correctly, but do these things an your own risk! Other tips: Change to a non-Aero theme, like Windows Classic. If you can’t get the taskbar to disappear in full-screen mode, first open Pinball, then open Task Manager (ctrl-alt-del, or right-click on your taskbar). Go to the services tab and End Program on Windows Explorer. Your taskbar and icons will disappear (any folders you had open will be closed as well). You can now use F4 in the game to go to full-screen. When you’re done, F4 or Esc will take you back to Windowed mode (Alt-F4 will close the game immediately). To get Windows Explorer back up and running, from the Task Manager menu, go to File – Run, and type the word EXPLORER, and hit enter, and you’re good to go. HTH!
Diego Reguero.
March 14, 2018 at 3:02 pm
Runs ok in GNU/Linux with wine :D
William Anfin
March 17, 2018 at 10:23 am
Works great on Windows 10 Pro – really appreciate having this grand old game back on my computer. I still think it is one of the all time best pinball simulations ever.
Eric
March 18, 2018 at 9:43 am
Wow, thank you so much. Missed having this game. I tried to find it on my 7 computer but was unsuccessful. Had this pos 10 for about a year and a half. Finally found it, and IT WORKS EXACTLY THE SAME AS IT DID BACK IN THE DAY. No idea why microsoft had to can it. Was always awesome from windows 95 til they quit it. Found a knock off through their “app store” but according to reviews doesn’t play the same and what not. So really they’re not the same game. This is exactly as it was back in the day. Half way through my 1st ball, it was like I never stopped playing it. How the flippers change the yellow lights by the bumpers so you can get more points out of them. The missions, worm holes-though I’ve only played one game and need to go back after that as soon as I get done with this comment. Was kinda paranoid about a random website intstall, but norton said it was good. It only took like 30 seconds to do. Best thing I’ve found on the internet in a long time.
Thanks, Eric
Eric
March 18, 2018 at 9:47 am
Just had a even better idea, before starting the 2nd game. I’ll hook the laptop to the big screen plasma tv. Didn’t have that back in the day
ch
March 24, 2018 at 12:41 am
Thank u very much dude. back to old days
AsPika
April 10, 2018 at 6:44 am
Memories…. I love this games… FOREVER!!!! :D
Dominic
October 18, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Aww man! The memories I had in those days. Good old simpler times! Wish that I could go back to this era. Thanks a mil
Johnny
November 28, 2018 at 8:24 pm
I’m just laughing at the fact that after getting my new laptop with Windows 10, one of the first things I did was download this game. Can’t go wrong with this timeless classic, though. Thanks so much!
Just one thing, however. It looks like the music doesn’t want to work. Sound is working fine but the music just won’t play. My audio device is functional (new laptop) so I know it’s not a problem with that. I have Realtek high definition audio and I’ve tried both 16 bit and 24 bit 48,000hz. Laptop is an HP envy x360. If you could help me figure out what’s wrong, I would really appreciate it. Otherwise, thanks for putting this up!
Pittsburgh James
February 7, 2019 at 3:15 pm
I never knew how popular this game is; I thought that I was the only one that played 3D Pinball Space Cadet. It works well on Windows 10 tablets and low-end computers and the download looks legit. You can expect it to get more buggy in the future unless it’s open sourced or supported.
JuroZrno
April 24, 2019 at 7:33 am
Oh my god,I spent countless hours on this game when I was young.I had a crappy computer with almost no connection to Internet so this was my favourite game.And was it a blast.
allen
May 29, 2019 at 5:32 pm
OMG i friggen love this game.. i wish someone would ask Microsoft for permittion to make this a REAL PINBALL it would be the best PIN ever , Would it Be Possible to BUILD .. maybe if we ask the makers of this game and the Designers of the pinball machines it possibly could be done ..thank you.
Allen
March 29, 2020 at 12:09 pm
Here is a link to a person who started to build a space cadet pinball machine can anyone help to find this gentleman to see if he made it for real here is the link hopefully someone can build it if he didn’t https://spacecadetpinball.wordpress.com/
Pittsburgh James
June 16, 2019 at 12:50 pm
Has anyone tried to install it after the Windows 10 May update(1903)? It’s been so popular Microsoft should bring it back and even add some patches.
Erik
February 4, 2020 at 8:04 am
I installed it on widows 10 1903 update and everything works great, except it does not remember my high scores or my flipper placements when I exit from game and then return. I wish someone could help me figure out how to fix so it could save both features.
texastig
January 2, 2020 at 11:20 am
The game won’t go full screen in Windows 10. Is there a way to do it?
CaptainNuts
November 16, 2020 at 9:41 pm
I was wondering the same thing. I remember back in the day it would stretch the game but now “fullscreen” just makes a black background.
Sheryl
September 14, 2023 at 1:56 pm
F4 works on my Win 11.
Steve Krause
February 9, 2024 at 8:49 am
Thanks for the feedback Sheryl
Paul
March 21, 2020 at 12:53 pm
Thanks so much, works fine on Windows 10, I love this game, had it on my Windows XP years ago. this game is great fun, and of the best. every computer should have it installed as standard.
Erik
March 21, 2020 at 7:44 pm
I have played, bought and downloaded just about every pinball game available to computers since the creation and death of this game and honestly, none can compare when it comes to how realistic and smooth the space cadet operates. By far it truly is the best ever so far. When I ran across your articles on how to make it work on windows 10, I jumped all over it. I was so impressed at how easy it was to install and how great it was that it worked just as smooth as it used to. I felt that it was only fair to write you my praise and congradulate you on your articles findings. The problem with that though, was that I jumped the gun sort of speak on my reply. I was just so happy to have it again on my new computer with windows 10, I wrote you in awe. But after playing with it all night, loving every minute of it, being that it was running just like it does on xp. When I went back to it the next day, it was not running as smoothly, and I was having all the same problems that most have when trying to use it on a 64 bit system. What had changed it? I wondered. What had changed is that windows 10 had now wrote credentials for it in my name along with my system so that it appears to be legal to use on my system. The big problem that I have with that is that the game now performs crappy with all the problems everybody else has experienced when trying it on 64 bit systems. So now I can only have fun with it on my older xp machines that I no longer can use online. It seems that microsoft has beat me again. I hate that fact, and am wondering if anyone else has had this experience with using space cadet on windows 10.
DR
March 27, 2020 at 9:34 am
Man, I’m speechless right now and you just made my day! I thank you 3000! XD
*I’m using Win10 64-bit and it works like a charm, even in full screen mode (but not in HD, of course)
Jeremiah
March 29, 2020 at 10:32 am
Thanks so much for sharing this! I missed this game so much! Just one question – is this completely legal? I don’t mean to be a killjoy, I was just curious. Thanks!
Muhammad Faisal
August 30, 2020 at 5:46 am
Thank YOU For This Game
sam
January 16, 2021 at 6:51 am
wow I’m so glad to get this old classic back, I used to play it at work lol i think my top score was 13million. You made my day thank you.
steve
January 26, 2021 at 5:19 pm
Here’s some great insights from one of the developers on pinball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=987wzJ2NHBE&t=1650s
Dennis
February 14, 2021 at 12:15 pm
Greetings everyone. I read the posts about tweaking the sound, but here’s my problem. The music works fine, but the sound effects DO NOT work. I’ve gone into my sound settings and changed it to 24 bit 480000 hz from it’s original setting but that did not work.
What’s funny is that after my original Windows 10 install, both the sound and the music worked just fine. Then suddenly, I launched it one time a while back and the sound was just gone! The music has always worked. Any suggestions???
Robin
February 20, 2021 at 11:22 am
Bless your heart! Thank you! Missed this so much since getting new computer a few years ago. I am grateful.exe
Allen Staal
May 14, 2021 at 11:30 pm
Im getting a pinball machine made up with space cadet on it
Parth Bhatt
June 10, 2021 at 7:59 am
Thank you so very much for this! You are a gem of a person. So smooth!
Gilmar Rillo
June 20, 2021 at 3:34 pm
I can say this Works legitimate can’t wait to have fun like good old days lmao Childhood here I come!!!!!!!
Laffi
November 22, 2021 at 5:01 pm
Woot! It worked just like in the old days. Thank you ^^!
atomicgasman213
May 19, 2022 at 7:07 am
If you want to play in Full-screen mode, just press F4. Clicking fullscreen in the options menu is glitched.
Silver Fang
July 30, 2022 at 1:55 pm
Thanks so much for doing this. Works just like I remember it back in the day.
Eddy
June 17, 2023 at 1:28 pm
The only game I ever played after my Atari days! Still a great game! Thank you for making it available :-) +++++ I was once surrounded by my family watching as I got over 10 million but just then…the electricity went and everything in the house cut off! I’ll never forget it though :-)
Steve Krause
June 21, 2023 at 1:41 pm
Wow that’s great. Your score must have sucked all the power out of the grid! :)
Eddy
June 22, 2023 at 3:26 am
Yeah I’ve been trying to get back to high scores again but I am only up to 4631750 at the moment, but tbh I havn’t had much time. I’m sure I’ll crack the 10 million again if I keep at it