As the ten-year anniversary of founding Social Impact Squared approached in late 2022, I knew I wanted to celebrate in a special way. I had some ideas, but I wanted to do something unique and innovative—something that reflects who I am and how I run my business.
Over the years, my love for pinball has grown considerably. So much so that I had dreamed of designing my own custom game one day. Then, one day, I thought good first step would be to re-theme a pinball machine to mark Social Impact Squared's milestone anniversary. My idea was to feature it at a celebration with colleagues and clients, and take it to other events.
And so, the Social Impact Squared pinball machine was born!

I started by stripping the old artwork off a 1979 Stern Meteor machine and replaced it with new art that connects to my evaluation practice and the game’s rules. While I plan to eventually replace the hand-painted playfield with a printed overlay and create less see-through playfield inserts, I’m quite proud of how I’ve integrated the impact evaluation theme into the game.
The Art
The blue plastic playfield inserts highlight some key influences on my practice. Most prominently, they feature the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework Asset Areas.




The plastics above the slings are labeled “Shocks.” In the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, shocks represent events such as natural disasters, recessions, job losses, health crises, family conflicts, and so on. These events can destabilize people if they lack enough assets to draw on. In pinball, the slings act similarly by sending the ball side-to-side, reducing control, and sometimes causing you to lose the ball.


I’ve also included a nod to the Canadian Evaluation Society, an organization that has supported me throughout my career. I proudly feature my Credentialed Evaluator designation on the game.

Additionally, the Common Approach to Impact Measurement — with its concepts of bounded flexibility and construct-equivalence — has influenced my approach to supporting collectives and ensuring equitable evaluation. I wanted this to be reflected in the game’s art as well.

And for the stats nerds out there, you’ll appreciate the random error symbol on the pop-bumper. In pinball design, the purpose of a pop-bumper is most often to introduce chaos and reduce a player’s control, which feels like a fitting metaphor for random error in measurement and for the complexities of making systemic change.
The Ruleset
Just like the original game, there are two main strategies.

Strategy 1: High Social Impact Is Built on a Good Plan
The first step is to knock down all but one of the IMPACT targets to build a strong impact plan. Be careful—knocking them all down resets the targets.


Once you’ve built a strong plan, it’s time to “rip the spinner” (a common pinball phrase) to boost your impact score. For each spin, you’re awarded the sum of the lit inserts. If you’ve knocked down all but one of the middle IMPACT targets, you can score a maximum of 1,800 impact points per spin.
On the other side of the spinner is the "Social" part of Social Impact Squared. So, the full logo comes together when the spinner is spinning.
Strategy 2: Wow the Client to Consult Again
This strategy focuses on earning bonus points after losing your ball and earning extra balls. Hitting one of the SOC, IAL, or X2 targets increases their corresponding bonus columns.


You can also hit the Staff or Funders pop-bumpers to increase those bonus values.


The concept behind this is that high-quality evaluation must account for the needs of the funder, the staff delivering programs, and the community being served. Ignoring any one of these groups can lead to an evaluation that isn’t used—or worse, is used in a harmful way. If you balance accountability to all these groups (i.e., increase the bonus values in all columns evenly), you’ll light up one of the WOW inserts. Hit the lit WOW target to earn an extra ball. Essentially, you’ve wowed the client and can consult again!

I hope you enjoyed hearing about this project, and I’d love to hear what you think. Hopefully, you’ll get a chance to play the Social Impact Squared pinball machine soon!
Comments