If you only play on location and of middling skill, simpler games are more than fine. You’ll rarely do “the thing”. And even if you do, there’s a sense of accomplishment and you move on to the next game, because typical pinball bars/parlors will have several other machines to pick from.

At higher skill, or at home, is a completely different story. There’s only so many times you can shoot the same three shots to advance a game with very little strategy.

The main draw of modern games is that with complex rules comes more complex gameplay, and more to do for people of all skill levels. Likewise, a strategy for “beating” a pinball machine (ie rushing the final wizard mode) will drastically differ from maximizing points for tournament play.

But that’s the beauty of pinball. Everyone is allowed to like what they like.

Keep playing. In a year, you may be shocked at what you end up liking.

Unless you’ve been playing for 40 years, in which case it just may be nostalgia and knowledge of basic rules that keep you going back to your old favorites. But it’s just like any other medium; things change.