In our high-tech world, it’s easy to forget the joy of things that aren’t on the internet. One of those is pinball.

Due west of O’Hare International Airport, there is a neighborhood — formally, part of Elk Grove Village — that isn’t much of a neighborhood. It’s warehouses, drab gray offices. It’s Gertrude Stein’s ...

It’s deceptively simple. Pull the plunger by its flying-saucer-shaped handle, and hear that satisfying clack. Watch the silver marble roll around the playfield, and wing it with your flippers. Come up ...