Lawlor's pinball career began as an engineer for Williams in 1987, when he co-designed a dual-playfield machine called Banzai Run with Larry DeMar.
In a similar mode in Whirlwind, rubberized disks set flush in the playfield spun rapidly back and forth to throw the ball off course as it passed over them, while an electric fan mounted on top of the backbox blew wind in the player's face.
The Addams Family (TAF) was released in March 1992 by Midway (under the Bally label) and ultimately sold 20,270 units.
One of these was "Thing Flips," in which the game could automatically take control of one flipper under certain circumstances and attempt to make a particularly difficult shot for the player.
His next design (over which he was given complete creative control) was another licensed theme based on a popular television show: The Twilight Zone (TZ).
Furthermore, Twilight Zone was expensive to produce, particularly in the massive quantities that were expected following the astronomical record sales of The Addams Family.
"We had a nickname for Twilight Zone," he said, "and it was 'In Excess Pinball'...we had just gotten done setting the record with Addams Family, and [Williams executives] were willing to let us do anything, and we did, which was a big mistake."
While he conceded that "extreme pinball players" would enjoy the game, he added that "from a commercial standpoint, we were out of control...nobody would be allowed to do something that complicated again; nor should they be."
Instead of another natural disaster theme, Lawlor decided to make a game based on construction work and cross-country travel.
The game's design, however, resembled The Addams Family and Twilight Zone in that a sinkhole started modes, the progression of which could be followed by a prominent display in the bottom center of the playfield.
The game included a retractable ramp that launched a ball onto a transparent upper playfield with a hole at the top to simulate a golf shot for a "hole-in-one".
1998, however, marked the beginning of the end for the Williams pinball franchise, as its final three games, The Champion Pub, Monster Bash, and Cactus Canyon were released.
The production run of Cactus Canyon was cut short as Williams made a drastic alteration in their hardware philosophy, attempting to revitalize the pinball industry by integrating video screens with standard pinball playfields with Midway's Revenge from Mars (the sequel to 1995's Attack From Mars, and designed by longtime Midway employee George Gomez) in 1999.
Lawlor has since designed RollerCoaster Tycoon, Ripley's Believe it or Not!, NASCAR (also known as Grand Prix in Europe), Family Guy, and CSI pinball machines for Stern.
NASCAR, released in 2005, was a bit of a departure from Lawlor's normal design philosophy, utilizing more "flow-oriented" gameplay due to the more speed oriented theme.
On January 24, 2014, Jersey Jack Pinball announced that Pat Lawlor would be designing their third release and that the machine would feature an original theme.
[3] Lawlor worked on this title for nearly 2 years, citing when it was announced that he was joining the Jersey Jack team that he would have creative freedom again like he did back in the Williams days.