[3][4][5][6] Each table has its own main objective: in Ruiner, the player must lower the DEFCON level from 5 to 1 and launch an attack against an enemy country, while navigating the ball using interconnecting ramps to travel between sides.

[4][6] Ruiner Pinball was created by High Voltage Software (HVS), which previously worked on a video game adaptation of the 1992 sports comedy film White Men Can't Jump for Atari Jaguar.

[25] In 2022, Ruiner Pinball was re-released for the first time as part of the Atari 50 compilation, porting the game to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PCs.

[33] Andy Robertson, writing for Ultimate Future Games and The Atari Times, lambasted its audiovisual presentation, controls, and limited number of tables, stating that "Ruiner is not even a very good pinball".

[29] MAN!AC's Robert Bannert also described how several game elements are lost in the hand-drawn backgrounds, and additionally criticized the lack of bonus rounds.

[1] Véronique Boissarie of Consoles + praised Ruiner's colorful graphics and playability, feeling that it was an overall well-designed and original pinball game.

[38] Next Generation described how the animations and multi-level tables made good use of the video game format, but felt that these elements were "superfluous" due to the flawed gameplay and physics.

[39][40][41] Retro Gamer labelled it as a fun homage to Dragon's Fury and Alien Crush, while PCMag called it the best pinball game on the Atari Jaguar.

[42][43] Author Andy Slaven praised the game's colorful visuals, but felt that the unrealistic physics failed to capture the feeling of pinball.