diff --git a/components/pinball/PinballCanvasImpl.tsx b/components/pinball/PinballCanvasImpl.tsx
index e1229bb..8686ef5 100644
--- a/components/pinball/PinballCanvasImpl.tsx
+++ b/components/pinball/PinballCanvasImpl.tsx
@@ -74,6 +74,13 @@ export default function PinballCanvasImpl({ tableData, rom, tableInfo }: Pinball
           </p>
         </div>
       )}
+
+      {status === "starting" && (
+        <div className="absolute inset-0 flex flex-col items-center justify-center gap-4 bg-ink/90 text-paper">
+          <div className="h-12 w-12 animate-spin rounded-full border-4 border-chrome/20 border-t-marquee" />
+          <div className="font-display text-2xl tracking-wide text-marquee">STARTING TABLE</div>
+        </div>
+      )}
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/lib/pinball/usePinballInstance.ts b/lib/pinball/usePinballInstance.ts
index 352b88c..d5eee96 100644
--- a/lib/pinball/usePinballInstance.ts
+++ b/lib/pinball/usePinballInstance.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { hasWebGL2 } from "./webglSupport";
 // outside webpack's module graph (see scripts/copy-engine-assets.mjs).
 const ENGINE_BASE_URL = "/vendor/vpinball-wasm";
 
-export type PinballStatus = "idle" | "loading" | "ready" | "running" | "error";
+export type PinballStatus = "idle" | "loading" | "ready" | "starting" | "running" | "error";
 
 interface EngineModule {
   loadPinball(options: LoadPinballOptions): Promise<PinballInstance>;
@@ -114,8 +114,18 @@ export function usePinballInstance(
 
   const start = useCallback(() => {
     if (!instanceRef.current) return;
-    instanceRef.current.start();
-    setStatus("running");
+    setStatus("starting");
+    // instance.start() runs synchronously and blocks the main thread for a
+    // noticeable moment (heavy WASM init) — a nested rAF lets the browser
+    // paint the "starting" spinner from the state update above before that
+    // block hits, instead of the UI freezing on the old screen mid-click.
+    requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+      requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+        if (disposedRef.current || !instanceRef.current) return;
+        instanceRef.current.start();
+        setStatus("running");
+      });
+    });
   }, []);
 
   return { status, progress, error, loadTimeMs, instanceRef, start };