Pinball Tips: Flipper Control and Scoring

The table

• Flippers: two at the bottom. Tap the left or right half of the table, use the flipper buttons, or press Z or Left Shift or the left arrow for the left flipper and M or Right Shift or the right arrow for the right.
• Plunger: hold and release to launch. Space or the down arrow on a keyboard. A ball save covers the first seconds of each ball: a drain straight away gives you the ball back.
• Bumpers and slingshots: score on every touch and fling the ball around.
• Lanes: rollovers that score when the ball passes; lighting a set earns more.
• Drop targets: knock down every target in a bank to raise the multiplier.
• Ramp: shoot it to collect the multiplied bonus.
• The daily mission: a goal that is the same for everyone today (hit the bumpers or the ramp a number of times, light the lanes), for a big bonus. Free play gives a new mission each game.

Three balls per game; scores are saved on your device only.

Habit 1: stop the ball

Flailing at a moving ball sends it wherever physics decides. Instead, catch it: when the ball rolls down toward a flipper at moderate speed, hold that flipper up and let the ball settle against it. This is a cradle. From a cradled ball, every shot is aimed; from a bouncing one, nothing is. The ball will sometimes bounce off a raised flipper; let it bounce to the other flipper and catch it there (a dead bounce), rather than flipping at it.

Learn to cradle on both sides. Most of pinball skill is turning chaos into a cradle.

Habit 2: aim by flip timing

Where the ball goes depends on where it sits on the flipper when you flip and how fast you flip. From a cradle:

• A late flip (the ball near the tip of the flipper) sends it across the table toward the opposite side.
• An early flip (the ball near the base, by the flipper's hinge) sends it up the same side.
• Letting a cradled ball roll a little toward the tip before flipping aims it higher and further across.

Pick a target (the ramp, a drop target bank) and practise hitting it from a cradle on each flipper. After a few games you will know "right flipper, ball at the middle, flip: ramp".

Habit 3: do not flip at everything

Each flip you make with the ball far from the flippers does nothing but risk a bad bounce later. Keep the flippers down unless the ball is coming to them or you are cradling. When the ball is up among the bumpers, watch where it will come out and position your plan, not your fingers.

Scoring: targets, multiplier, ramp

The scoring system on this table rewards a sequence:

1. Knock down the drop targets. Each completed bank raises the multiplier.
2. Shoot the ramp to collect the multiplied bonus.
3. Repeat; higher multipliers make each ramp worth more.

So early in each ball, aim at the targets, not the ramp. A ramp shot at multiplier 1 is worth a fraction of the same shot later. Light the lanes along the way when the ball passes naturally through them; chasing lanes with flips is rarely worth the risk.

The daily mission

The mission is the same table and the same goal for everyone today, so it is the fair comparison with friends. Read it before launching: if it asks for ramp shots, build the multiplier first anyway (the ramp counts toward the mission either way, and the points are better), and if it asks for bumper hits, let the ball live in the bumpers when it gets there rather than pulling it out. Finishing the mission pays a large bonus; missions that need many shots are worth the whole game's attention.

Saving a ball

When the ball heads straight down the middle between the flippers, a quick tap of both flippers at once can clip it back into play. When it rolls down the outlane, there is usually nothing to do; accept it and remember which shot sent it there. The ball save at the start of each ball is your one free drain; after it, play more carefully in the first seconds, since a fresh ball from the plunger often comes down fast.

Common mistakes

1. Flipping constantly. Catch first, then shoot.
2. Shooting the ramp at multiplier 1. Targets first.
3. Flipping at the ball when it is far up the table. It achieves nothing.
4. Panicking on a fast ball. A raised flipper and a dead bounce calm it.
5. Ignoring the mission. It is the biggest single bonus on the table.

Glossary

• Cradle (trap): holding a flipper up so the ball rests on it.
• Dead bounce: letting the ball bounce off a raised flipper to the other side without flipping.
• Late / early flip: flipping with the ball near the tip (across the table) or near the base (up the same side).
• Drop targets: targets that fall when hit; a complete bank raises the multiplier.
• Ball save: the grace period at the start of a ball when a drain returns it.
• Outlane: the channels at the far left and right that drain the ball past the flippers.