Custom cabinet edition

The Beatles
Stern Rules Edition

Play five song challenges and raise every song through five levels. The level-two milestone opens Beatlemania; the level-five milestone opens Taxman.

The Beatles — Stern Rules Edition — restyled cabinet backglass

The whole game

Objective

Play the five song challenges and raise each one to level 5. Level 2 in every song opens Beatlemania. Level 5 in every song, including three All My Loving jackpots, opens Taxman.

At the start of a ball, press either flipper button to choose the song whose lamp is flashing quickly. Shoot the upper magnet to start it. After that song ends, knock down every F-A-B and F-O-U-R target before the upper magnet will start another song. A slowly flashing song lamp means you have played that song but have not reached level 5. A steady lamp means level 5 is complete.

A ball that travels all the way around the upper loop or right orbit adds one letter to B-E-A-T-L-E-M-A-N-I-A. Completing the word makes the upper magnet award these prizes in order: double spinner points, five-times loop points, immediate payment of the bonus currently shown on the display, then ten-times loop points.

A chrome pinball crossing a colorful 1960s stage toward three illuminated rows of drop targets and an upper loop.
First routeChoose a song, start it at the upper magnet, then clear F-A-B and F-O-U-R before returning for the next song.

Find your rules shots

Shots

Four anonymous musicians perform inside a psychedelic record-shaped pinball orbit

F-A-B drops

F-A-B drop-target bank on the lower left of the installed Beatles table
F-A-B is the three-target bank on the lower left.

Knock down F, A, and B. Completing F-A-B and F-O-U-R makes another song available. The narrow target directly behind F-A-B pays a flashing Song Super Jackpot; during Beatlemania or Taxman, that same target pays the larger super jackpot after all three banks are complete.

How to try it: Stop the ball on the right lower flipper and shoot across the table at whichever F-A-B target is still standing. This is a normal right-flipper forehand. A hit that is too square can rebound down the middle, so let the rebound reach a flipper before shooting again.

F-O-U-R drops

F-O-U-R drop-target bank across the center of the installed Beatles table
F-O-U-R is the four-target bank across the center.

Knock down F, O, U, and R. Completing this bank and F-A-B makes another song available. During Beatlemania or Taxman, those two completed banks turn on the jackpot lamp at the upper magnet.

How to try it: The bank faces the lower flippers. Hold the ball first, then use the left flipper for the right half of the bank or the right flipper for the left half. Aim at one standing letter instead of hitting the center as hard as possible; close-range misses can return between the flippers.

1-9-6-4 drops

1-9-6-4 drop-target bank on the upper right of the installed Beatles table
1-9-6-4 is the four-target bank on the upper right.

Knock down 1, 9, 6, and 4. You do not need this bank to start an ordinary song. During Beatlemania or Taxman, completing 1-9-6-4 as well as F-A-B and F-O-U-R turns on the super-jackpot lamp at the target behind F-A-B.

How to try it: Hold the ball on the left lower flipper and shoot a forehand toward the upper-right bank, just inside the right spinner lane. A weak shot can fall back from the bank toward the right side, so make this attempt from a stopped ball.

Installed Beatles Stern Rules Edition playfield viewed from the flippers
The installed Beatles table. The three colored drop-target banks run diagonally from lower left to upper right.

Upper magnet

Upper-center magnet area marked with a yellow circle and arrow
The yellow ring marks the upper-center magnet catch.

The upper magnet starts the selected song, pays All My Loving jackpots, pays B-E-A-T-L-E-M-A-N-I-A word awards, and starts Beatlemania or Taxman when its requirements are complete.

How to try it: Hold the ball on the right lower flipper and shoot the far-left outside lane. A full-strength forehand carries the ball around the top of the table and into the magnet catch. A weak shot can roll back down the left side, so do not try it from a ball moving too quickly to aim.

Loops and spinners

Upper outside lanes, loops, and spinners on the installed Beatles table
The loop routes run around the upper edge; the spinner blades sit on the left and right approaches.

Complete trips around the upper edge raise Drive My Car and add B-E-A-T-L-E-M-A-N-I-A letters. Passing through either metal spinner raises Ticket to Ride. The four white Beatles targets raise the value of the right spinner.

How to try it: For the left spinner, hold the ball on the right lower flipper and shoot the far-left lane. For the right spinner, hold it on the left lower flipper and shoot the far-right lane. The upper loop is made with the upper-right flipper after a soft plunge or another send the ball reaches that flipper; flip when the ball reaches the flipper's end.

Pops, standups and Mystery

Pop bumpers, four Beatles targets, and Mystery targets on the installed Beatles table
The three blue pop bumpers fill the upper middle. The four Beatles targets are the white circles labeled John, Paul, George, and Ringo on the lower right.

The three blue pop bumpers raise It Won't Be Long. The four white John, Paul, George, and Ringo targets add a ball during Taxman and raise the right-spinner value. Hit both small targets marked LIGHT MYSTERY, then hit the separate MYSTERY target below F-A-B to earn the award.

How to try it: Shoot an outside lane to send the ball toward the pop bumpers. Shoot the four Beatles targets from the left lower flipper. Shoot the Mystery target from the right lower flipper toward the lower-left area, after both LIGHT MYSTERY lamps are on.

Choose the first award

Launch

Regular skill shot · 10,000

Pull the plunger only far enough for the ball to cross the flashing star switch in the shooter lane. This is the safest opening choice.

Upper-loop skill shot · 25,000

Use a soft plunge that sends the ball to the upper-right flipper. Flip immediately through the upper loop before the opening-shot timer ends.

Super skill shot · 100,000

Plunge the ball into the hole below the top magnet, then make the top pop bumper. You can also send the ball to the upper-left flipper and shoot the top pop from there.

Each repeated success at the same opening shot raises that shot's value. There is also a secret shot during normal play: after the ball crosses the left return lane above the left flipper, shoot the flashing star switch in the shooter lane within five seconds for 75,000.

Five songs, five levels

Song modes

All My Loving Two-ball multiball · upper-magnet jackpots
  • All My Loving joins the choices on ball 3, or after you have played the other four songs.
  • It starts two-ball play with no clock. Every score is doubled. Shoot the upper magnet for a jackpot that starts at 250,000 and rises whenever the ball hits a switch.
  • The third upper-magnet jackpot raises All My Loving to level 5. You need those three jackpots before Taxman can start.
Drive My Car Loop Mania · 60 seconds
  • For 60 seconds, shoot a ball all the way around either outside lane or through the upper loop.
  • Every completed trip scores 25,000 times the current level and immediately raises the song by one level.
I Should Have Known Better Drop Target Frenzy · 60 seconds
  • For 60 seconds, hit the standing drop targets. Each target scores 7,500 times the current level.
  • Knock down every target in any one of the three banks to raise the song by one level.
Ticket to Ride Super Spinners · 60 seconds
  • For 60 seconds, send the ball through either metal spinner. Each turn of a spinner scores 10,000 times the current level, plus that spinner's ordinary value.
  • A total of 30 spinner turns raises the song by one level. Either spinner counts toward the same total.
It Won’t Be Long Super Pop Bumpers · 60 seconds
  • For 60 seconds, send the ball into the three blue pop bumpers by using either outside lane.
  • Each bumper hit scores 5,000 times the current level. Ten bumper hits raise the song by one level.
Three rows of stage-light targets illuminating in sequence toward a bright loop at the top of a vintage music set.
Song progressionRaise all five songs to level 2 for Beatlemania, then to level 5 for Taxman.

The two finales

Multiballs

A Hard Day’s Night → Beatlemania

Raise all five songs to level 2, then shoot the upper magnet. A Hard Day's Night gives you 30 seconds with one ball; every completed target bank adds 50,000 to the coming jackpot.

When the clock reaches zero or that ball drains, three-ball Beatlemania begins. Its jackpot starts at 400,000, plus 25,000 for each song already at level 5. Complete F-A-B and F-O-U-R, then shoot the upper magnet for the jackpot. Complete all three banks, then hit the narrow target behind F-A-B for the super jackpot.

A controlled upper-flipper shot sends a chrome ball through a glowing loop above rows of vintage stage targets.
Wizard scoring routeClear F-A-B and F-O-U-R for the magnet jackpot; clear all three banks for the target-behind-F-A-B super jackpot.

Raise the value between songs

Awards

Mode Super Jackpot

When a song first reaches level 5, the narrow target behind F-A-B begins flashing for the points earned in that song. If you finish two songs before hitting the target, the older song pays twice and the newer song pays once. Three finished songs pay at three-times, two-times, and one-times. The waiting values disappear when the ball drains.

Mystery

Hit the two small LIGHT MYSTERY targets, then hit the MYSTERY target below F-A-B. The first Mystery during All My Loving or Beatlemania adds a ball. The first Mystery during a timed song adds 15 seconds. Later Mystery hits use the fixed award list shown on the display.

Banks and lanes

Each completed target bank raises the points for a completed trip around the upper edge. Complete the bank whose multiplier lamp is flashing to raise the end-of-ball multiplier, up to 7X. Completing all three banks during one ball turns on one of the two EXTRA BALL lamps above the lower flippers. A slingshot hit moves the lamp to the other side. At 7X, the same left-right movement applies to the SPECIAL lamps beside the drain lanes.

A practical route

Strategy

First ball

Use the 100,000 super skill shot only after you can reliably reach the magnet hole and top bumper. Otherwise take the 10,000 star switch. Choose Drive My Car first because every successful trip around the top raises it one full level.

Complete the required shots efficiently

While I Should Have Known Better is running, finish F-A-B and F-O-U-R. Those banks raise the song and also make the next song available. During Ticket to Ride, use the spinner lane you can reach cleanly from a stopped ball; a full trip around the top is unnecessary.

Protect the finale

Hit a flashing Song Super Jackpot before the ball drains, because its waiting value will disappear. Before shooting the upper magnet to start Beatlemania or Taxman, check whether B-E-A-T-L-E-M-A-N-I-A is complete; if it is, the magnet may pay that word award first, so take it and shoot the magnet again.

Wizard progress is the long game: level 2 everywhere reaches Beatlemania; level 5 everywhere plus three All My Loving jackpots reaches Taxman. Each wizard starts a timed ball save, so attack lit jackpots immediately.

Make the call

Quiz

Make the call

F-A-B and F-O-U-R are complete. Where do you start the selected song?