Williams · 1990
Move the center clock to midnight, put Rudy to sleep, then shoot the ball into Rudy’s open mouth to start Midnight Multiball.
Put Rudy to sleep →The point of the game
Shots around the table add minutes to the center clock. At 11:30, put one ball into the Hidden Hallway for 11:45 and a second for midnight. Rudy’s mouth opens; shoot inside to start Midnight Multiball.
The clock keeps its minutes between balls. Center ramp shots, Trapdoor loop, Wind Tunnel, Hidden Hallway, bumpers and small targets all advance the clock.
At 11:30, the clock stops until the Hidden Hallway takes a ball. The first lock sets 11:45; the second sets midnight and opens Rudy’s mouth.
In Midnight Multiball, the Trapdoor is the jackpot. Hit it for 2,000,000, shoot the center ramp to reopen it, then hit it again for 3,000,000 and upward to 10,000,000.
Find your targets
Three lit steps on the upper left, reached from the second plunger. The ramp can divert the ball to that plunger when STEPS is lit.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the right lower flipper. Aim through the open channel at the bottom of The Steps; the ball must pass the entrance switch and continue up the lane. If a weak shot rolls back down the same lane, let it return to a flipper before trying again.
Aim at the low black entrance beneath the Open Trapdoor sign. This ramp advances time and can reopen the Trapdoor; the large curved metal track above is its return.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the right lower flipper. Aim through the two posts at the bottom of Center ramp and use a firm forehand so the ball climbs the ramp. If it starts up and rolls back, let it reach a flipper before shooting again.
The small flipper on the left gives you a cross-table shot toward Rudy and the Trapdoor loop. It moves with the left flipper button.
How to try it: Let the ball arrive at the upper flipper before pressing the button. Flip while the ball is over the middle of that flipper. If the ball passes its tip, let it fall to the lower flippers instead of pressing late.
Aim into Rudy’s open mouth at midnight to begin Midnight Multiball. The mouth is the opening below his nose, not the head as a whole.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the left lower flipper. Aim at the dark opening of Rudy’s mouth, not at its rim or the nearby posts. After the ball settles in the hole, watch where the machine kicks it back and regain control.
The narrow entrance beside Rudy leads into the loop. The Trapdoor is a feature farther along that route; when open and lit, it awards the jackpot.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the left lower flipper. Aim through the open channel at the bottom of Trapdoor loop entrance; the ball must pass the entrance switch and continue up the lane. If a weak shot rolls back down the same lane, let it return to a flipper before trying again.
The scoop directly beneath the Mystery Mirror award panel. Shoot into the dark rectangular opening to earn the flashing award.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the left lower flipper. Aim through the open channel at the bottom of Wind Tunnel; the ball must pass the entrance switch and continue up the lane. If a weak shot rolls back down the same lane, let it return to a flipper before trying again.
Key next-shot targets: center ramp for time, Hidden Hallway for locks and extra balls, Rudy’s mouth for midnight, and Trapdoor for jackpots.
Rudy. The big dummy head at the back of the table, the thing this game is built around (a bash toy). He talks through the whole game. His jaw is a target you hit with the ball, and his mouth is a hole that opens while he talks and falls open for good at midnight.
Rudy’s Hideout. A small pocket just behind Rudy’s head, a kicker, meaning a spring cup that catches the ball and spits it back out. The ball gets there by rolling around the loop at the very top of the table and dropping back. This is where the launch skill shot lands; in ordinary play it pays 75,000.
The clock. The dial in the middle of the table. It shows the time you have built. During the Midnight Multiball second chance it counts seconds instead.
Center ramp. The raised track (a ramp) in the middle of the table. Normally it drops the ball into the left inlane, the lane that returns the ball to your left flipper. When the blue STEPS light at its entrance is lit, a gate (a diverter) sends the ball to the Steps plunger instead.
Trapdoor and Trapdoor loop. A hinged door pops open for about eight seconds when earned. Behind it runs the Trapdoor loop, with a switch that counts each pass.
When the door is open, the ball drops through it for the door value. The rulesheet does not say which side of the table the door is on; you will see it open.
Wind Tunnel. A hole (a scoop) the ball falls into and is later fired back out of. On its own it is fifteen minutes and 10,000 points. When the white MIRROR light is lit it hands you a Mystery Mirror award instead. The rulesheet does not say where on the table it sits.
Hidden Hallway. This physical lock holds locked balls, awards every extra ball, and adds ten minutes whenever the ball goes in.
Its lights tell you what it offers: flashing at 11:30 means lock; a flashing Extra Ball lamp means shoot that lane now. Its position is not given in the rulesheet.
The Steps. A second, smaller plunger, a spring rod like the one you launch with, that fires a ball up a short ramp with three steps, each with its own light. You only get there when the center ramp or the left outlane has been set to send the ball to it.
S-T-E-P targets. Four blue standing targets (standup targets), five minutes each. Knock all four and the next step on the Steps ramp lights.
Superdog targets. Three standing targets, five minutes each. During Superdog they pay 200,000 and up a hit.
Jet bumpers. Three round pop bumpers that fire the ball around. Unlit, they add nothing to the clock; lit, five minutes a hit; flashing, ten. The lane between the bumpers and the right inlane and outlane is a rollover lane: rolling through it lights an unlit bumper, or sets a lit one flashing.
Manhole. An opening just below the jet bumpers. A ball that drops in adds thirty minutes and opens the gate that sends the center ramp to the Steps.
Gangways. Two lanes, a left Gangway and a right Gangway, each with a light that flashes for a few seconds once you earn it. Shoot the flashing one for points. Where each sits is not given in the rulesheet.
Inlanes and outlanes. The inlanes return to a flipper; the outlanes drain. The inside right lane flashes the left Gangway, and the left lane flashes the right Gangway.
The right center lane turns MIRROR back on for about four seconds. Special lights sit on the outlanes.
Slingshots. The two rubber triangles just above the flippers (slingshots) that kick the ball sideways. Each hit flips the Special lights on and off.
Choose your launch
The skill shot is a soft launch that dies in the top loop and rolls back into Rudy’s Hideout. It pays 250,000, then 500,000, then 750,000, then 1,000,000 each time after. Each new ball also adds thirty clock minutes.
The rulesheet does not say how hard to pull. Because the ball has to die in the loop rather than race around it, try less than a full pull and add a little each ball until it stops up there. A miss costs nothing: you just play the ball.
A launch that drains without a scoring switch is returned, a kind of ball save. The rules also describe generous returns for weak launches that dribble past the jet bumpers and out the right side.
Your first useful run
The main mechanic
The clock starts at 8:00 on the standard setting; see settings if yours starts elsewhere. Time carries from ball to ball. After Midnight Multiball it returns to 5:00 and you advance it again.
| What you hit | Minutes added |
|---|---|
| Starting a new ball | 30 |
| Manhole, below the jet bumpers | 30 |
| Center ramp | 15, then 20, then 25, then 30 for the rest of the ball |
| Wind Tunnel | 15 |
| Hidden Hallway | 10 |
| Trapdoor | 10 |
| Trapdoor loop | 10 |
| Jet bumper, flashing | 10 a hit |
| Jet bumper, lit | 5 a hit |
| Jet bumper, unlit | 0 |
| Blue S-T-E-P target | 5 |
| Superdog target | 5 |
The bumper lane lights an unlit bumper or sets a lit one flashing. Mirror’s “Jet Bumpers At Maximum” sets all three flashing for the rest of the ball, ten minutes a hit.
Two things hold the clock back. While Quick Multiball or Frenzy is running, the clock will not go past 11:25, so finish those before you push for the lock. And at 11:30 it stops for everybody: the only way past is a ball in the Hidden Hallway (11:45), then another (midnight).
The second trip to 11:30 lights Special on the outlanes. Slingshots toggle those lights. It must be earned before the ball ends; the rulesheet does not say whether it awards a replay.
The head at the back
Use the upper-left flipper to hit Rudy’s jaw when the ball reaches it. A jaw hit adds 50,000 to the end-of-ball bonus for the rest of the game and normally relights MIRROR. The Extra-Hard preset disables that relight.
A shot into Rudy’s talking mouth is a 250,000 Rudy Gulp. With Million lit, his jaw or mouth scores 1,000,000. At midnight, his mouth stays open; shoot it for 1,000,000 and Midnight Multiball.
Midnight and Quick
A multiball is more than one ball in play at the same time. FunHouse has two. The cited rulesheet does not document a starting ball saver or a way to add a ball once it is running (an add-a-ball); the rulesheet describes no such thing. You play the balls you started with until only one is left.
Lighting the lock. The Hidden Hallway lock light flashes when the clock reaches 11:30, and that is the only thing that lights it. Until then the Hallway is just ten minutes and the extra ball spot.
Locking. Shoot the Hidden Hallway. The machine keeps the ball and serves you a new one at the plunger; the clock reads 11:45. Shoot the Hallway again with that ball and the clock reads midnight, Rudy falls asleep and his mouth opens.
Starting. Shoot the ball into Rudy’s open mouth. That pays a million (two million if the Mirror’s Million light was also on) and the multiball begins.
How many balls. The rulesheet never states the count in so many words. It describes two balls held in the Hallway plus the one you put in Rudy’s mouth, and it calls the second chance a two-ball multiball, so expect three.
What to shoot. The Trapdoor opens and Million+ lights. The first Trapdoor hit pays 2,000,000 and closes the door. Shoot the center ramp to open it again.
The next Trapdoor hit pays 3,000,000 and closes it again. Every hit adds a million to the next value, up to 10,000,000. The rhythm is ramp, door, ramp, door.
Switched off. The Steps and the Mystery Mirror do nothing during Midnight Multiball.
How it ends. When all balls but one are lost, the Trapdoor closes. If you hit the Trapdoor at least once, the clock resets to 5:00 on standard settings (4:00 on Hard; 3:00 on Extra-Hard) and ordinary play carries on with the ball you have left.
The second chance. If you never hit the Trapdoor, the Hidden Hallway lock lights again and the clock counts down seconds. Shoot the Hidden Hallway before the displayed countdown reaches zero; do not wait on an estimate of real seconds.
Nothing pauses this countdown. Lock the remaining ball before zero and the machine serves another ball for a two-ball Midnight Multiball with the same Trapdoor rules. Let it run out and ordinary play resumes.
The last shot. If a ball reaches the Hidden Hallway as multiball ends, Million+ usually stays lit a few seconds longer. That can give one more Trapdoor shot after the kickout.
If the Trapdoor’s Frenzy light was lit before multiball, that last shot pays Million+ and starts Frenzy too.
Next time. The clock goes back to 5:00 and you advance it to midnight again. The rulesheet does not say whether the Trapdoor starts again at two million in your next Midnight Multiball or carries on from where it stopped.
Only the Mirror starts it. Shoot the Wind Tunnel when Quick Multiball flashes: two balls run, every Rudy jaw or mouth hit scores 1,000,000, Trapdoor and Mirror switch off, and the clock will not pass 11:25.
It ends when one ball drains. At midnight only, Quick and Midnight can start together; Midnight rules apply, and Rudy stays worth 1,000,000 until one ball remains.
The Wind Tunnel
The Wind Tunnel is fifteen minutes and 10,000 points by itself. When MIRROR is lit, it gives whichever of the six Mystery Mirror awards is flashing, a mystery award.
The rulesheet does not say how the machine chooses which light flashes, or whether you can influence it, so take what comes.
MIRROR starts on, goes out after an award, relights on every Rudy jaw hit, and relights for about four seconds from the right center lane. It is off during both multiballs.
| Award | What it does |
|---|---|
| Extra Ball Is Lit | The Extra Ball light on the Hidden Hallway comes on and stays on until you earn it, even across balls. |
| Million Is Lit | The next hit on Rudy’s jaw on this ball is a million. |
| Jet Bumpers At Maximum | All three bumpers flash for the rest of the ball: ten minutes on the clock every hit. |
| Superdog | Twenty seconds of Superdog: the three Superdog targets pay 200,000 and up. |
| Steps Gate Open | From now on the center ramp and a ball going down the left outlane both go to the Steps plunger. |
| Quick Multiball | Two balls, every Rudy hit a million. See above. |
Once you have earned all six, the MIRROR light comes back on and all six award lights flash together. Shoot the Wind Tunnel now and you get Super Frenzy, not the six awards over again. After that the Mirror is off for the rest of that ball, and on the next ball the six start over.
The Mirror is the reason to keep hitting Rudy’s jaw between other shots: every jaw hit relights it, and a lit Mirror plus a Wind Tunnel shot is one more award toward Super Frenzy, with an extra ball or a million somewhere in the pile.
Everything else on the table
At the start, one Trapdoor loop opens the door for about eight seconds; the open door pays 500,000. After award, it takes two loops for 750,000, then three loops for 1,000,000.
The rulesheet does not say whether that progressive value resets on a new ball or after Midnight Multiball. Every loop and door hit also adds ten minutes.
If the door is open and the ball crosses the loop sensor behind it, you get the door value anyway. If the machine opens everything while searching for a lost ball, a wrong-time Trapdoor hit scores 100,000.
The Trapdoor is switched off during Quick Multiball. During Midnight Multiball, it is the Million+ shot.
Three things set a Gangway flashing: inside right inlane flashes the left Gangway; Trapdoor loop or left inlane flashes the right Gangway; and shooting an unlit Gangway sets it flashing too.
A flashing Gangway pays 150,000, then 200,000, then 250,000, then 250,000 again and lights Extra Ball on the Hidden Hallway. Shoot fast; flashing lasts only a few seconds.
The Gangway value carries between balls until the extra ball has been lit. After that, it resets to 75,000 at the start of every ball.
You reach the Steps plunger two ways: the center ramp when the blue STEPS light at its entrance is lit, which the Mirror’s “Steps Gate Open” or a ball into the manhole switches on; or a ball going down the left outlane after “Steps Gate Open”, which means the left outlane stops being a way to lose the ball.
The Steps ramp has three lit awards. At the start, only Light Frenzy is lit. The four blue S-T-E-P targets light the next unlit step: Light Frenzy, then 500K, then Light Extra Ball.
Fire the Steps plunger so the ball lands on a flashing step. That awards the award and turns its light off. An unlit step is 100,000.
Send the ball to the top of the ramp for twenty seconds of Superdog. The rulesheet does not say how much pull reaches each step.
“Light Frenzy” opens the Trapdoor and lights its Frenzy light, which stays on until you earn it. “Light Extra Ball” lights the Extra Ball on the Hidden Hallway for the rest of that ball only, and it can only be earned once a game; when you earn it, the 500K step light goes out as well.
Superdog starts from the top of the Steps ramp or the Mirror. For twenty seconds, each Superdog target pays 200,000, then 225,000, then 250,000, rising with each hit.
Earn Superdog again while it is running and twenty seconds are added. The timer pauses in the Wind Tunnel, on the Steps ramp, and in the Hidden Hallway, though up to three seconds can tick first.
Frenzy starts when you hit the Trapdoor while its Frenzy light is lit. Super Frenzy starts when you shoot the Wind Tunnel after earning all six Mirror awards.
A Frenzy Bonus starts at 120,000, or 1,500,000 for Super. For twenty seconds, every target adds 50,000 to it, or 100,000 for Super.
The bonus is paid at end of ball, so a tilt loses it; keep nudges gentle. The clock will not pass 11:25 during Frenzy, and the Frenzy timer pauses where Superdog’s does.
Earn Frenzy again while one is running and twenty seconds are added. Super Frenzy on top of a plain Frenzy adds twenty seconds and turns it into Super. Plain Frenzy on top of Super adds twenty seconds and leaves it Super.
A combo is a fast ordered sequence. Center ramp, right Gangway, then Trapdoor loop is the 500,000 3-Way Combo.
Center ramp, Steps plunger, then Trapdoor loop twice also counts. Hit Rudy’s jaw quickly after a 3-Way and it becomes the 1,000,000 4-Way.
Play more than one feature
Running two features at once is called a play at the same time. On this table the rulesheet spells out what fits together and what is switched off, and the order matters.
| Combination | What happens | Best order |
|---|---|---|
| Quick Multiball + Midnight Multiball | Allowed only one way: the Mirror hands you Quick Multiball while the clock is at midnight. Both start; all the Midnight rules apply and every Rudy hit is a million until one ball is left. | With the clock at midnight, the MIRROR light on and Quick Multiball still uncollected, shoot the Wind Tunnel before Rudy’s mouth. |
| Frenzy lit + Midnight Multiball | Frenzy waits. The final grace-period Trapdoor shot pays Million+ and starts Frenzy. | Light Frenzy from the Steps before you lock the second ball. |
| Superdog + Frenzy | Both run; both are twenty-second timers that pause in the same places. Every Superdog target hit pays its Superdog value and adds to the Frenzy Bonus. | Either first. Earning either again adds twenty seconds to that one. |
| Frenzy or Quick Multiball near 11:30 | The clock will not pass 11:25 while either runs. | Let them finish, then push for the lock. |
| The Mirror during either multiball | Blocked. The Wind Tunnel is just a hole. | Earn Mirror awards before you lock. |
| The Steps during Midnight Multiball | Blocked. | Earn steps before midnight. |
| The Trapdoor during Quick Multiball | Blocked. The rulesheet says the Trapdoor is switched off for the whole Quick Multiball. | If the door is one loop from a big value, take it before the Mirror. |
| Extra Ball lit + lock lit at the Hidden Hallway | Both live on the same pocket. The rulesheet does not say whether one shot gives both, or which comes first. | Earn a lit extra ball before the clock reaches 11:30 if you can. |
The order that works: Mirror awards and a lit Frenzy first, then push the clock, then lock twice, then Rudy’s mouth. A tempting order that does not work: locking both balls first and hoping to pick up Mirror awards or the Steps during the multiball. They are off.
Keep the game going
Every extra ball is earned the same way: shoot the Hidden Hallway while its Extra Ball light is lit. Nothing else awards it. Three things light it:
Earning turns the light off unless you lit it two ways before earning; then it stays lit for another award. The rulesheet gives no cap beyond the Steps’ once-a-game rule.
Two other saves matter. A launch that drains without touching anything is given back. Once “Steps Gate Open” is on, the left outlane sends the ball to the Steps plunger instead of draining.
Special lights on the outlanes after your second trip to 11:30. It must be taken before the ball ends; the rulesheet does not say what it pays.
Keep the ball
Use the safe pockets. The Wind Tunnel, Steps ramp and Hidden Hallway pause Superdog and Frenzy timers, so a trapped ball is not wasting those seconds.
Shooting the Hidden Hallway just before Superdog, Quick Multiball or Midnight Multiball runs out usually keeps that feature lit for one last shot after the kickout.
Get “Steps Gate Open” from the Mirror early and the left outlane stops being an outlane: a ball that goes down it comes back to you at the Steps plunger.
Do not tilt on a Frenzy ball. The Frenzy Bonus and the Rudy bonus are both paid at the end of the ball, and a tilt throws them away.
The rulesheet says nothing about dangerous returns, so this is ordinary pinball advice. Before shooting the Hidden Hallway or Rudy’s mouth, let the ball stop in a cradle.
A dead bounce can move a falling ball across. Nudge near posts or slingshots, but respect tilt warnings. The technique course teaches these.
Score higher
The Midnight Trapdoor ladder is the top score: 2,000,000 to 10,000,000 a hit. Super Frenzy starts at 1,500,000 and adds 100,000 for every target for twenty seconds.
Quick Multiball is 1,000,000 per Rudy hit while two balls survive. The skill shot reaches 1,000,000 from the fourth make onward. Trapdoor outside multiball climbs 500,000, 750,000, 1,000,000.
Do not forget Rudy’s jaw. It is 50,000 on every end-of-ball bonus for the rest of the game, it relights the Mirror, it finishes the 4-Way Combo for a million, and with the Million light on it is a million by itself.
Earn a lit extra ball before you lock. The extra ball and the lock both live on the Hidden Hallway, and the rulesheet does not say what happens when both are lit at once.
Your table
The time on the clock when a game starts tells you how the machine is set. Everything above assumes 8:00, the factory standard. If you see another time, these are the differences the rulesheet lists.
| Clock starts at | What changes |
|---|---|
| 9:00 (Easy) | Gangway starts at 200,000. The Steps’ extra ball can be earned twice a game. |
| 10:00 (Extra Easy) | All the Easy changes, and the Steps’ extra ball stays lit until the end of the game. |
| 7:00 (Hard) | The clock resets to 4:00 after Midnight Multiball. The Mirror’s extra ball must be earned on the same ball. The MIRROR light is not on when a ball starts. |
| 6:00 (Extra Hard) | Resets to 3:00 after Midnight Multiball. The second-chance countdown runs faster. Mirror extra balls vanish at the end of the ball. Special needs three trips to 11:30. Rudy’s jaw does not relight the Mirror. No step is lit at the start. Frenzy must be earned on the same ball it was lit. |
| 5:00 | Probably a five-ball game. Gangway starts at 100,000; Mirror extra balls must be earned on the same ball; Special needs three trips to 11:30; the MIRROR light is not on when a ball starts; no step is lit at the start. |
Where these rules come from
This guide follows Mark Phaedrus’s April 1991 FunHouse rulesheet, written after Williams corrected his first draft. He says he left out small point values, left some discoveries to players, and did not draw a table map.
Where the rulesheet is silent, this guide says so rather than guessing. Open questions include the exact Midnight ball count, some feature locations, Trapdoor value resets, Special, Mirror award selection, and Hidden Hallway priority when extra ball and lock are both lit.
Operator settings vary from cabinet to cabinet. Where your display disagrees with this guide, trust the display.