Spooky Pinball · 2017
Start a reactor, raise its heat to 100 percent, then hit every flashing white target to destroy it. Destroy nine reactors to win the game.
Start the reactor →The game
Fill the three-by-three target grid, then shoot the left hole to start a reactor. Hits in the upper reactor area raise the heat. At 100 percent, finish every flashing white target before the reactor cools.
Find your targets
Shoot the far-left orbit through its spinning blade. The lane runs around the upper playfield and can send the ball to the CORE lanes.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the right lower flipper. Aim through the open channel at the bottom of Left orbit and spinner; 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 dark opening left of the grid target bank. Shoot here when Start Reactor flashes to begin the reactor, or earn a lit Mystery award.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the right lower flipper. Aim at the dark opening of Left scoop, 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 three standup targets along the left edge, beside the R, A and D arrows. They help turn on the Mystery lamp and can flash as reactor-destruction targets.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the right lower flipper. Aim at the flat rectangular faces in RAD targets, one target at a time; do not aim at the gaps or the plastic above them. Expect the ball to rebound toward the middle after contact.
Four rollover lanes across the top. A ball passing through them enters the upper reactor area; they are lanes, not upright targets.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the left lower flipper. Aim through the open channel at the bottom of CORE lanes; 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.
Three inline drop targets on the RIGHT, with a scoop beyond them. Lock two balls here, then hit the remaining target to start multiball.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the left lower flipper. Aim through the open channel at the bottom of Right lock lane; 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.
Hit the three target faces above the nine circular grid lights. Each target advances its column. The large numbered reactor lights lower down are status lamps, not targets.
How to try it: Hold the ball still on the left lower flipper. Aim at the flat rectangular faces in Grid targets, one target at a time; do not aim at the gaps or the plastic above them. Expect the ball to rebound toward the middle after contact.
Match each close-up to the full playfield, then use the shot descriptions below. Open the full-size reference to keep the photo and explanations together.
The flippers. Two at the bottom. There is also a small third one higher up the left side, an upper flipper, and it moves with the same left button. The code does not say what that one is placed to shoot, so watch where the ball goes the first time it lands on it.
The shooter lane and plunger. The channel on the far right where the ball waits is the shooter lane, and the spring rod you pull to launch it is the plunger. A full pull sends the ball up the right side, round behind the top, and down the left side. A gentler pull lets it drop into the four lanes at the top instead.
The two orbits. Gates decide whether the ball circles the table or drops into the reactor. The left orbit contains a spinner. Each lower flipper shoots the opposite orbit.
The reactor area. The top of the table. Four rollover lanes along the very top, three small slingshots (rubber-faced kickers) arranged in a triangle, and three standing targets numbered 1, 2 and 3. The machine calls this whole top area the core. Every hit in here heats the reactor while it is running and adds to the reactor’s value at any time.
The grid. Three standing targets in a row, left, middle and right, each with a column of three lights in front of it. Nine lights make the three-by-three grid; the machine also calls it the keypad. Each hit on a target turns on the next light in that target’s column.
The left scoop. A hole on the left side (a scoop is a hole that swallows the ball and spits it back out). This is where the reactor starts and where the mystery award is earned. A yellow arrow blinks in front of it when the reactor is ready, and a green light shows when a mystery is waiting.
The right scoop. The hole on the right side. In normal play it lights the locks. During multiball it is the super jackpot and it adds a ball.
The drop targets and the lock. Three drop targets, targets that fall flat when hit, in a column on the right side, with a lane behind them. This is the ball lock. The code calls them top, middle and bottom, and a locked ball is caught between them by a target that pops back up behind it.
The RAD targets. Three standing targets on the left with red lights. Hitting them in order lights the mystery.
The DESTROY targets and the bumper. Two standing targets, one left of centre and one right of centre, and the table’s single pop bumper, the round mushroom that kicks the ball away, near the right-hand one. When a reactor is critical, these and the RAD targets are the ones that flash white.
The bottom lanes. On each side of the flippers there is an inlane, which returns the ball to the flipper, and an outlane, which carries it past the flipper and out. All four have a light. They are the SAVE lanes.
The lights to watch. A row of nine numbered reactor lights (solid red means destroyed, blinking means the one you are on), a two-digit counter that shows heat as a percentage and the ball-save clock at other times, three lights marked 2X, 3X and 4X, and a row of ten small bonus lights.
Choose your launch
Soft-launch through the blinking top lane for a skill shot. Keep both hands off after launch for the Super, which makes a fresh reactor ready. When locks are lit, a full launch can score and earn a skill lock instead.
While a ball waits in the shooter lane, one of the four lanes at the top blinks white and two flashers light up beside it. Press the left flipper button to move the blinking light one lane over, or the right button to move it back the other way. Then pull the plunger back part-way, so the ball climbs the right side and drops down into the top lanes instead of going all the way round. Roll through the blinking lane and that is the skill shot: 50,000 points and one lane save (lane saves are explained further down). A full-strength pull cancels it, because the ball goes round the back, through the spinner and out the left side, and either of those ends the chance. If your pull is too weak and the ball rolls back down to the plunger, the machine launches it for you and the skill shot is off.
Same launch, one more rule: once you have let go of the plunger, do not touch either flipper button. If the ball rolls through the blinking lane with your hands off, that is the super skill shot: 100,000 points, one lane save, and the reactor jumps straight to ready without you touching the grid. It only does that while the reactor is at the very start of its cycle. If you already have a reactor ready, running or critical left over from your last ball, you get the ordinary 50,000 instead. Press a flipper after launching and the lane light still moves, but only the ordinary skill shot is left.
If the locks are lit, and they are at the start of every ball, pull the plunger all the way. The ball goes round the back, down the left orbit, and can roll straight into the ball lock. A ball that locks within five seconds of launch, with the left orbit as the last thing it touched, is a skill lock: 40,000 instead of the usual 20,000, and the lock counts as normal. Pressing the left flipper button cancels it. The ball the machine launches for you after a lock does not get this chance.
Your first useful run
Reactor state, heat, grid progress and critical targets survive a drain.
The reactor, start to finish
Fill the nine-light grid, then shoot the left scoop. Increase the heat in the upper reactor area. At 100 percent, clear every flashing white target to destroy the reactor. Progress, heat and critical targets survive a drain.
Each reactor begins with the grid. Hit a grid target and the blinking blue light in its column turns solid purple and the next one starts blinking; hit a target whose column is finished and nothing happens. When all nine are solid the reactor is ready, the yellow arrow at the left scoop blinks, and until you start it the grid targets do nothing at all. How many hits you need depends on the reactor: reactor 1 needs four, reactor 2 five, reactor 3 six, reactor 4 seven, reactor 5 eight, and from reactor 6 on all nine. Grid progress is kept if you lose the ball. There are two shortcuts to ready: the hands-off super skill shot, and two of the mystery awards, Start Reactor and Keypad Unlock.
Shoot the left scoop while the yellow arrow is blinking. The machine keeps the ball for an eleven-second REACTOR STANDBY sequence; hold both flipper buttons at once to skip it. Then it kicks the ball out with a one-second ball save, says REACTOR ONLINE, the reactor’s blue lights come on and brighten as the heat rises, and the counter reads 00. If a mystery is also waiting at the scoop, the mystery is awarded first and the reactor starts after it.
| Reactor | Each hit adds | Each spin adds | Lost every 3 seconds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 percent | 2 percent | 1 percent |
| 2 | 14 percent | 2 percent | 1 percent |
| 3 | 12 percent | 2 percent | 1 percent |
| 4 | 10 percent | 2 percent | 1 percent |
| 5 | 8 percent | 2 percent | 1 percent |
| 6 | 6 percent | 2 percent | 1 percent |
| 7, 8 and 9 | 5 percent | 2 percent | 1 percent |
A hit in the reactor area means any of the four top lanes, any of the three small slingshots in the core, or any of the three numbered targets. The bumper and the grid do not heat it. The heat is remembered between balls, and the three-second leak stops while no ball is in play.
Getting the ball up there is the real skill. While a reactor is running, the gates behind the top change: on reactors 1, 2 and 3 either orbit drops the ball into the reactor area. From reactor 4 on, only one orbit does. An arrow lights at the mouth of that orbit, with the triangle of lights on that side, and the other orbit goes round as usual. Every hit on the pop bumper swaps which orbit is open, so check the arrows after the ball has been through the bumper. Remember the left flipper shoots the right orbit and the right flipper shoots the left.
When no reactor is running, orbit shots go all the way round. To get into the top area anyway, roll through an inlane and within five seconds shoot the orbit on the opposite side: the left inlane opens the right orbit, the right inlane opens the left one, and an arrow lights to show you. That is how you reach the numbered targets and the top lanes to advance the reactor’s value and your bonus multiplier before you start it.
At 100 percent the voice says CRITICAL and the machine lights targets white. How many depends on the reactor: reactor 1 lights one, reactor 2 lights two, and so on. It picks them at random from seven places: the three RAD targets on the left, the two DESTROY targets, and the pop bumper, which counts twice because it has two lights. Reactors 1 and 2 never use the RAD targets. Hit each flashing target once and its light goes out; a hit on a dark one does nothing. On reactors 8 and 9 all seven flash and you need eight or nine hits, so the first one or two count wherever they land. There is no clock on this. A critical reactor waits for you, even across a lost ball. The moment reactor 3 or reactor 6 goes critical you are given an extra ball, with no extra shot required the award.
When the last flashing target goes out the voice says DESTROYED. You score the reactor’s current value, multiplied by however many balls are in play, a ten-second ball save starts, the next reactor light starts blinking, and its grid is laid out ready for you.
| Reactor | Starting value | Highest value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25,000 | 75,000 |
| 2 | 37,500 | 112,500 |
| 3 | 50,000 | 150,000 |
| 4 | 62,500 | 187,500 |
| 5 | 75,000 | 225,000 |
| 6 | 87,500 | 262,500 |
| 7 | 100,000 | 300,000 |
| 8 | 112,500 | 337,500 |
| 9 | 125,000 | 375,000 |
Every hit in the reactor area adds its own points to the reactor’s value as well as to your score: 500 for a top lane, a core slingshot, or a numbered target, and 200 for each spin of the spinner. It does this whether or not the reactor is running, up to three times the starting value. Faster: hit targets 1, 2 and 3 in order, following the blinking red light, and the voice says MAX REACTOR and the value jumps to its maximum at once. The Max Reactor mystery award does the same. Each new reactor starts back at its own base value. Everything you add to the value is also added to your end-of-ball reactor bonus.
Once a reactor is running or critical, the grid resets and turns into a repeating jackpot. Turn all nine lights solid again and you score a Reactor Jackpot worth half the reactor’s current value, multiplied by the balls in play, and the grid resets to go again. There is no limit on how often you can do this while the reactor is critical.
Lock two balls on the left, then hit the front target to release three-ball multiball. The three lock targets become jackpots. Shoot the right scoop for the Super Jackpot, a fourth ball and a refreshed ball save.
Smaller things that pay
Lane saves protect the outlanes, RAD lights Mystery, the spinner advances reactor heat, and the top lanes raise bonus. Use these while they overlap the reactor or multiball route; do not abandon a ready reactor to chase them.
The four bottom lanes each have a light. Rolling through a lane turns its light on, and turning on any three of the four earns a Lane Save. You can store up to six, and they are kept from ball to ball. Every press of a flipper button moves all the lane lights round by one, the left button one way and the right button the other, which is a lane change. When you have a save stored, one lane light blinks. If the blinking light is on an outlane and the ball goes down that outlane, the voice says BALL SAVED, one save is used, and a fresh ball is served. If the blinking light is on an inlane and the ball rolls through it, one save is used to start a ten-second timed ball save instead. So use the flipper buttons to park the blinking light on an outlane, and re-park it after every flip you make. Each save you still hold when the ball ends pays 10,000 in bonus and is kept anyway.
The three RAD targets on the left must be hit in order: whichever is blinking red. When all three are lit the voice says MYSTERY LIT and the green light at the left scoop comes on. Shoot the left scoop and five awards spin past on the display; one is picked at random and given. You can light more than one mystery and they wait for you. The RAD sequence starts over on each new ball, and while a reactor is critical the RAD targets are busy being destroy targets and do not count toward the mystery. The mystery award can be any of thirteen things: 10,000; 25,000; 150,000; Start Reactor (the reactor is made ready and started on the spot, or 50,000 if it was already past the grid); Ballsaver (twelve seconds when the ball comes out); Locks Are Lit (or 40,000 if they already are); one Lane Save; Super Spinner (or 30,000 if you already have it); one more bonus multiplier (or 20,000 at 4X); 4X bonus at once (or 35,000 at 4X); an Extra Ball; Max Reactor; and Keypad Unlock, which fills the whole grid so that your next hit on any grid target makes the reactor ready (or 50,000 if the reactor is past that point).
Each spin of the spinner in the left orbit scores 110, adds 200 to the reactor’s value, and adds 2 percent of heat if a reactor is running. Fifty spins in one ball and the voice says SUPER SPINNER: every spin is worth 1,010 for the rest of that ball. The count goes back to zero with each new ball.
Shoot the right orbit, let the ball go all the way round and out of the left orbit, and shoot the right orbit again before the ball touches any other switch. The second orbit is a combo worth 10,000, the next 20,000, then 40,000, 80,000, and 160,000, where it stops. Anything else the ball touches in between, a lane, a target, a slingshot, starts the count again from nothing.
Light all four lanes along the top and the voice says BONUS 2X; do it again for 3X and 4X. The flipper buttons move the lit top lanes round as well. The multiplier goes back to 1X with each new ball. When a ball ends you are paid a bonus of three parts: 10,000 for every lane save you hold, 1,000 for every count on the ten small bonus lights (every target, lock, scoop and completed sequence adds one), and the reactor bonus, which is everything you added to reactor values plus every reactor you destroyed on that ball, multiplied by the bonus X. One oddity to know: the display shows the target part multiplied too, but the points actually added only multiply the reactor part. Hold both flipper buttons to skip the count.
Play more than one feature
Keep the game going
Score higher
The ball count multiplies everything, and a destroyed reactor pays its whole value. Reactor 5 at its maximum is 225,000; destroyed with four balls in play that is 900,000 from one hit. So the shape of a big game is: lock two, get the reactor critical, start multiball, shoot the right scoop for the fourth ball, then hit the white targets.
Before you destroy anything, hit targets 1, 2 and 3 in order for MAX REACTOR. To reach them without a running reactor, roll through an inlane and shoot the opposite orbit within five seconds. The spinner is the slow way to the same place: 200 a spin, and it heats the reactor at the same time.
A critical reactor has no clock. Fill the grid for a Reactor Jackpot worth half the value, then fill it again, as many times as you like, and only then destroy it. In multiball every one of those is multiplied too.
The loop combo doubles up to 160,000 a shot. The Super Spinner is 1,010 a spin. Both are yours with one ball and no setup beyond a clean orbit shot.
The end of the game
Reactor 9 is the finale. Destroy it and your game ends immediately, even with balls remaining. The TNA bonus adds every reactor value already multiplied by the balls in play when it was destroyed.
Your table
Your table is the VPX recreation of Spooky’s 2017 machine. It has no ROM; the game rules live in the table’s own code, and every rule in this guide was read out of that code rather than from a rulesheet. It is set to three balls a game, medium difficulty, and a twelve-second ball saver. Medium difficulty is what sets the grid sizes above, makes only one orbit lead into the reactor from reactor 4, and applies the three-second heat leak to every reactor. Extra balls come at reactors 3 and 6, and lane saves carry between balls. The table is set to take coins rather than free play; the match at the end of the game and beating the top high score only award a credit, never a ball. Holding the Start button down for about three seconds at the start of a game switches on a co-op mode where everyone plays the same reactor; holding it again makes it players 1 and 3 against 2 and 4.
What the code does not settle: exactly where each part sits on the playfield (it says which side, not the spot), what the upper left flipper is placed to shoot, how gentle the launch needs to be to drop into the top lanes rather than go round, and what it looks like when the left scoop holds one ball for the standby countdown during multiball. Operator settings vary from cabinet to cabinet. Where your display disagrees with this guide, trust the display.