"Alien Poker," released by Williams in October 1980, combines a space and card game theme to create a unique pinball experience. Designed by Edward Tomaszewski with artwork by Tony Ramunni and sound by Eugene Jarvis, the machine features three flippers, four pop bumpers, three kick-out holes, a roll-under spinner, and a five-bank drop target that players must knock down in sequence to maximize points.
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Quickie Version:
Up Top to complete the King lanes 3 times so your multiplier is at 4X, then get the center drop targets IN ORDER right to left 10-J-Q-K-A. Repeat.
Go-to Flipper:
Left
Risk Index:
High for the drop targets, Medium-High otherwise. Observe the rebounds from each drop target with each of the 3 lower flippers and choose your flipper for each shot based on which are safest.
Full Rules:
Completing the center target bank “Royal Flushes” for 400K is the top goal. The strategy is UTAD until you have completed three sets of King lanes; each set advances your royal flush multiplier by one to a max of 4X. You also get a king spotted for balls through the left return lane, so watch for that; if you’re one king away and get a return lane, you don’t need to one-time the ball back up top from the left if that’s your 4X or you’re willing to finish with wherever that puts you, you can take the center target shot instead. The maximum base royal flush value is 100K; the value you’ll get for completing it goes up or down as you hit the card targets in or out of order. Hit them 10-J-Q-K-A and you get the 100K times your multiplier. Targets hit in order stay down, ones out of order pop back up, so for instance if you go 10-J-K, after the 10 shot only JQKA are standing, after the J shot only QKA, but after hitting the K out of sequence, the K comes back. Don’t ignore your end of ball bonus! You can get up to 390K in bonus if you max out your base bonus at 78K [40K+20K+18K, see playfield lights] and your bonus multiplier at 5X. Base bonus builds 1K for any king lane, 3K for either side saucer shot. Bonus X builds by hitting a lit “Joker” standup target. The lower three Jokers are all easy shots, and the upper one will often be hit by balls bouncing around in the bumpers. Only one is lit at a time, though, so don’t bother shooting at a Joker unless it’s lit.
via Bob's Guide
