X's & O's

Quickie Version:

UTAD.

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Go-to Flipper:

Balanced

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Risk Index:

High

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Skillshot(s):

Short plunge so the ball enters below the upper flipper without hitting the switch in the plunger lane right of it and above the entry gate. This shot is on a timer; when it’s your turn, you have only 10 seconds or so before the skill shot times out. A successful shot scores 100K. One good competition strategy is to too-short plunge on your first ball and work your way up to plunging just past the gate, noting where on the plunger markers the plunger tip is when you succeed; then use that for balls 2 and 3. You won’t get 100K on ball 1, unless you’ve already found the sweet spot in a prior game, but as Meat Loaf says, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

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Full Rules:

Completing the upper drop target 3-bank scores 10K to start but then increases the value of both itself and of the far left lane to the top. The drop bank values go up to 30k, 60K, etc. to 180K (the lights are cumulative); after that, it goes to special, then resets to 10K. The top left lane value starts at 5K and rises to 20K, 40K, etc. to 120K (also cumulative lights), then special. It also resets after special is scored; scoring either special resets both. Bonus is earned by hitting any of the nine standup targets: 5K for each, 90K for a full card, which then moves to superbonus and starts a new card. You can get three cards for up to 270K, plus 8 squares on top of that for 350K base bonus. The tic-tac-toe squares award extra points if you get three in a row of the same symbol: each 3-in-line is worth 20K, up to 200K per ball. Slingshots and return lanes change which symbol will be awarded for a target hit. Hitting a target you already have when the opposite symbol is lit will change the symbol for that square, meaning you can undo your all-alike pattern by accident! Card bonus carries over to future balls, including three-in-a-row extras, and will keep the same X or O values you had when you drained. There is no bonus multiplier. Sneaky trick: if you need a center standup target but want the opposite symbol, make a bank shot off either slingshot at it! The slingshot hit will change the symbol, and the bank shot off the sling will usually hit one of the center standups. The outlanes are non-standard. There’s a ball save saucer on the lower right: if the ball bounces off the post below the outlane and enters it, it’s kicked out over the right flipper where you can get it back into play, and it scores 5K for each X or O on your card. The left side return and outlanes are reversed. If you get three three-in-rows on one ball, it lights the second-from-the-left top lane for 50K a shot; five three-in-a-rows on one ball lights the third and innermost top lane for 100K. A good strategy is UTAD via the outer left lane from the right flipper and towards the upper flipper on the right from the left flipper, where you just keep completing the 3-bank. You’ll get a bunch of card squares with shots you can’t send up top. Don’t worry about the three-of-the-same unless you’re close to getting an all-same card, in which case it’s worth making sure they all match for the extra points.

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via Bob's Guide