Classic Kiss: Learn to Play Bally’s 1979 Rock-Themed Pinball Chart Topper

Whenever I mention pinball being one of my biggest hobbies to someone, they’ll invariably ask if I've ever played the Kiss pinball machine. On the one hand, it's one of the best-selling pinball machines ever made, with 17,000 units made. On the other hand, it's a bit weird that being asked about this machine in particular is such a common occurrence that I pretty much just expect it at this point. Anywho, Kiss is based on the classic shock-rock band who rose to prominence in the 1970s with their elaborate pyrotechnics and stage shows which frequently saw them banned from venues. This machine features a nearly symmetrical layout and reflects on the band's incendiary nature by having just about every square inch of the playfield art covered in flames and explosions. It's also pretty cool in that games start out by chiming their signature song, "Rock N Roll All Nite," when you press start. While in some senses, it's a pretty ordinary ruleset for its time, there are a handful of things to be aware of when playing Kiss to make sure you get the most points you possibly can out of the game.

Note that this is a guide for the Kiss game released by Bally. For a tutorial on the (more recent) game by Stern, you can check ours out here.

About Kiss (Bally)

The Kiss pinball machine, manufactured by Bally in 1979, is a classic licensed game themed around the iconic rock band Kiss. Designed by Jim Patla with artwork by Kevin O'Connor, the game features the band members in their "Love Gun" era costumes.

• Release Year: 1979
• Design: Jim Patla
• Art: Kevin O’Connor

Kiss (Bally) Playfield Overview

As mentioned, Kiss has an almost symmetrical layout. The only differences between the left and right sides are that the left side has a bank of drop targets vs. the right's set of standups, and that the right outlane has a gate to save your ball which the left is missing. Otherwise, it's the same on either side. The only thing that's particularly unusual about this game for its time is the use of four pop bumpers instead of three, with each bumper depicting one of the band member's iconic makeup styles.

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The bumpers in this game are the main challenge you'll face. As is the case with most games of this era, avoiding the bumpers is pretty much impossible, but given how open the bumper area is, they throw the ball anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes, this can be beneficial - the I-S targets up top can pay off big time - but more often than not, they'll send the ball careening towards the outlanes.

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One of the biggest frustrations most people have with this game is how important the top lanes really are. If you're able to plunge the center lane at the start of every ball, odds are that you'll win just about every game of Kiss you'll ever play. If not....well, hopefully, you can get lucky, or hopefully, you can hit the four K-I-S-S targets on command instead. Much easier said than done: the K and second S targets are particularly dangerous, and will send the ball straight to the opposite outlane on direct hits.

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As is usually the case on games of this era, this machine is all about control. The slower you can move the ball, the better. There's a lot of chaos that this game brings about, and being able to rein that in off of the bumpers will go a long way. Of course, me telling you, "just control the ball, that's all there is to it," is like me telling a hockey team to "just score goals." Much easier said than done, and unfortunately, there's not really a science to controlling Kiss. If you can, the four KISS targets, the two other banks of targets, and the two spinners are basically all of the shots you'll need. They're also all of the shots at the table....but that's neither here nor there.

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Kiss scores are comparable to its Bally contemporaries, with 250,000 being a commendable score. That said, Kiss is also all about the end-of-ball bonus, which carries over from ball to ball. So, establishing a big bonus value early on is often enough to win the game.

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Getting Started with Kiss (Bally)

• K-I-S-S letters are awarded by hitting the top lanes or standup targets. Each letter is worth bonus points and fills up a grid for even more bonus points.
• All bonus in Kiss carries over from ball-to-ball. Bonus advances on ball 1 are more valuable than those on ball 3!
• The center lane up top will instantly complete KISS when Light A Line is lit, as will completing the bank of drop targets on the left.
  
  • Switch hits will alternate whether the lane is lit to spot a line or to open a gate over the right outlane. Both are good, though.
• The center lane also lights both spinners for 1,000/spin for the rest of the ball, which is great value!
• Completing A-B-C-D will double your bonus at the end of the ball.

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Bonus

As one might expect from a game released in 1978, Kiss is primarily a bonus game: the biggest scores on Kiss tend to come from building up a large end-of-ball bonus. Kiss’ bonus is tracked by means of a grid of letters in the center of the table, spelling out KISS four separate times. Each letter is worth 1,000 in bonus, with a complete line (horizontal or vertical, indicated by an amber arrow) awarding an additional 3,000 in bonus.

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There are two obvious ways to collect letters: the top lanes and the four K-I-S-S standups scattered around the playfield. These both serve the same purpose - hit a letter, it’ll light up on the grid. Note that you must complete a row in the grid (i.e. a spelling of KISS) before you can start on the next. There’s a rather redundant arrow on the left side of the grid which tells you what row you’re working on, but functionally, it just means that all letters have to be collected in equal amounts.

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You can also spot entire KISS completions in a couple of ways. First, there’s the Light A Line lane up top - when lit, it’ll complete KISS for you. (That center lane does a lot more than that; we’ll cover it in more detail down below.) You also spot a full completion by completing the bank of drops on the left side. Either way, this will complete whatever row you’re currently working on: if you just finished your last row and have all letters lit, it’ll give you the whole row - but if you’ve collected three letters, it’ll just give you the letter you’re missing. So, the more letters you’re missing, the more lucrative the row completions are - consider waiting to complete the bank until you start on a fresh row.

The arrows are strange, but functionally, it means that completing KISS is worth extra points and that your fourth row of letters are worth 4,000 an advance (1,000 for the letter, 3,000 for the vertical arrow) instead. Your objective remains the same - try to complete as many rows as possible, especially considering that completing a row will relight KISS letters for more bonus advances.

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Completing the grid will reset it and light the 40,000 “Super Bonus” light (the value of a completed grid); completing it twice will light the 80,000 “Colossal Bonus.” Note that all bonus on Kiss is super bonus. If you've never heard the term before, "Super Bonus" means that the bonus value will carry over from ball to ball. So, if you complete KISS once on ball 1, you'll have one row completely lit at the start of ball 2, guaranteeing you'll start with 7,000 points in bonus from the outset. If you've read our Eight Ball Deluxe tutorial, then you should know this means that bonus advances on ball 1 are effectively worth triple their face value. Yes, that's 7,000 you'll score this ball - but that's 21,000 points you'll score over the rest of the game. Not too shabby!

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As is the case with most super bonus games, the first ball is more important than the other two - it can be very difficult to beat someone who establishes a substantial bonus value early on. However, unlike Eight Ball Deluxe, you can complete the grid multiple times in the same ball without having to relight anything, which means you’re not totally screwed if you have a bad ball one. Bonus caps after three grid completions (worth 120,000 points), and can be doubled by completing the incredibly flavorful A-B-C-D targets on the right side. While the bonus X may carry over from ball to ball, it caps at 2X, which can be a little underwhelming. Even if bonus X carries over, I usually prefer to get a large bonus before going after the multiplier.

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Light A Line

As mentioned above, the center lane up top can be lit for "Light A Line," as it usually is at the start of the ball. Alternatively, it can be lit for “Open Gate”, which opens a gate over the right outlane to spare you from drains over there. Usually, the game is set to alternate what the center lane is lit for with each switch hit (similar to how a lot of EMs work). It can be set easier: always having the lane lit for both features or having one be permanently lit and the other alternate on switch hits, but I can’t say I’ve seen a Kiss not set to the hardest difficulty.

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You can get extremely lucky and bounce off of the center pop bumper, rolling back through the center lane and getting more advances, too, although that's not exactly something you can rely on for obvious reasons. However, you can absolutely coax the ball towards the center lane by giving the machine subtle taps as it bounces off of the top lane posts. It's not a surefire way to get the lane you want - but it certainly helps.

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This actually makes Kiss a great game for practicing your nudging on top lanes. Again, you don't need to shake the game hard - just give it a little bump as the ball comes into contact with the posts to move the ball towards the center lane. Worst case scenario, you land in a non-center lane which is unlit for a letter, and have to survive a bit of bumper action. But you're going to have to do that anyway, you know?

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Spinners

The center lane has one more valuable aspect to it: it lights the two spinners for 1,000 points a spin. In case it isn’t obvious, that’s a lot! Personally, this is the strategy I like to opt for. Once the spinner is lit, I go nuts on it, collecting free letters up top and big points from the spinners. Some players (probably better players than I) may find that risking the bumpers is too dangerous, but it’s pretty much impossible not to risk the bumpers anyway.

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Establishing a solid bonus is a better way to build up a long-term score, though. Shooting the spinners can get you some free bonus advances from the top lanes, but there’s an argument to be made that completing the bank of drops is an easier and safer way of doing that. Still, 1K a spin is kinda hard to ignore, and I don’t think that anyone would look down upon you for just shooting at spinners all day - it’s a viable strategy in its own right.

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That's, uh....all I really have to say about the spinners. They're good when lit. The center lane is awesome if you can hit it. Get it early and rack up those points.

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Summary

That’s pretty much all of the rules of Kiss! Not too complicated of a game - a statement which certainly can’t be said for Stern’s interpretation of the game. In fact, the only rule which we haven’t mentioned is that completing A-B-C-D twice awards an extra ball, and three times awards a special. Specials can be set to award points, and extra balls - if enabled - are worth your super bonus even if you just plunge them. Not too bad!

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In short: Spell KISS for bonus value. Complete the left bank or roll through the center lane up top to spot rows in the grid. If you’re only missing one letter, aim for it. If spinners are lit, rip ‘em. That’s all there is to it - good luck!