Bad Cats
Williams, 1989 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.
Open Bad Cats in the Pinball Genie app →Bad Cats is a single-ball game from the tail end of the eighties and it plays like one — no modes, no wizard mode, no multiball. What it has instead is four value ladders running at once, and two awards big enough that everything else is decoration. Learning this machine is mostly learning which ladder to climb.
The layout
The Tiger Ramp runs up the far left, over the top, and empties into the right inlane, with a five-target drop bank beside it. The centre holds the Fishbowl Ramp, the linear Fish target with the Trash Can eject saucer sitting off its left side, and the spinning SEAFOOD wheel. On the right are a three-target Milk Bottles bank and the Doghouse scoop. Three top lanes spell TOY and feed the jet bumpers, with the barbecue flashlamp in the middle of them.
The Tiger Ramp, and the award nobody tells you about
The Tiger Ramp is always lit for something, and the value climbs on consecutive shots: 50,000, 100,000, 200,000, then a million with no ceiling on repeats. The unusual part is that this ramp does not time out. Trap the ball, take a breath, shoot again — you lose nothing. What resets you is touching any other scoring switch, and the drop targets beside the ramp entrance are the usual culprit.
There is also a 20 million lamp on that ramp that the instruction card never explains. It lights only on your last ball, and only after you have climbed consecutively from the base value all the way up to the million. That is the single biggest award available in normal play, and it is worth planning your last ball around.
The Fish target and the 10X Trash Can
The Fish target is linear, meaning the harder you hit it, the higher the award it lights. Those awards belong to the Trash Can, not the Fish target — hit the Fish and the Trash Can becomes worth 25,000, 50,000, 75,000, 100,000 or 500,000 instead of its empty value of ten thousand. The lamps time out one at a time, roughly twenty seconds each, stepping down the ladder while you dawdle, so the Trash Can shot should follow immediately.
A lit right inlane arms the 10X multiplier at the Trash Can, and that is where the numbers get serious: 100,000, 250,000, 500,000, 750,000, a million, or five million in a single shot. The Tiger Ramp empties straight into the right inlane, which pairs the two shots naturally.
- One inlane is lit at all times, and collecting it moves the light to the other side.
- Left lit means the Doghouse is lit for a wheel spin; right lit means 10X at the Trash Can.
- Slingshots, the two rubber switches, and possibly the bumpers can all shuffle which side is lit without you doing anything, so check before committing.
- The Trash Can's own lamp is switched off at the start of every ball, but the Fish and 10X lamps are not — so a loaded Trash Can still pays in full even though it looks dark.
S-E-A-F-O-O-D
The wheel in the middle of the playfield is a cat fishing in a pond, and whichever of eight fish lands in the net is your award: ten thousand, fifty thousand, two hundred and fifty thousand, a BAD CATS letter with twenty-five thousand attached, Lites Jackpot, Spin Again with a hundred thousand, an extra ball, or a Special. You spin it by shooting a lit Doghouse, and the Doghouse is lit either by a lit left inlane or simply by shooting it while dark — so a mistimed shot costs you the trip, not the award.
The carry-over jackpot
Bad Cats has a progressive jackpot that does not reset when your game ends. It sits on the machine, growing by roughly a tenth of every player's score, until somebody collects it. It opens at a million and can reach the region of twenty million, and the backglass lamps give you a rough reading of where it stands. To light it, sweep the drop target banks — each completed bank awards a letter of BAD CATS — then take the Fishbowl Ramp. One shot collects it, after which it drops back to a million. Reading those backglass lamps before you put money in is a real advantage.
Bonus, and the friendly stuff
Bonus is built the old way: nothing carries between balls, and BAD CATS letters count for nothing at the end. Switch traffic is what pays. The ramps are quietly the best of it — five thousand for the Tiger Ramp switch, fifteen thousand for the Fishbowl Ramp — with ten thousand for the Bird bank or the Trash Can, twenty thousand for the Milk Bottles, and thirty thousand for any outlane on the way out. The top rollover lanes step the multiplier from 2X to a maximum of 7X, and the bonus caps at 999,000.
Two last mercies. The skill shot is a randomly chosen flashing top lane worth 120,000, a doubled bonus and a lit barbecue — the flipper buttons cannot walk that lamp sideways, so your plunge settles it. And on your last ball both outlanes light for Curiosity Spin, turning a drain into a free spin of the wheel and, if your game came in under the machine's average time, often a consolation extra ball too.
How Bad Cats plays
Bad Cats is a single-ball game built around four value ladders and a spinning SEAFOOD wheel. Winning means climbing the Tiger Ramp to its hidden 20 million lamp or collecting the carry-over progressive jackpot.
The loop
- Shoot the Tiger Ramp repeatedly: each consecutive shot raises its value from 50K to 100K to 200K to 1M, and it never times out unless you hit another scoring switch.
- Clear either drop target bank: each sweep awards a BAD CATS letter, and seven letters light the jackpot on the Fishbowl Ramp.
- Collect the lit inlane: left lights the Doghouse for a SEAFOOD wheel spin, right arms the 10X multiplier at the Trash Can.
- Hit the Fish target to set the Trash Can value, then shoot the Trash Can to collect it, possibly multiplied by 10X.
- Complete the T-O-Y top rollovers to step the bonus multiplier from 2X up to 7X.
Reading the lights
- T-O-Y Rollovers (letters) — lit: Three lanes spell T-O-Y; completing the set steps the bonus multiplier from 2X up to 7X. · flashing: One lane flashes for the skill shot at plunge. · then: Shoot the Center Lane or plunge to feed the top rollovers.
- BAD CATS Drop Banks (letters) — lit: Clearing either bank awards one BAD CATS letter; seven letters light the jackpot on the Fishbowl Ramp. · then: Shoot the Fishbowl Ramp to collect the jackpot.
- Inlane Lights (lanes) — lit: One inlane is always lit; left lights the Doghouse for a wheel spin, right arms the 10X Trash Can. · then: Collect the lit inlane, then shoot the corresponding target.
- Fish Target & Trash Can (status) — lit: The Fish target sets the Trash Can value; hit it harder for higher awards, then shoot the Trash Can to collect. · then: Shoot the Trash Can immediately after the Fish target before the lamps time out.
- Fishbowl Ramp Ladder (ladder) — lit: The Fishbowl Ramp pays 30K, 50K, 100K, then an extra ball; it is lit at the start of each ball until the extra ball is collected. · then: Shoot the ramp to climb the ladder; if it goes dark, clear a drop bank to relight it.
- Tiger Ramp Ladder (ladder) — lit: The Tiger Ramp is always lit; consecutive shots raise its value from 50K to 100K to 200K to 1M, and it does not time out. · then: Shoot the Tiger Ramp repeatedly without hitting other scoring switches to climb to the 20 million lamp on your last ball.
- Doghouse Scoop (mode) — lit: A lit Doghouse spins the SEAFOOD wheel; it is lit by a lit left inlane or by shooting it while dark. · then: Shoot the Doghouse when lit to spin the wheel for prizes.
- Jet Bumpers & Barbecue (multiplier) — lit: The barbecue lamp in the middle of the bumpers raises their value from 500 to 5,000 per hit. · then: Light the barbecue via the skill shot or by clearing a drop bank, then enjoy bumper points.
Lane change: the lit lane cannot be moved by the buttons. The flipper buttons cannot move the flashing skill shot lane; only plunge strength selects it.
Start scoring
- Ball one — Start with the skill shot: plunge to the flashing top lane for 120K, doubled bonus, and a lit barbecue. Then complete T-O-Y lanes to raise the bonus multiplier and shoot the Fishbowl Ramp for its ladder. — Skill Shot, Complete T-O-Y, Fishbowl Ramp Ladder, Light The Barbecue
- Building — Stack the 10X Trash Can with the Fish target ladder, and use the lit inlanes to arm either the Doghouse wheel spin or the 10X. Clear drop banks to earn BAD CATS letters and light the jackpot. — The 10X Trash Can, Fish Bone-Us, Move The Inlane Light, Spell BAD CATS, S-E-A-F-O-O-D
- The big one — On your last ball, climb the Tiger Ramp consecutively from 50K to 1M to light the hidden 20 million lamp, then shoot the ramp one more time to collect it. Alternatively, collect the progressive jackpot by spelling BAD CATS and shooting the Fishbowl Ramp. — The 20 Million Lamp, The Tiger Ramp Ladder, The Progressive Jackpot, Spell BAD CATS
Does Bad Cats have an action button?
A 1989 Williams game with nothing but two flipper buttons, a manual plunger and your hips. The flipper buttons are unusually powerless here too — they will not walk the flashing skill-shot lane across the top, so your plunge is the only aim you get.
Goals in Bad Cats
Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.
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One of the three top lanes is chosen at random and flashes. Send the ball through that lane and you collect 120K, a doubled bonus and a lit barbecue. The flashing lamp stays put no matter how you work the flipper buttons, so everything here rides on the plunge.
Reward: 120K, 2X bonus, barbecue lit
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The flashlamp in the middle of the bumpers is the difference between 500 points a hit and 5,000. Get it from the skill shot, or light it by clearing either drop target bank. Bumper time with it lit is genuinely worth having.
Reward: Jet bumpers go from 500 to 5,000
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This ramp is always lit for something and the value climbs on consecutive shots — 50K, then 100K, then 200K, then a million with no cap on repeats. There is no timer at all, so you can trap up and take your time, but any other scoring switch resets you to the bottom.
Reward: 50K climbing to 1M, unlimited
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There is a 20M lamp on the Tiger Ramp that the instruction card never explains. It only lights on your last ball, and only after you have climbed the ramp ladder consecutively from its base value all the way to a million. One collection per game.
Reward: 20,000,000
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The centre ramp pays 30K, then 50K, then 100K, then an extra ball. On factory settings it is lit at the start of every ball until you have taken the extra ball, and one extra ball per ball is the limit. If it goes dark, a cleared drop bank relights it.
Reward: 30K, 50K, 100K, extra ball
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Every clean sweep of either drop target bank awards one letter. Seven letters lights the jackpot on the centre ramp. There is no limit to how many times you can do it in a game, but the letters have to be earned again from scratch each time.
Reward: Lights the jackpot at the Fishbowl Ramp
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This jackpot does not reset between games — it carries on a machine until somebody collects it. It starts at a million and grows by roughly a tenth of every player's score, so a busy machine can be carrying eight figures. One ramp shot takes it.
Reward: 1M up to roughly 20M
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A lit Doghouse spins the wheel. Two things light it: a run through the lit left inlane, or a shot at the Doghouse while it is still dark. The lit window lasts about twenty seconds, and there are eight possible prizes on the wheel.
Reward: Up to 250K, a Special, an extra ball or a lit jackpot
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On your last ball both outlane lamps light together. Drain out either side and the game spins the SEAFOOD wheel as a parting gift — and if your game came in under the machine's average time, it will hand you a consolation extra ball on top.
Reward: A free wheel spin, and possibly a ball back
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The Fish target and the Trash Can are one shot in two parts. Hit the linear Fish target hard and it lights an award ladder — 25K, 50K, 75K, 100K or 500K. Those lamps time out one at a time, about twenty seconds each, so shoot the Trash Can immediately.
Reward: 10K empty, up to 500K loaded
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A lit right inlane arms the 10X lamp at the Trash Can, and that turns the Fish ladder into the biggest single shot on the playfield: 100K, 250K, 500K, 750K, 1M or 5M. The Tiger Ramp empties into the right inlane, which pairs the two nicely.
Reward: Up to 5,000,000 in one shot
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The Trash Can light goes out at the start of every ball, which makes the shot look dead. It is not. The Fish and 10X lamps are not reset, and those two are what actually control the award — so a loaded Trash Can from last ball still pays in full.
Reward: Last ball's Fish and 10X values, kept
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Exactly one inlane is lit at any time, and collecting it moves the light to the other side. Left lit means a Doghouse spin; right lit means the 10X Trash Can. Slingshots, the rubber switches and even the bumpers can shuffle it, so check before you commit to a shot.
Reward: Control over which award is armed
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The three top lanes step the bonus multiplier every time you complete them, from 2X up to a ceiling of 7X. The Center Lane curves up into the same rollovers, so you have two different ways to feed them.
Reward: Bonus multiplier up to 7X
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Bonus here works the old-fashioned way: nothing carries between balls, and BAD CATS letters count for nothing at the end. What counts is the switch traffic, and the multiplier from the top lanes. The whole thing caps at 999,000.
Reward: Up to 999,000 x your multiplier
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