Batman 66

Stern Pinball, 2016 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Batman 66 in the Pinball Genie app →

Batman 66 is a George Gomez layout carrying Lyman Sheats code, and that pairing tells you most of what you need to know before you put a coin in. The playfield is open and fast — two ramps, two orbits, a scoop, a rotating turntable in the middle and a crane that swings a wrecking ball over five spots — but the code stacked on top of it is enormous. Modes do not queue up politely and wait their turn. They all run at once, on separate television channels, and you choose which one is in front. Sold only as Premium and LE, so every machine you find has the full mechanical package.

The four major villains

Everything starts with qualifying a villain, and each one has its own price. Catwoman wants one shot to each ramp. Joker wants the Villain-Vision targets flanking the Batmobile spinner. Penguin wants the scoop — but only from a flipper, because a ball that falls in out of the pop bumpers does not count. Riddler wants the orbits. Every time you play a villain, that villain's qualifier gets more expensive next time around.

Qualifying rotates the turntable until the Bat-Phone is exposed, and shooting the phone converts the qualification into a running mode. Here is the rule most new players miss: you do not have to cash it immediately. The hurry-up starts at 1.5M and climbs 250K for every additional villain you qualify before answering, reaching 12M with all four ready. That number is not just a payout — every increment adds 50K to every single shot you make inside the mode that follows. Padding the phone is the difference between a two-million mode and a twenty-million one. Hitting the Commissioner Gordon target also pushes the value up.

Inside a mode, each lit shot is worth 500K plus 50K per shot already made plus 50K per hurry-up increment, and all of it banks into a super jackpot waiting at the scoop. You can cash out at the end of any stage or keep going for another 1x on the whole mode. The single strongest opening move is the Batcave Combo: shoot the scoop, then the left orbit while it glows orange, before you touch a single mode shot. Every base value in the mode doubles.

Minor villains and their perks

Complete the three TV standup targets and the left orbit lights for a minor villain. Fourteen of them span three seasons, each 45 seconds long, and each one you finish hands you a perk. This is the half of the machine casual players never touch, and it is where the real leverage lives.

• Mr. Freeze stops every timer in the game — hurry-ups, mode clocks, playfield multipliers, Bat Turn, the Villain Escape build phase. Take it every time it appears.
• Bookworm makes minor villain awards last the whole game instead of the ball, so its value depends entirely on taking it early.
• Shame adds a ball to every multiball and ten seconds to the ball save, and starts as a two-ball multiball the first time you play it.
• King Tut protects your minor villain progress and stacks the main channel multiplier.
• Mad Hatter lets you replay minor villains you lost.
• Egghead banks a frenzy total straight into your end-of-ball bonus.

Multipliers and multiball

Three separate multiplier systems overlap. Both standups flanking the Batmobile spinner light the Atomic Pile for a 2x playfield multiplier lasting 30 seconds; repeat the pair and shoot it again while it runs and you get 3x with a fresh clock. Three hits to Commissioner Gordon arm the white X inserts, and the next shot you make keeps that multiplier for the rest of the ball — 2x for the first, climbing to 6x for the fifth. Aim those at the shots your current villain actually needs, not at whatever you happen to hit next.

Villain Multiball only exists inside a major villain mode. Hit a turntable target to light locks, stack three balls at the right orbit, and every major shot goes green for jackpots starting near 300K and climbing 50K each. Twelve jackpots swings the turntable to its Batcave face and lights a super jackpot at the Atomic Pile; each one after that costs two more shots, up to twenty. Mystery becomes a guaranteed add-a-ball while multiball runs.

Bat Turn and the wizard modes

Bat Turn is a hurry-up mode you build before you start. Every pass of the Batmobile spinner adds 25K to a value opening at 500K, and ten spins lights it at the Atomic Pile. Once running, any major shot pays the current value and goes dark; the spinner relights everything and pushes the value higher again. With Mr. Freeze captured and the timer dead, this becomes the most lucrative loop on the machine.

There are two endings. Capture one minor villain from each season and the left orbit offers a choice of three chaotic six-ball multiballs. Arrest all four majors and the same shot starts Villain Escape — thirty seconds of switch-hitting to build the jackpot value at 10K a hit, then a four-ball frenzy in which you have to defeat all four villains again to light the super jackpot. Drain to a single ball and the whole progression resets, so get your gadgets banked and your multipliers locked in before you go.

Goals in Batman 66

Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.

• Top Lane Skill Shot skillshot · Easy

  The three arrows in the shooter lane correspond to the three top lanes. Roll the switch under the arrows while they are lit and the matching top lanes light up. Worth 600K plus 200K for each skill shot you have already made, and it adds 5x to your end-of-ball bonus.

  Reward: 600K + 200K per skill shot, +5x bonus

• Penguin Skill Shot skillshot · Medium

  Soft plunge straight into the back of the Penguin scoop, or soft plunge down to the flippers and shoot the scoop quickly. Pays 1M to 1.2M depending on how many arrows are lit, adds 5x bonus, and still counts toward qualifying Penguin.

  Reward: 1M-1.2M, +5x bonus, Penguin progress

• Super Skill Shot skillshot · Medium

  Hold the left flipper as you plunge and any flashing major shot becomes live for five seconds. Around 550K plus 100K per skill shot, and it qualifies whichever major villain that shot belongs to — or hands you a gadget instead if a villain is already running.

  Reward: ~550K + 100K per skill shot, qualifies a villain or +1 gadget

• Qualifying The Four Majors progression · Easy

  Each of the four major villains has its own qualifier, and each one costs more shots every time you have already played that villain. You can qualify several before cashing them in, and that is usually the right move.

  Reward: Turntable rotates to expose the Bat-Phone

• Bat-Phone Hurry-Up mode · Medium

  Qualifying a villain rotates the turntable to reveal the Bat-Phone. The hurry-up there starts at 1.5M and climbs 250K for each extra villain you qualify first, topping out at 12M with all four ready — and that number is not just points, it raises every shot you score inside the mode that follows.

  Reward: 1.5M base up to 12M, and a permanently richer mode

• Catwoman mode · Medium

  A ramp mode. Both versions open by asking for three shots to each ramp, then move through hurry-ups and lit-shot clears. The first version runs four stages and its final stage un-lights shots as you hit them, so it will not let you farm points forever.

  Reward: 500K+ per lit shot, banked into a super jackpot

• Joker mode · Medium

  Turntable-first. Both versions open by asking for the turntable, which lights both orbits and both ramps. The second version scores completion as a percentage — lit shots are worth 10 percent each and any switch adds 1 percent, so the bumpers genuinely help.

  Reward: 500K+ per lit shot, banked into a super jackpot

• Penguin mode · Hard

  The crane mode. The wrecking ball parks over one of five purple inserts and you have to hit it at every position. Later stages hand the turntable magnet the ball, which is as unpredictable as it sounds — expect to lose shots to it and plan accordingly.

  Reward: 500K+ per lit shot, banked into a super jackpot

• Riddler mode · Easy

  The friendliest of the four. Shoot either orbit and it lights a batch of playfield shots — roughly five in the first version, about seven in the second. Clear them, take the super jackpot, repeat. Good mode to have running when you start Villain Multiball.

  Reward: 500K+ per lit shot, banked into a super jackpot

• The Batcave Combo combo · Hard

  The single best thing you can do at the start of any major villain mode. Shoot the scoop, then the left orbit while it glows orange — before you make any mode shot at all — and every shot in that mode is worth double its base value.

  Reward: 2x base value on every shot for the whole mode

• Villain Multiball multiball · Medium

  Only available while a major villain mode is running. Hit a turntable target to light locks, then lock three balls at the right orbit. Jackpots start around 300K and climb 50K each; after twelve, the turntable swings to the Batcave face and the Atomic Pile lights for a super jackpot.

  Reward: Escalating jackpots plus Atomic Pile super jackpots

• Gadgets strategy · Easy

  Spell GADGET on the left bank to bank one, then press the action button to spend it. In a mode it spots a shot for you — but it picks left-side shots first and only serves the mode on your current TV channel, so a badly aimed gadget is a wasted one.

  Reward: One spotted mode shot per gadget

• Minor Villains progression · Medium

  Complete the three TV targets and the left orbit lights for a minor villain. There are fourteen of them across three seasons, each 45 seconds long, and each one you finish hands you a perk that lasts the rest of the ball. This is the half of the game most players ignore.

  Reward: A lasting perk per completed villain

• Which Minor Villains To Chase progression · Medium

  The perks are not equal, and picking well changes the shape of your whole ball. Two of them are worth going out of your way for, and one of those two is arguably the strongest single award on the machine.

  Reward: Game-altering perks

• Bat Turn mode · Medium

  Spin the Batmobile ten times to light Bat Turn at the Atomic Pile. Each spin adds 25K to a value that starts at 500K, so build before you start. Once running, every major shot pays the current hurry-up and goes dark; hitting the spinner relights them all and resets the value upward.

  Reward: 40 seconds of hurry-up shots, 250K minimum each

• Playfield Multiplier multiplier · Medium

  Complete both standups flanking the Batmobile spinner and the Atomic Pile lights for 2x playfield scoring for 30 seconds. Do it again while the multiplier is still running and you get 3x with a fresh timer. Capture Mr. Freeze first and that 3x can survive the entire ball.

  Reward: 2x, then 3x playfield for 30 seconds

• Shot Multipliers multiplier · Medium

  Three hits to the Commissioner Gordon target arm the white X inserts. The very next shot you make keeps that multiplier for the rest of the ball. Your first is 2x, then 3x, up to 6x for the fifth — so aim them at the shots your current villain actually asks for.

  Reward: Up to 6x locked onto a shot for the ball

• The Gordon Opener strategy · Medium

  A small habit with a real payoff. Hit Commissioner Gordon twice at the very start of a major villain mode, before you take a single mode shot, and you bank 2x bonus plus a permanent extra multiplier on Villain Multiball scoring.

  Reward: +2x bonus and +1x Villain Multiball scoring

• Mystery strategy · Easy

  Complete both return lanes and the left orbit saucer lights for a mystery award. The lanes cycle with the flipper buttons, so this is almost free. What it gives depends entirely on what is running — and during any multiball it is always an add-a-ball.

  Reward: Context-sensitive, up to 5M or an extra ball

• Combos combo · Medium

  Any ramp or full orbit arms the major shots for a combo. Follow it with a shot to the other side of the playfield and you score 125K, with another 125K for each shot you keep adding. Combos are also worth 250K each in end-of-ball bonus, which is where they quietly add up.

  Reward: 125K per combo shot, 250K each in bonus, extra balls at 20/50/100

• Changing Channels secret · Medium

  Modes here do not queue — they all run at once, and the display only shows the most recent one. Holding the action button for just over a second switches which one is on the main channel, and that choice has real scoring consequences most players never discover.

  Reward: Directs gadgets and the main channel multiplier

• Minor Villain Wizard Modes wizard · Hard

  Capture one minor villain from each of the three seasons and the next left orbit shot opens a menu of three six-ball multiballs. All three are chaotic and all three add balls on super jackpots, but they light those jackpots in completely different ways.

  Reward: A six-ball multiball of your choice

• Villain Escape wizard · Hard

  The game's real ending. Capture all four major villains and the next left orbit saucer starts it. Thirty seconds of pure switch-hitting builds the jackpot value at 10K a hit, then a four-ball multiball asks you to defeat all four villains again for a super jackpot.

  Reward: A four-ball frenzy with a jackpot you built yourself

• End-Of-Ball Bonus strategy · Easy

  Bonus is built from your per-shot value in each of the four villains plus 250K for every combo, all multiplied by your bonus multiplier. Skill shots and completed lane sets are what raise that multiplier, which is why the top lanes matter more than they look.

  Reward: A multiplied payout at the end of every ball