Bronco

Gottlieb, 1977 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Bronco is a 1977 Gottlieb wedgehead, and it plays nothing like a modern machine. There are no modes, no multiball and no wizard round. What there is instead is a small number of scoring systems that all feed one another, and a game that rewards knowing which of them is worth your attention on any given ball.

The plunge is a real decision

The plunger lane empties into the top arch directly above the A, B and C lanes, so how hard you pull decides which lane the ball drops into. A lit letter is one you have not collected yet. That makes the opening shot the cheapest progress on the machine — on an electro-mechanical game where nothing is guaranteed once the ball is live, a deliberate plunge is worth more than it looks.

What actually scores

A-B-C lanes — complete the set for the advance. The plunge is the most reliable way to pick up the one you are missing.
Drop targets — clearing the bank is the main body of work in a ball and feeds the rest of the scoring.
Spot targets and saucers — these hand you progress you did not have to earn cleanly, which matters on a game with no ball save of any kind.
Kickouts — learn where each one returns the ball. On a machine this old the kickout angle is the difference between a controlled next shot and a straight drain.

The alternating relay

This is the part players raised on modern machines miss entirely. Several awards on Bronco alternate between positions rather than staying where you last saw them — the game flips a relay, and the value moves to the other side. If you shoot where the award was last ball rather than where it is now, you are shooting at nothing. Check the lamps before you commit.

Bonus, extra ball and special

The bonus ladder is where a good ball turns into a good game. Run it up through the ball rather than treating it as an afterthought, because on an electro-mechanical layout the end-of-ball collect is a meaningful share of your score.

The extra ball and the special are both lit rather than awarded outright, and both are worth reorganising a ball around. On a five-cent-a-play era machine the special is the whole point — everything else on the playfield is a route toward lighting it.

Order of play

The practical route is: take the plunge letter, clear what you can of the drop targets while the ball is fresh and fast, use the spot targets and saucers to fill in whatever the flippers could not reach, and keep an eye on the relay so you always know which side is currently live. Build the bonus continuously rather than chasing it at the end.

And accept the era. There is no ball save, the outlanes are unkind, and a good Bronco game is often a short one played well rather than a long one. That is not a flaw in the machine — it is what the machine is.

Goals in Bronco

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

Plunge For A Letter skillshot · Medium

The plunger lane empties into the top arch directly above the A, B and C lanes, so plunge strength decides which lane the ball falls into. A lit letter means uncollected — aim your plunge at one of those rather than firing full strength and taking whatever you get.

Reward: 300 points, a letter and a bonus step
Complete A-B-C progression · Easy

Three letters, each worth 300 and one bonus step, and each with a second way to collect. The left inlane also spots B, the right inlane spots C, and both outlanes spot A. Completing the set doubles your end-of-ball bonus.

Reward: Doubles the end-of-ball bonus
Clear The Drop Targets progression · Medium

Three targets, each worth 300 and a bonus step, and each one lights a spot. Getting all three down is what makes the extra ball possible and is the other half of the Special requirement — this is the first thing to do on every ball.

Reward: Lights the extra ball and arms the Special
Spots And Saucers strategy · Medium

Each saucer scores 3000 flat, plus one bonus step for every lit spot on its own side. The alternating relay swaps which side is lit, so the saucer worth shooting changes during play — check the spot lamps before you commit.

Reward: 3000 plus up to three bonus steps
Use The Kickouts strategy · Easy

The kickout cups are a free chain. A ball that settles in one scores 500, then gets fired over the kickout rollover — worth another 100 and where the extra ball lamp lives — and lands in the saucer on that side. Three separate scores from one ball trapped in a cup.

Reward: 500, then 100, then the saucer award
The Alternating Relay secret · Medium

The middle pop bumper is only worth ten points, but every hit fires a relay that moves the lit extra ball lamp from one side of the playfield to the other and swaps which spot bank is live. It is the least valuable bumper on the machine and the one that changes the most.

Reward: Control of which side is lit
Catch The Extra Ball strategy · Hard

This is the awkward one. The extra ball only lights when all three drop targets are down and the bonus happens to be sitting on the right rung of its ladder — 3000, 5000 and 7000 light the left lamp, 9000 lights the right. It goes out again as the bonus climbs, and it is dark at 15,000.

Reward: Shoot again
Light The Special secret · Hard

Complete A-B-C and drop all three targets and the Special lights at the A lane. It stays lit for the rest of the ball and can be collected more than once — but there is no direct shot at that lane, so in practice you take it on the way out through an outlane.

Reward: Special, repeatable until the ball drains
Run Up The Bonus progression · Medium

The bonus is where a Bronco score is actually made. Everything that scores 300 also advances it a step, and on a machine that rolls over at 100,000 a maximum bonus is a serious chunk of a game.

Reward: Up to 60,000 points
The Order Of Play strategy · Medium

Bronco rewards doing things in one particular sequence, because the extra ball window closes as the bonus climbs. Targets first, extra ball second, multiplier third, then spend the rest of the ball feeding the saucers.

Reward: The most points a ball can produce

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