Cactus Canyon
Bally, 1998 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.
Open Cactus Canyon in the Pinball Genie app →A wild-west game whose whole design points at one wizard mode: High Noon at the OK Corral. All CGC editions (SE / SE+ / LE) share one playfield and ruleset — differences are cosmetic, so every shot is trim all. The remake adds a right-orbit spinner and a rotating saloon-doors toy, present on all editions.
The five major "fan" shots carry the combo/jackpot logic: Bronco Loop (left orbit), River Adventure Ramp (left), Train Ramp (center), Bank Robbery Ramp (right) and the Trick Shooting Loop (right orbit). The two scoops are the Gold Mine (center-left) and the Bart Brothers / Saloon (upper right).
Ranking (Stranger → Partner → Deputy → Sheriff → Marshal) is the master multiplier: higher rank means higher Quick Draw values and far bigger High Noon totals, so the overriding strategy is reach Marshal before spending your High Noons. Rank up via Bounty Awards (collected at Bart), the Lasso Skill Shot ("Increase Rank"), or winning a Gun Fight.
Core repeatable modes: Quick Draw (reflex duel started by rolling a lit inlane; value counts down from a rank-based start to 50K; shooting all 4 Bad Guys in Quick Draw starts Showdown MB) and Gun Fight (rank-up duel; in the remake reworked into a cached AC/DC-style value that builds with every finished Shot Mode / defeated Bart and is collected at a lit inlane, but resets on drain).
Multiballs: Gold Mine MB (light lock at the Mine / Bounty / Skill Shot → lock 3 → 5-shot jackpots; the Motherlode is collected at the Mine and its multiplier grows +1× per full 5-jackpot sweep, cap 10×), Showdown MB (win Quick Draw on all 4 Bad Guys; Lyman adds Boss Bart → Super Jackpot at Bart → Victory Laps), Stampede MB (complete all 5 major shots), and Lyman's Drunken MB (Beer Mug, reversed flippers, Super Jackpot at the Beer Mug).
Combos: a Combo light sits on all 3 ramps + both loops; the window shrinks as the chain grows. 10 Combos lights the Combo segment of the Sheriff's Badge. The Continued ramp-chain farms 50K per shot ping-ponging the left/right ramps, capped by a Center-Ramp bonus of 25K × chain length.
Multipliers: there is no traditional playfield X. The three multiplier systems are the end-of-ball Bonus X (back-left lanes / Skill Shot +3 / Bounty +5), the Motherlode award multiplier (all-5-jackpot sweeps in Gold Mine MB, cap 10×), and the rank effect on Quick Draw & High Noon.
Wizard — High Noon: complete the 5-segment Sheriff's Badge — Mother Lode, Showdown, 10 Combos, Stampede, and defeating the Barts — then shoot the lit Gold Mine to start. It runs 30s +1s per Bad Guy banked earlier in the game; shoot 20 Bad Guy targets to win 20,000,000. Lyman adds a second Boss-Bart finale stage. A great game is 3+ High Noons at Marshal plus a Gold-Mine-+-Showdown combined multiball with a maxed Motherlode, pushing past 1 billion.
How Cactus Canyon plays
Play a spaghetti-western gunslinger: win duels, fight the Bart Brothers, rob the bank and work the gold mine while you climb from Stranger to Marshal. Light all five Sheriff's Badge segments to reach the High Noon showdown at the OK Corral.
The loop
- Take a safe Lasso award off the plunge, then lean on the two shots that almost play themselves: the Bart scoop from the left flipper and the Gold Mine from the right.
- Light Quick Draw at the center standups and roll a lit inlane to fire a duel; winning lights a Bounty and ranks you up.
- Collect Bounties at the Bart scoop for rank-ups, extra balls, and lit features, since rank multiplies everything you score.
- Lock balls at the Mine for Gold Mine Multiball, then sweep the five major shots to grow the Motherlode before you cash it.
- Light the five Sheriff's Badge segments -- Mother Lode, Showdown, ten Combos, Stampede, the Barts -- to arm High Noon at the Mine.
Reading the lights
- Five Major Shots (shot arrows) — lit: The two loops and three ramps are the five major shots, they light as combo shots and mode shots, and completing the whole set is what triggers Stampede Multiball. · then: Complete all five for Stampede, and in Gold Mine Multiball these same shots become your jackpots -- sweeping the full set relights them and raises the Motherlode multiplier a step each time. Chaining them left-to-right also farms fifty thousand a shot and feeds your combo count toward the badge.
- Bad Guy Drop Targets (status) — lit: A popped bad-guy target is your duel shot -- one rises for Quick Draw or Gun Fight, all four for Showdown and High Noon -- and its value counts down the longer you take, so shoot the lit one fast. · then: Win Quick Draws and Gun Fights on the bad guys to light Bounties and climb rank, and win Quick Draw on all four to start Showdown Multiball. In the High Noon wizard these same targets are the win condition -- twenty bad-guy hits takes the mode.
- Quick Draw & Gun Fight Lanes (lanes) — lit: Completing the center standups lights Quick Draw, a lit inlane fires the duel the instant you roll it, and a lit left outlane arms a rank-up Gun Fight, with the lit-inlane insert flipping side to side on its own so you can time the roll. · then: Roll a lit inlane for an instant reflex duel at the bad-guy drops, or bank uncapped Gun Fight value from every mode and Bart you finish and cash it at a lit inlane. That cached value keeps growing but resets if you drain first, so bank it before any risk -- the Deputy ball save can rescue it.
- Gold Mine (status) — lit: The Mine is the universal collect hole: it lights for a ball lock, then holds Gold Mine Multiball, the Motherlode collect, every lit extra ball, and the High Noon start. · then: Lock three balls to start Gold Mine Multiball, sweep the major shots to build the Motherlode, then cash the fully multiplied Motherlode right here, because that single award is where a big ball's points really live. It is also the only place an extra ball or, finally, High Noon is collected.
- Bart Brothers Scoop (mode) — lit: The jump ramp fires the ball into a Bart's face and the scoop behind captures it, and it is where you start and finish Bart fights and collect a lit Bounty -- though the remake's saloon doors swing shut over it during a fight. · then: Beat the Bart Brothers here to light the Barts' own Sheriff's Badge segment, and collect your lit Bounties at this same scoop between duels for the fastest rank-ups on the machine. A soft loop shot can also clip a Bart from behind when those doors are shut.
- Bonus-X Top Lanes (lanes) — lit: The back-corner rollover pair fills from the Bronco Loop's diverter on your first few left-orbit shots, and completing that pair steps the end-of-ball Bonus Multiplier once. · then: Complete the pair whenever the diverter feeds it, and stack the Lasso's plus-three award and a Bounty's plus-five on top, to drive the multiplier toward its ninety-nine-times ceiling. A fully built bonus can top two hundred million, so never drain reaching for one more shot when it is high.
- Beer Mug (status) — lit: Five hits on the Beer Mug light Drunken Multiball at the saloon, and the mug is also that multiball's Super Jackpot shot and the Saloon Fight collect point. · then: Start Drunken Multiball and the flippers reverse and the general illumination cuts out, with a heavy ball save at the start and on the last ball. Shoot the Beer Mug again through the reversed controls for the Super Jackpot.
Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.
Start scoring
- Ball one — Off the plunge take a safe Lasso award -- Rank Up or Light Bounty are the best early picks -- then work Bart from the left flipper and the Mine from the right, the two lowest-risk repeat shots here. Vacuum up Bounties as they light, because they rank you up and feed extra balls, Quick Draws, and Bonus X at almost no drain risk. — Lasso Skill Shot, Strategy — Beginner First 30 Seconds
- Building — Win Quick Draws and Gun Fights to climb toward Marshal, because rank multiplies every score and you want to reach it before spending anything big. Lock balls at the Mine for Gold Mine Multiball, start banking uncapped Gun Fight value from every mode and Bart you finish, and light the Sheriff's Badge segments one at a time. — Strategy — Rank Up to Marshal ASAP, Gold Mine Multiball, Gun Fight Value Stack, High Noon — Complete the Sheriff's Badge
- The big one — Light all five Sheriff's Badge segments to arm High Noon at the Gold Mine -- a timed OK Corral showdown where the balls auto-return and twenty bad-guy hits win twenty million, scaled up hard by your rank. The biggest raw score comes from layering Showdown on top of Gold Mine Multiball and cashing a fully multiplied Motherlode, which can carry one ball past a billion. — High Noon at the OK Corral — Win, High Noon — Complete the Sheriff's Badge, Gold Mine + Showdown Combined Multiball
Does Cactus Canyon have an action button?
Nothing extra on the front of this one. Cactus Canyon is a 1998 Bally and the Chicago Gaming version keeps the same interface, so the whole toolkit is two flippers, the shooter lane that feeds the lasso bowl for your skill-shot award, and clean nudging. Quick Draw duels, Gun Fights and High Noon are all won with shots, not a press.
Goals in Cactus Canyon
Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.
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Auto-plunge into the wire lasso bowl and take whatever award the spinning selector lands on — anything from Rank Up to Light Lock.
Reward: 1 of 12 awards (Rank Up, Light Bounty, Light Quick Draw, +3 Bonus X, Light Lock/EB, Complete a shot, 1M...)
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Runaway Stage Coach Hurry-Up (Super Skill Shot)
The Lyman-code super skill shot: collect the Runaway Stage Coach hurry-up on the Bronco Loop — it starts near 3M and grows every time you collect it.
Reward: ~3M and up; each collect raises future hurry-ups and the fixed 1M awards
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10 Combos (Sheriff's Badge Combo segment)
Chain ramp/loop shots while the combo light is lit. The window shrinks as the chain grows; 10 total combos lights the Combo segment of the High Noon badge.
Reward: Lights the Combo segment of the Sheriff's Badge
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Ping-pong the left and right ramps to bank 50K per shot from the 2nd on, then cap it with the Center Ramp for a 25K x chain-length bonus.
Reward: 50K per chained shot + Center Ramp bonus of 25K x chain length
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The signature remake farm: bank an uncapped Gun Fight value from every Shot Mode you finish and every Bart you beat, then cash it at a lit inlane before you risk a drain.
Reward: Uncapped cached value, +1x multiplier per finished mode / defeated Bart (resets on drain)
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Gold Mine + Showdown Combined Multiball
The biggest scoring play in the game: layer Showdown on top of Gold Mine Multiball for a 3-ball add-a-ball engine, then pump the Motherlode multiplier and cash at the Mine.
Reward: ~850M–1B+; Motherlode base +250K per jackpot, +1x per 5-shot set (cap 10x)
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Bounties are the low-variance engine that lights everything: rank-ups, extra balls, Quick Draws and Gun Fights. Light them and collect at Bart on repeat.
Reward: Random: Rank Up, +5 Bonus X, +1M Bonus, Light EB / Quick Draw / Gun Fight / Lock, or points
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Light the lock at the Mine, lock 3 balls, and start the multiball where each ramp and loop scores a jackpot and the Mine collects the Motherlode.
Reward: 3-ball multiball; Motherlode collected at the Mine, multiplier grows per full sweep
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Win Quick Draw on all four Bad Guys to start Showdown, then knock the four drops down in sets for escalating jackpots — Lyman adds a Boss Bart Super Jackpot.
Reward: Multiball; also lights Extra Ball and the Showdown badge segment
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Complete all five major shots — Bronco, River, Train, Trick Shooting and Bank — to trigger the Stampede, with all 3 ramps and both loops lit for jackpots.
Reward: Multiball; lights the Stampede badge segment (~250K/shot + a roving ~500K super)
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Lyman's Drunken Multiball: hit the Beer Mug to light it, start it at the Saloon, and play with reversed flippers and the GI off — Super Jackpot back at the Beer Mug.
Reward: Multiball with reversed flippers; Super Jackpot at the Beer Mug
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A fast reflex duel: light it, roll a lit inlane to trigger, and shoot the popped Bad Guy fast before the value decays — value scales with rank.
Reward: Rank-scaled points (Stranger 500K → Marshal 2M, decaying to 50K); winning lights a Bounty and advances Showdown
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A rank-up duel: arm it (lit left outlane, Bounty, or beating a Bart), get trapped in the inlane, and shoot the released Bad Guy for a rank increase.
Reward: Winning increases your rank
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Complete a ramp to start, then stop the train by hitting the Bank/River ramps the number of times shown — shooting the Train Ramp slows it to buy time.
Reward: Saving Polly lights the Extra Ball
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Fight the Bart Brothers by firing the jump ramp into their faces (or sneak a weak hit from behind via the loops). Defeating them lights the Bart badge segment.
Reward: Defeat 3 Barts (4–5 in Lyman) → lights the Bart segment of the Sheriff's Badge
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CC's end-of-ball Bonus X — advance it through the back-corner lanes, the Skill Shot +3, and the Bounty +5 for a payout that can reach 200M+ (caps 99x).
Reward: Higher end-of-ball bonus (up to 99x, 200M+)
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Grow the Motherlode Multiplier
CC's shot-value multiplier: during Gold Mine Multiball, sweep all 5 jackpots repeatedly to raise the Motherlode award multiplier (cap 10x) before collecting at the Mine.
Reward: Motherlode multiplier +1x per full 5-jackpot sweep, cap 10x (example 30M x 10 after 24 sets)
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High Noon — Complete the Sheriff's Badge
Light all five segments of the Sheriff's Badge — Mother Lode, Showdown, 10 Combos, Stampede and the Barts — to light the Gold Mine for High Noon.
Reward: Lights the Gold Mine for High Noon at the OK Corral
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High Noon at the OK Corral — Win
Shoot the lit Gold Mine to start the timed wizard mode where all balls auto-return; shoot 20 Bad Guy targets to win 20 million.
Reward: 20,000,000 for 20 Bad Guys + jackpots; Lyman adds a 2nd Boss-Bart finale stage
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Strategy — Rank Up to Marshal ASAP
Rank multiplies everything: three High Noons are worth ~4x more at Marshal than at Stranger. Farm bounties, win duels, and reach Marshal before spending your High Noons.
Reward: Marshal rank (~2M Quick Draws, unlocks Marshall Multiball; three-High-Noon total ~285M vs ~69M at Stranger)
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Strategy — Beginner First 30 Seconds
Control-first opener: take a safe skill award, then hammer the two automatic money shots — Bart on the left flipper, Gold Mine on the right — while vacuuming bounties.
Reward: Safe, game-lengthening start that builds Bart fights, the Mine lock, and Bonus X
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Strategy — Combo Setup for a 1B+ Ball
The >1B engine: get a Gold Mine / Stampede lock ready with a Quick Draw running, start the multiball while the Quick Draw is active, then layer Showdown on top.
Reward: 3-ball add-a-ball stack, climbing Motherlode multiplier, normal shots scoring — the ball that passes 1 billion
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Light and Collect the Extra Ball
Cactus Canyon hands out extra balls four ways — a skill shot award, a bounty award, saving Polly, and starting Showdown Multiball — but every one of them still has to be collected at the Gold Mine.
Reward: One extra ball per collect
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The updated code adds a mini-wizard at the top rank: reach Marshall and it starts on its own as a single-ball round where you shoot the five jackpots, guarded by the Bad Guy drops, to bring the train home — the bad guys then escape and Marshall Multiball begins.
Reward: Rank-gated bonus multiball on top of rank-scaled duel and High Noon values
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