Diner

Williams, 1990 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Diner in the Pinball Genie app →

Diner is a short rulebook played in a specific order. Five cranky customers give you their orders, you serve them by clearing drop targets, and when the last one is fed the machine offers a single jackpot worth twelve million or two million depending entirely on preparation you did twenty shots earlier.

The clock is the score

On the backglass is an analog clock numbered one to twelve. Whatever it reads is the Dine-Time jackpot in millions. Three ways move it: completing the E-A-T lanes lights an advance in one of the inlanes, the Today's Special hole sometimes awards one outright, and — the big one — once the Cash Register ramp's value has climbed past 100K, every further left ramp shot adds a full hour. Serving your fifth customer with the clock sitting on three is the single most expensive mistake available here.

The opening shot

Shoot the Cup ramp — the right ramp — first. One shot does two things: it swings the Cup diverter open for about ten seconds, and it raises the Cash Register ramp's diverter so a ball can be locked underneath. A ball dropped into the Cup whips around the rim, tripping a sensor each lap, and every two laps lights the next letter of D-I-N-E-R. The lap value is ten times the lit letter: 25K for D, 50K for I, 75K for N, 100K for E and 250K for R. Once R is lit each further lap is another ten times 100K, up to a 3.5M ceiling from one shot. After that, five more right ramp shots reopen the diverter.

Lock, then ring the register

With that diverter raised, a shot up the Cash Register ramp rolls underneath and locks. The lock stays open between balls until you use it, so a drain costs you nothing. Then hammer the same ramp for value: consecutive shots pay 20K, 40K, 60K, 80K, 100K and keep climbing 20K a time. Past 80K the Grill lights for an extra ball, one per ball. Past 100K you are printing clock hours. The ramp backhands from the left flipper and returns to the right inlane, so the loop is comfortable.

Multiball and the Rush

Release the locked ball and the spinner — the mirrored half orbit left of the jets — lights for the start. This is the shot people get wrong: it only counts if the ball carries all the way into the upper left saucer. A soft spinner shot dribbles into the E-A-T lanes and nothing happens. With a ball already locked, Today's Special usually hands you Start Multiball outright.

Once two balls are out, do not just bash drop targets. For ten to fifteen seconds the upper left saucer and the Today's Special hole both light for Beat The Rush — saucer first as Rush 1, sinkhole second as Rush 2, in that order. Make both and each ramp is worth 500K for the rest of the multiball, which dwarfs anything the targets are paying. The lights die if a ball drains as well as when the timer expires.

Serving the customers

A customer is served by knocking down all six drop targets across both banks — Root Beer, Fries and Iced Tea on the left; Hot Dog, Burger and Chili on the right. Both banks reset when you complete them, and leaving one or two down and then draining puts all three back up.

There is a shortcut, and it is worth the detour. Completing the E-A-T lanes lights a white arrow at the base of each ramp, and while those arrows are lit a ramp shot spots an entire bank. That turns five orders into a handful of ramp shots. The E-A-T lanes are steerable with the flippers and the jet bumpers sit right under them feeding balls back up, so completions come easily. They also raise your bonus multiplier to 2x, 3x, 4x and 5x, and pay a flat 100K per completion after that.

Collecting

Serve the fifth customer and the spinner lights for the jackpot: one million per hour on the clock, up to twelve million. Same rule as the multiball start — the ball must finish in the upper left saucer. Today's Special ejects into that saucer too, which is a legitimate back door if the spinner is not cooperating. You get ten to fifteen seconds. Miss the window and the machine un-serves your last customer and makes you fill that order again.

Odds and ends

• Jukebox skill shot. With a ball in the shooter lane, the jukebox cycles 150K, 100K, 75K, 50K and 25K. Plunge and the ball runs to the upper left saucer for whatever it stopped on — at 1x, then 2x, then 3x on later attempts.
• The Grill. Cold it is worth almost nothing. Clear a drop bank and it lights for roughly ten seconds, paying 100K, then 250K, then 500K, then 1.5M on successive collections before resetting. On factory settings that progress carries between balls.
• Today's Special. Lit at the start of the game and relit by the left inlane. Eight awards: four point values from 25K to 250K, extra ball, Advance Dine-Time and a free Serve Customer.
• Outlane save. Play your first two balls badly enough and one outlane lights for a limited time. Drain into the lit lane and you get an extra ball — and the lit lane is steerable with the flippers.

How Diner plays

This is a roadside diner where the job is to serve all five customers and then cash the Dine-Time jackpot. Wind the backglass clock as high as it will go first, because that clock is exactly what the final payout gets multiplied by.

The loop

1. Flatten both drop-target banks -- all six food items -- to serve the customer in front of you, and the banks spring straight back up for the next order.
2. Roll the top E-A-T rollovers, tapping a flipper to drop the lit lane under the ball, to step your bonus multiplier and arm a ramp arrow that spots a whole bank.
3. Hammer the Cash Register ramp on repeat -- it backhands from the left flipper -- to drive its value up and, past a hundred thousand, tick the backglass clock ahead an hour at a time.
4. Pop the right ramp once to swing the Cup diverter open, then feed the Cup and let the ball whirl the rim to spell D-I-N-E-R and stash a ball for multiball.
5. Hold back the fifth serve until the clock is fully wound, then end the ball in the upper-left saucer to take Dine-Time.

Reading the lights

• Food Drop Banks (status) — lit: A standing food target is part of the order you are filling right now; drop all three on the left bank and all three on the right to serve that customer, and both banks reset on the spot. · then: Serving all five fills the final order and lights the Dine-Time jackpot. A bank you have just cleared also wakes the Grill for roughly ten seconds, where a quick shot pays a bonus that climbs each visit toward one and a half million.
• E-A-T Lanes (lanes) — lit: A lit rollover up top is an E-A-T letter you still owe; carry the ball through all three to finish the word. · then: Finishing E-A-T bumps the bonus multiplier a notch -- as high as five times -- and lights a white arrow at the foot of each ramp, so a single ramp shot then knocks down an entire drop bank for you. Each completion also arms an Advance Dine-Time in one inlane, another hour on the eventual jackpot. · control: Either flipper button: a tap of either flipper button shuttles the lit E-A-T rollover sideways across the three top lanes, so you can park it in whichever lane the ball is drifting toward and rake in the letter you are missing (as the ball rolls down through the top lanes)
• Cash Register Value (ladder) — lit: Back-to-back trips up the Cash Register ramp stack its value in twenty-thousand steps; break the chain and the climb starts over. · then: Once the value clears eighty thousand an extra ball lights over at the Grill, yours to take a single time per ball. Push past a hundred thousand and every further ramp shot winds the backglass clock ahead an hour, and that clock is precisely what your Dine-Time jackpot is multiplied by.
• D-I-N-E-R Cup (letters) — lit: The game's first Cup ramp shot throws the diverter open for a short window and sends the ball up into the big coffee cup. In there it whirls the rim, and each pair of laps both advances the DINER inserts and pushes up the payout on every lap after. · then: Drive the laps past the R and a single Cup can be worth up to three and a half million before the diverter drops shut. The ball rolls out of the cup down into the E-A-T lanes, handing you a lane change on the way.
• Lock & Multiball (status) — lit: That same opening right-ramp shot also raises the Cash Register ramp's diverter, so the next ball rolls underneath and locks; the lock sits waiting between balls until you spend it. · then: Free the locked ball by cracking the spinner hard enough to carry it into the upper-left saucer, which tips off a two-ball multiball. The instant it starts, grab the saucer for Rush 1 and Today's Special for Rush 2, in that order, and both ramps pay five hundred thousand each for whatever is left of the multiball.
• Today's Special (mode) — lit: The Today's Special sinkhole on the right glows from the opening ball and relights off the left inlane; when it is lit it hands over one of a spread of awards -- a chunk of points, an extra ball, an hour on the clock, a customer served for free, or an outright start to multiball when a ball is already locked. · then: Because the Cup ramp dumps the ball into the left inlane, one right-ramp shot re-lights this scoop at no cost. Save it for the awards that push your game forward -- a fresh hour on the clock or a customer handed to you -- rather than the token point values.
• Dine-Time Jackpot (mode) — lit: Serve the last customer and the spinner lights for Dine-Time, the machine's jackpot: a million points for every hour showing on the backglass clock, up to a ceiling of twelve. · then: Crack the spinner hard so the ball runs all the way up into the upper-left saucer to collect, or sneak in the back way through Today's Special, which ejects into that same saucer. Let the ten-to-fifteen-second window lapse and the machine takes your last serve back and makes you fill that order again.

Lane change: the flipper buttons move the lit lane. Tap either flipper button to slide the lit E-A-T rollover across the three top lanes; drop it under the lane the ball is heading for, roll through to bank that letter, and finishing the word steps your bonus multiplier and lights a ramp arrow that spots a whole drop bank. The lit outlane ball-save, when the game grants one, shifts side to side the same way.

Start scoring

• Ball one — Set the table before you cash anything in. Take the jukebox skill shot on its top value, then work the flipper-steered E-A-T lanes over and over to build the bonus multiplier and light the ramp arrows that make serving customers cheap. — Jukebox Skill Shot, The E-A-T Lanes, Spot A Bank With The Ramps
• Building — Open the Cup with the right ramp for D-I-N-E-R laps worth up to three and a half million, ring the Cash Register ramp past a hundred thousand to pile hours onto the clock, and lock a ball. Start the two-ball multiball and nail both Rush shots so the ramps pay five hundred thousand apiece. — Stir The Cup, Ring The Register, Multiball, Beat The Rush
• The big one — Hold the fifth serve until the backglass clock is wound as high as you can get it, then send the ball through the spinner into the upper-left saucer for Dine-Time -- a million per clock hour, up to a twelve-million jackpot, the biggest single score the game offers. — Dine-Time

Does Diner have an action button?

No extra control here — flippers, start and a plain manual plunger. That plunger carries the whole skill shot, feeding the upper left saucer to collect whatever value the jukebox lights have stopped on.

Goals in Diner

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

• Jukebox Skill Shot skillshot · Medium

  With a ball waiting in the shooter lane the jukebox cycles five values from 150K down to 25K. Plunge and the ball runs to the upper left saucer, paying whatever the lights stopped on. The first collection is worth face value, the second double and the third triple.

  Reward: 25K-150K, at 1x then 2x then 3x

• Serve The Customers progression · Medium

  Five customers, one order at a time. A customer is served by knocking down all six drop targets across both banks, and the banks reset the moment you do. Serve all five and Dine-Time starts — that is the whole game.

  Reward: Progress toward Dine-Time

• Spot A Bank With The Ramps strategy · Medium

  Completing the E-A-T lanes lights a white arrow at the base of each ramp. While those are lit, every ramp shot spots an entire bank of drop targets — which turns serving five customers from a grind into a couple of ramp shots per order.

  Reward: A whole drop bank per ramp shot

• Dine-Time wizard · Hard

  Serve the fifth customer and the spinner lights for the jackpot: one million times whatever the backglass clock reads, up to twelve million. The ball has to finish in the upper left saucer to collect, and you have only ten to fifteen seconds.

  Reward: 1M per clock hour, to a 12M maximum

• Advance The Clock multiplier · Medium

  The backglass clock runs 1 to 12 and each hour is a million on the jackpot. Completing the E-A-T lanes lights an advance in one of the inlanes, and once the Cash Register ramp value has climbed past 100K every further ramp shot adds an hour on its own.

  Reward: +1M on the Dine-Time jackpot per advance

• The E-A-T Lanes multiplier · Easy

  Three steerable lanes across the top. Completing them takes the bonus multiplier to 2x, then 3x, 4x and 5x; after 5x each further completion is a flat 100K. Every completion also lights both ramp arrows and an advance Dine-Time inlane.

  Reward: Up to 5x bonus, then 100K a time

• Ring The Register combo · Medium

  Consecutive shots up the left ramp pay 20K, 40K, 60K, 80K, 100K and keep climbing 20K a shot. Clear 80K and an extra ball lights at the Grill, which you may only take once per ball. Clear 100K and every further shot adds an hour to the Dine-Time clock. It backhands cleanly from the left flipper, which is what makes repeating it practical.

  Reward: 20K climbing 20K per shot, extra ball, clock hours

• Stir The Cup mode · Hard

  The first Cup ramp shot of the game swings its diverter open for about ten seconds, opening the route into the big plastic cup. A ball in there laps the rim fast, and every two laps lights the next letter of D-I-N-E-R and raises what a lap pays.

  Reward: Up to 3.5M from a single Cup shot

• Multiball multiball · Medium

  A two-ball multiball, and by the standards of the era an easy one. The first Cup ramp shot raises the Cash Register ramp's diverter, the ball rolls under and locks, and the spinner then lights for the release — but the released ball still has to reach the upper left saucer to start it.

  Reward: Two-ball multiball

• Beat The Rush multiball · Hard

  The hidden half of multiball. Once it starts, the upper left saucer and Today's Special both light for about ten to fifteen seconds — saucer first as Rush 1, sinkhole second as Rush 2. Make both in order and each ramp is worth 500K for the rest of the multiball.

  Reward: 500K per ramp for the rest of multiball

• Today's Special mode · Medium

  A sinkhole on the right that hands out one of eight awards when lit: 25K, 50K, 75K, 100K, 250K, an extra ball, Advance Dine-Time or Serve Customer. It is lit at the start of the game and relit by the left inlane.

  Reward: Points, extra ball, a clock hour or a free customer

• The Grill Bonus combo · Medium

  The Grill is worth almost nothing cold. Clear a full bank of drop targets and it lights for about ten seconds, and in that window it pays a value that escalates every time you do it: 100K, then 250K, then 500K, then 1.5M, and then back to the start.

  Reward: 100K climbing to 1.5M

• The Spinner Shot strategy · Medium

  A mirrored spinner in a half orbit left of the jets, worth 3,000 a spin when lit. More importantly it is the delivery route to the upper left saucer — and both multiball and the Dine-Time jackpot depend on that ball actually getting there.

  Reward: 3K per spin and a route to the saucer

• The Outlane Ball Save secret · Easy

  Diner watches your first two balls, and if they were bad enough it lights one outlane for a limited time. Draining into the lit lane awards an extra ball instead of taking one — and the lit lane is steerable with the flippers.

  Reward: An extra ball off a drain

• The Standard Route strategy · Medium

  Diner's rules are shallow enough that there is one efficient order of operations, and playing it makes the difference between a two-million game and a twenty-million one. It is built around loading the clock before you serve the fifth customer.

  Reward: A repeatable high-scoring loop