Firepower

Williams, 1980 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Firepower in the Pinball Genie app →

Firepower, released in March 1980, is one of the most important machines ever built: the first solid-state game with multiball, and over seventeen thousand were made. The ruleset is small by modern standards but unusually well balanced, and it repays a player who knows what each shot actually buys.

The layout

Two flippers in the standard place, four pop bumpers, three eject holes and one spinner. The plunger lane sits on the right and releases the ball near the top. Going anti-clockwise: the Lower Right Lock on the inside of the curve, the Upper Right Lock above the curve exit, the four F-I-R-E rollover lanes at the top centre with a bullseye standup among them, four pop bumpers below in a square, then two banks of three centre stand-up targets. Down the left is the Left Spinner Lane with the Left Lock beside it, and at the bottom right the three P-O-W-E-R stand-ups. The left outlane holds a kickback called the Shield.

One frequent misreading: the three inserts stacked below the bullseye target marked 10,000, 30,000 and 50,000 have nothing to do with that target. They track the Firepower Bonus. The bullseye itself is worth 1,000.

The plunge, and F-I-R-E

You get two plunges. A light plunge drops the ball straight down to the flippers. A full plunge carries it round the curve into the area above the F-I-R-E lanes — and because one-way gates guard both entrances, a ball that gets up there has to leave through one of the four lanes. That is a guaranteed letter, and the right flipper rotates lit lanes one place at a time, so completing F-I-R-E is genuinely cheap.

Each completion steps the bonus multiplier: 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X. Once you are at 5X, one more completion lights the extra ball, which is then collected on the P-O-W-E-R bank. On factory settings all of that has to happen within a single ball, which is what makes the extra ball hard — more liberally set machines carry multipliers over and make it much easier.

The centre targets do everything

Six standups in two banks of three, and they are the engine of the game. Learn what each completion buys:

• One bank lights the Shield — the left outlane kickback — whether those targets were already collected or not.
• Both banks light two of the three eject holes and put the spinner on 1,000 a spin instead of 100.
• Both banks again lights the third eject hole and lights the remaining two pop bumpers.
• Every target is worth 1,000 whether lit or unlit, which makes this the safe default shot when nothing else is on.

Keeping the Shield lit is the single best habit on this machine. It goes out the moment it fires, and relighting it costs one bank of targets — a shot you were making anyway. With the Shield up, the left outlane stops being a drain and becomes a free return.

Multiball, and the shot that gets you there

Lock a ball in all three eject holes and all three release at once. Two are easy — the Left Lock and the Lower Right Lock are both straightforward from the flippers. The Upper Right Lock is the problem, and also the best shot on the playfield. It cannot be entered from the right: a ball from the plunger lane passes underneath it. The only reliable way in is up the left spinner lane, which hooks hard right at the top and fires the ball through a gate across the F-I-R-E area into the hole from the far side. Hit crisply with the spinner lit, it pays twice — once in spins, once in the lock.

Be honest about what multiball is here. There is no jackpot and no objective — this predates all that. What it gives you is two or three times the playfield activity, which is exactly when finishing F-I-R-E, sweeping P-O-W-E-R and building bonus get easier. Treat it as a feature-collection window, not a scoring mode.

Firepower Bonus and the Specials

Complete both F-I-R-E and P-O-W-E-R in the same ball and you collect the Firepower Bonus: 10,000, then 30,000, then 50,000, tracked by those stacked inserts in the bumper area. Take it all three times and both outlanes light for Special — the deepest thing in the ruleset, and not something anyone reaches by accident.

P-O-W-E-R is worth completing on its own regardless. It turns both return lanes from 1,000 into 3,000, and it is where a lit extra ball is collected.

Bonus, and a simple game plan

End-of-ball bonus runs from 1,000 to 29,000 and multiplies up to 5X, so a fully built ball is worth 145,000. Bonus comes from collecting features for the first time, not from repeating shots — so spread your shots around, and get the multiplier up early so everything after counts for more.

• Keep the Shield lit at all times. It costs one target bank.
• Work F-I-R-E with lane change every time the ball is at the top.
• When nothing is lit, hit the centre stand-ups — 1,000 each, no risk, and they move the Shield, the locks and the bumpers along at once.
• Learn the spinner lane. It is the one hard shot, and it unlocks both the third lock and the game's best sound.
• Collect features in multiball rather than trying to score in it.

Goals in Firepower

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

• Choose Your Plunge skillshot · Easy

  The plunger gives you two different balls. A light plunge drops straight into play near the flippers; a full plunge curves round the top and into the area above the F-I-R-E lanes, which is where the lanes, the bumpers and the bullseye all live.

  Reward: Control over where the ball starts

• Complete F-I-R-E multiplier · Easy

  Four lanes at the top, each worth 1,000. Completing all four lights the FIRE insert in the centre of the playfield and steps the bonus multiplier to 2X, 3X, 4X and 5X. The right flipper rotates lit lanes one place at a time, which makes this far easier than it looks.

  Reward: Bonus multiplier up to 5X

• Complete P-O-W-E-R progression · Easy

  The three-bank above the right slingshot. Completing it lights the POWER insert, turns both return lanes from 1,000 into 3,000 for the rest of the ball, and is where a lit extra ball is collected.

  Reward: 3,000 return lanes and the extra ball

• The Centre Stand-Ups progression · Medium

  Six targets in two banks of three, and the heart of the whole game. One bank lights the Shield. Both banks light two of the three locks and the spinner. A second full completion lights the last lock.

  Reward: Shield, locks and a lit spinner

• Keep The Shield Lit strategy · Easy

  The left outlane kickback is the single best habit on this machine. It goes out the moment it fires, and relighting it costs one bank of centre stand-ups — a shot you were going to make anyway. Never leave it dark for long.

  Reward: A saved ball, over and over

• Light The Three Locks progression · Medium

  Three eject holes: left, lower right and upper right. Lit they pay 10,000 and hold a ball; unlit they pay 1,000 and spit it back out. Completing both centre banks lights two of them, and a second completion lights the third.

  Reward: 10,000 a hole and a held ball

• The Spinner Into The Upper Right Lock combo · Hard

  The signature shot. The upper right lock cannot be entered from the right — a ball arriving from the plunger lane passes below it. You have to come up the left spinner lane, across the top through the gate, and into the hole from the other side.

  Reward: A ripping spinner and the third lock

• Three-Ball Multiball multiball · Hard

  Lock a ball in all three eject holes and all three are released at once. This was the first solid-state multiball ever built, and it shows: there is no jackpot and no objective. What it gives you is two or three times the playfield activity, which is exactly when everything else on the machine gets easier.

  Reward: Three balls in play

• The Firepower Bonus combo · Medium

  Complete F-I-R-E and P-O-W-E-R in the same ball and you collect the Firepower Bonus — 10,000, then 30,000, then 50,000, tracked by the three inserts stacked in the middle of the bumper area.

  Reward: 10,000, 30,000 then 50,000

• Light The Outlane Specials secret · Hard

  Collect the Firepower Bonus three times — through 10,000, 30,000 and 50,000 — and both outlanes light for Special. It is the deepest thing in the ruleset and almost nobody gets there by accident.

  Reward: Special at both outlanes

• The Extra Ball progression · Hard

  Reach 5X on the bonus multiplier, then complete F-I-R-E once more to light the extra ball, then collect it on the P-O-W-E-R bank. On factory settings all of that has to happen inside a single ball, which is what makes it hard.

  Reward: One extra ball

• Light The Pop Bumpers multiplier · Medium

  Unlit bumpers pay 100. Lit ones pay 1,000. Completing all six centre stand-ups lights two of them — one on the left, one on the right, alternating as they are hit — and a second completion lights all four.

  Reward: 1,000 per bumper instead of 100

• Build The End-Of-Ball Bonus progression · Medium

  Bonus runs from 1,000 up to 29,000 and multiplies by up to 5X, which makes a fully built ball worth 145,000 on its own. It is collected by first-time hits on the major features rather than by repeating shots.

  Reward: Up to 145,000 at end of ball

• When Nothing Is Lit, Hit The Centre Targets strategy · Easy

  The centre stand-ups pay 1,000 each whether they are lit or not. That makes them the default shot on this machine — no risk, real points, and they relight the Shield and step you towards the locks at the same time.

  Reward: 1,000 a target and progress towards everything