Freddy: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Gottlieb, 1994 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Freddy: A Nightmare on Elm Street in the Pinball Genie app →

Freddy runs on one idea almost nothing else in pinball copies: you are either awake or asleep, and the two states play completely differently. Awake is ordinary pinball, where you gather items, currency and saves. Asleep is a nightmare, where you fight Freddy on a clock. Players who do well treat the awake state as preparation, not filler — what you are holding when you fall asleep decides whether the nightmare is winnable.

Falling asleep, and what happens next

Three things put you under: the plunger skill shot, the 1... 2... mystery award from the boiler room, and simply running out of time on the sleep meter. Once you are in a nightmare, every flashing FREDDY shot advances the Freddy Meter billboard by two places. Fill it and the boiler room qualifies; shoot the boiler and Freddy goes down for 10,000,000 times the number of the nightmare you are in. If multiball is still running when he falls, you do not wake up — the jackpots light instead.

There are seven nightmares in the ladder, each opening with its own mix of multiball, lit Save Soul targets and an active Freddy jackpot. The first time you see one the game is generous, handing over free items and a partly filled meter. Play it again and none of that help arrives.

The three items

• Multiball — the nightmare opens with multiball already running, which means more flashing shots per second and a much faster meter.
• More power — every Freddy shot advances the meter three places instead of two.
• Set alarm — the boiler room qualifies five seconds before the nightmare ends. Grab him there and the nightmare carries on into the awake state, which is the best position in the game.

The sleep meter is a vertical billboard in the upper centre of the playfield, and it works both ways. Time drives it down toward asleep; coffee shots drive it up. Push it all the way to the top and you become Fully Awake, which does two things: the captive ball starts strobing, and two otherwise unreachable awards come online. Hit the centre left spot target while fully awake for Hidden Mode, a multiball where every boiler room shot pays a flat 10,000,000 — you get one per player, per game. Hit the captive ball spot target instead for Freddy's Bones, which hands you all three next-nightmare items at once, or twenty kruegerands if you already have them.

Kruegerands and the shop

Kruegerands are currency and worth hoarding — anything unspent is collected at the end of the game, and each is worth a million points in the Final Nightmare. To spend them, roll the right return lane while lit, which flashes Freddy's head for exactly one shot; the head is reached by shooting up through the pop bumpers. What is on the shelf depends purely on how many you carry: 10 to 19 buys ten souls, 20 to 29 buys Kruegerand Multiball, 30 to 39 a hurry-up extra ball, 40 to 49 a straight extra ball, and fifty or more buys Dream Warriors outright. Shopping early is usually a mistake.

Jackpots, combos and Dream Warriors

Defeat Freddy during multiball and five jackpot lamps flash. Each shot collects one and puts that lamp out, and when only one is left it relocates to the captive ball and stays active there — so the end of a jackpot round is a shot you can repeat. Separately, the combo feature is a three-part chain: roll the left return lane to qualify the captive ball, hit the spot target in front of it while lit, and that opens the top left gate and briefly flashes the centre jackpot. The window is short, so plan the third shot before you take the second.

Those two plus a Freddy jackpot are what Dream Warriors needs: one multiball jackpot lamp, one Freddy jackpot lamp, one combo jackpot lamp, and the lower left kicker qualifies. Inside it, the strobing shot pays a super jackpot then jumps elsewhere — until it lands on the upper left spot target, where it stops moving and stays live as long as you hold multiball together.

Saves, points and the endgame

• Take That (top left target) changes with how long games have been lasting on the machine. Under three minutes it gives kick save, then claw save, then a hurry-up extra ball, then 20,000,000. Over three minutes it pays 5,000,000, then 10,000,000, then a hurry-up extra ball.
• The claw between the flippers comes from completing C-L-A-W and catches balls the flippers cannot. Using it resets the letters.
• Pop bumpers add 300,000 to your end-of-ball bonus per hit, or a full 1,000,000 each when flashing — bumper time is not wasted time here.
• The T.V. Set pays 10,000,000 multiplied by consecutive hits while it flashes out, so set up a repeat rather than taking one and leaving.
• Low game special — start your last ball under 20,000,000 and the right outlane lights for a special.

The Final Nightmare always opens as a four-ball multiball. Complete five strobing shots to qualify the boiler room, then finish him there; if multiball ends first, the game gives you a grace period rather than cutting you off. The payout is why you hoard all game — a million per soul, a million per kruegerand, and ten million for each Freddy you have already put down.

Goals in Freddy: A Nightmare on Elm Street

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

• Plunger Skill Shot skillshot · Medium

  The plunge is one of only three ways into a nightmare — the others being the mystery award from the boiler room and simply running out of time. Taking it here means you choose when the fight starts rather than having it chosen for you.

  Reward: Straight into a nightmare

• Awake And Asleep progression · Easy

  The whole machine runs on two states. Awake is normal play, where you gather items and points. Asleep is a nightmare, where you fight Freddy. Understanding what carries between the two is the difference between surviving nightmares and being fed to them.

  Reward: The structure of the game

• Defeat Freddy mode · Medium

  Inside a nightmare, every flashing FREDDY shot pushes the meter two places along — three if you brought more power in with you. Fill it and the boiler room lights. Shoot it and he goes down for 10,000,000 times the number of the nightmare you are in.

  Reward: 10M x nightmare number

• Earn Your Items While Awake strategy · Medium

  Three items carry from the awake state into your next nightmare, and they change it completely. Multiball means the nightmare opens with multiball. More power makes every Freddy shot worth three meter steps instead of two. Set alarm gives you a way out at the end.

  Reward: A nightmare you can actually win

• Set The Alarm strategy · Hard

  The most interesting of the three items. With the alarm set, the boiler room qualifies five seconds before the nightmare ends — and if you grab Freddy there, the nightmare carries on into the awake state instead of simply expiring.

  Reward: A nightmare that continues past its own clock

• Coffee And The Sleep Meter progression · Medium

  The vertical billboard in the upper centre is a clock you can push back. Time drives it toward asleep; coffee shots drive it toward the top. Both ends matter — the bottom drops you into the next nightmare, the top makes you Fully Awake and unlocks two hidden awards.

  Reward: Fully Awake, which arms Hidden Mode and Freddy's Bones

• Hidden Mode secret · Hard

  Reach Fully Awake and then shoot the centre left spot target. You get a multiball where every boiler room shot pays a flat 10,000,000 and it runs until you are back to one ball. You only ever get one of these per player per game, so make it count.

  Reward: 10,000,000 per boiler shot

• Freddy's Bones secret · Hard

  The other Fully Awake award, and the one that changes your next nightmare. Hit the captive ball spot target while fully awake and you are handed all three next-nightmare items at once. If you already hold all three, you get twenty kruegerands instead.

  Reward: Multiball, more power and set alarm together

• Multiball Jackpots multiball · Medium

  Defeat Freddy while multiball is still running and five jackpot lamps start flashing. Each shot collects its jackpot and puts that lamp out. Keep going and eventually only one is left — and that last one moves to the captive ball, where it stays active.

  Reward: Five jackpots, then a repeatable one

• The Nightmare Add-A-Ball multiball · Medium

  Any nightmare that is running with multiball flashes the lower left target for an extra ball into play. It is easy to overlook with everything else lit, and it is the cheapest way to keep a nightmare multiball alive long enough to finish it.

  Reward: One more ball in play

• The Combo Jackpot combo · Hard

  A three-part chain and one of the three lamps you need for Dream Warriors. Roll the left return lane to qualify the captive ball, hit the spot target while it is lit, and that opens the top left gate and briefly flashes the centre jackpot — complete it for the combo jackpot.

  Reward: Combo jackpot and one of three lamps

• Dream Warriors wizard · Hard

  Light all three jackpot lamps — one multiball jackpot, one Freddy jackpot and one combo jackpot — and the lower left kicker qualifies for Dream Warriors. Inside it, the strobing shot pays a super jackpot and then moves, until it settles on the upper left spot target and stays there.

  Reward: Repeatable super jackpots

• Bank Kruegerands progression · Medium

  Kruegerands are the game's currency. Various features hand them out, they are worth a million each in the Final Nightmare, and any you never spend are collected as an end-of-game bonus. The Kruegerand Multiball is the fastest way to build a pile.

  Reward: Currency for the shop and 1M each at the end

• Freddy's Shop strategy · Hard

  Roll the right return lane while it is lit and Freddy's head flashes for one shot — through the pop bumpers. Make it and you can spend kruegerands. What is on offer depends entirely on how many you are holding, so it pays to wait rather than shop early.

  Reward: Souls, multiball, extra balls or Dream Warriors

• Take That strategy · Medium

  The top left target hands out different things depending on how long games have been lasting on the machine. On a fast machine it gives you saves first; on a slow one it just pays points. Either way it is the most reliable way to relight your kick save.

  Reward: Kick save, claw save, hurry-up extra ball or up to 20M

• Arm The Claw Save progression · Medium

  Complete C-L-A-W and you can activate the claw device that sits between the flippers — the one thing on this playfield that catches a ball headed straight down the middle. Once you use it the letters reset and you start again.

  Reward: A save between the flippers

• The T.V. Set multiplier · Hard

  Once lit, the television starts flashing out, and hits during that flash pay 10,000,000 multiplied by how many you have landed in succession. That multiplier is the point — one hit is fine, four in a row is a different game entirely.

  Reward: 10M x consecutive hits

• The Glove Flipper secret · Hard

  Qualify the glove and the lower left kicker stops being a hole that just spits the ball back — instead you get to flip the ball off the ramp yourself. Land it on the captive ball and the game pays you for it.

  Reward: An award for hitting the captive ball off the glove

• The Final Nightmare wizard · Hard

  The end of the ladder, and it always opens as a four-ball multiball. Five strobing shots qualify the boiler room, and the boiler finishes him. The payout adds up everything you have hoarded all game — souls, kruegerands and every Freddy you have already put down.

  Reward: 1M per soul, 1M per kruegerand, 10M per Freddy defeated

• The Low Game Special secret · Easy

  A quiet mercy rule. Start your last ball with under 20,000,000 and the right outlane lights for a special for a timed period. It is the one time in this game that a right drain is something you might actually aim for.

  Reward: Special at the right outlane

• Build The Bonus In The Bumpers strategy · Easy

  Every pop bumper hit adds 300,000 to your end-of-ball bonus, and 1,000,000 each when the bumpers are flashing. That makes time in the bumpers genuinely productive rather than dead time waiting for the ball to come back.

  Reward: 300K per hit, 1M when flashing