Ghostbusters
Stern Pinball, 2016 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.
Open Ghostbusters in the Pinball Genie app →Designed by John Trudeau, Ghostbusters is built around collecting Ghosts as its core currency, three parallel scene ladders themed to the movie, and a heavy emphasis on playfield multipliers. It ships in Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition variants sharing an identical rule set — Premium/LE add a physical subway ball-lock, Ecto Goggles Pepper's-ghost effect, magnetic slingshots, and a harder-routed right ramp, but score identically to Pro shot-for-shot.
Skill Shot
Every ball offers two simultaneous, untimed picks: a P-K-E top lane (left flipper button) and one of six playfield shots shown as a blue arrow (right flipper button). Either successful shot pays roughly 1M + 5% of your current score plus its specific award (top-lane awards include Bonus X, playfield multiplier lighting, and Super Jackpot value; playfield-shot awards mostly start a scene or advance ghost/video-mode progress).
Ghosts and Milestones
Ghosts are captured at any of the game's lit-insert shots, by defeating Slimer, completing scenes, and via Storage Facility jackpots. Milestones unlock content automatically: 20 ghosts lights Tobin's Spirit Guide (a 3-5 prize mystery award), 40 lights the "Negative Reinforcement on E.S.P. Ability" video mode, ~49 lights an Extra Ball, 60 starts Loopin' Supers, 80 starts PKE Frenzy, and 100 starts Mass Hysteria Multiball.
Scene Ladders (9 "Scenes" total)
Three ladders, each started at a different shot, must be cleared scene-by-scene:
- Public Library (Left Scoop, 2 scenes): Spooked Librarian → Back Off, Man!
- Sedgewick Hotel (Left Ramp, 3 scenes): We Got One! → He Slimed Me! → The Ballroom
- Dana Barrett's Apartment (Right Orbit, 4 scenes): Okay, Who Brought the Dog? → Spook Central → Gozer the Gozerian → Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
Completing a scene relights its ladder's start shot so you can chain immediately into the next one.
Multiballs
- Storage Facility Multiball — light via the Triple Newton Ball/Tobin's/Pop Bumpers, lock 3 balls at the Left Ramp, then recapture every released ghost for escalating Jackpots and three Super Jackpots.
- Mass Hysteria Multiball — auto-starts at 100 ghosts; a 6-ball multiball with flippers reversed for the entire duration (its biggest drain risk).
- We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its... (mini-wizard) — qualifies by finishing any single ladder; a 2-4 ball multiball where literally every shot pays a flat Super Jackpot, farmed by hammering the Left Ramp.
Multipliers
Two standups flank the Left Ramp entrance: 2X and 3X Playfield, which stack multiplicatively to 6X on nearly all scoring — the single biggest scoring lever in the game, best saved for the start of a mode or multiball. Bonus X (end-of-ball multiplier) builds separately via the P skill-shot lane, Pop Bumpers, and Tobin's.
Combos and Farms
The Left Ramp is the hub of nearly every repeatable scoring pattern: Collecting Gear (loop the ramp, cash in at the Library standups), Loopin' Supers (continuously-lit Super Jackpots for ~21 seconds), and the We Came We Saw jackpot farm. On the right side, River of Slime (Right Orbit → Right Scoop) and PKE Frenzy (Right Ramp jackpots fed by a decaying switch-built multiplier) mirror the same build-and-collect structure.
Wizard Modes
Completing all 3 ladders (9 scenes) auto-starts "We're Ready to Believe You!" — a 4-ball multiball racing to collect 100 ghosts in 60 seconds across rising ranks (Junior → "Maybe a God?"). Reaching 100 ghosts inside it triggers the final "Are You a God?" — Level 1 runs two named 10-second two-shot combos (Left Ramp→Left Scoop, Right Orbit→Right Scoop), Level 2 runs a 7-link forced chain (Slimer → Librarian → Terror Dog → Gozer → both Scoleri Brothers → Right Orbit → Left Ramp), and Level 3 banks a 1-billion-point bonus before a 6-ball victory-lap multiball.
Notable Hazards
This is a physically unforgiving Trudeau design: a wide flipper gap, a center GHOST target that can send airballs straight down the middle, Scoleri Brothers drop targets that can fling the ball over the flippers, and double-inlane geometry that turns near-misses into drains. Play controlled, not desperate, around the multiplier standups and center targets.
How Ghostbusters plays
Ghostbusters (Stern, 2016) has you busting ghosts through scenes from the films. Run the three scene ladders to reach the main wizard mode, and let your rising ghost count trigger the big multiballs.
The loop
- Set both skill-shot picks before you plunge -- the left flipper cycles the top-lane P-K-E pick and the right flipper cycles a blue-arrow playfield shot -- since both can pay on one launch.
- Start a scene at its lit shot, follow the flashing arrows to clear it, then re-shoot the same shot to chain into the next scene.
- Loop the Left Ramp to build a Gear award, then cash it at the Library standups to light the 2x and 3x playfield multipliers.
- Collect ghosts everywhere on the playfield; the count auto-starts Storage Facility, PKE Frenzy and Mass Hysteria at fixed thresholds.
- Complete all nine scenes across the three ladders to qualify the wizard mode at the Left Ramp.
Reading the lights
- Two-Part Skill Picks (lanes) — lit: Before the plunge you set two picks that can both score on the same launch: a P-K-E top-lane award and a blue-arrow playfield shot. · then: Point the blue arrow at whichever scene-start shot is already flashing, so one plunge both banks the skill shot and kicks off a scene; picking the K lane also nudges the playfield multiplier along. · control: Either flipper button: the left flipper button steps the lit P-K-E top lane your skill shot will score at, while the right flipper button moves the blue arrow among six playfield shots; both lock the instant you plunge (before you launch the ball)
- Scene-Start Shots (ladder) — lit: Three shots open the three ladders -- the Left Scoop starts the Public Library, the Left Ramp the Sedgewick Hotel, and the Right Orbit Dana's Apartment. · flashing: A flashing start shot has its next scene ready; clearing a scene relights the same shot to chain straight into the one after it. · then: Follow the flashing arrows through each two-to-four-shot scene, then re-shoot the start to chain. Finishing all nine scenes qualifies the wizard mode at the Left Ramp, We're Ready to Believe You!
- Left Ramp (shot arrows) — lit: No shot on the machine matters more than the Left Ramp: loop it to inflate a pending Gear award, and it is where Super Jackpots and the mini-wizard jackpots are collected. · then: Loop the ramp to build Gear, then collect it from the Library standups before it expires to light the 2x and 3x targets. Once Loopin' Supers is lit, every loop here banks a five-million-plus Super Jackpot for about twenty seconds.
- 2X / 3X Playfield Targets (multiplier) — lit: The two standups flanking the Left Ramp light 2x and 3x playfield scoring; with both lit at once, nearly everything scores at six times. · flashing: A lit target flashes as its countdown runs -- hit the same target again while it flashes to extend the timer. · then: Light both, then dive into a mode or multiball while the multiplier is up. One strong mode played at six times can beat a whole game scored flat, so save the cash-in for something lucrative.
- GHOST Standup & Slimer (letters) — lit: Repeated hits on the dead-center GHOST standup spell out GHOST, and Slimer drops down over his lane; three hits then chase Slimer off and light scenes. · then: Use GHOST as a second way into the scene loop when you whiff a start shot -- but take it only from a settled ball, since a wide miss dribbles straight down the middle for a drain.
- Right Captive Ball Cycle (status) — lit: Hitting the right captive ball arms the next feature in a fixed cycle -- Scoleri Brothers, then Terror Dog twice, then Gozer -- for a ten-second window; hit it again inside that window to start the feature. · then: Drop both Scoleri Brothers inside their shared ten-second timer to light three Super Jackpots. This same captive ball toggles the reversed flippers on and off during Mass Hysteria Multiball.
- Storage Facility Lock (status) — lit: Drive balls into the Triple Newton Ball channel to light Storage Facility, then lock three at the Left Ramp. · then: Starting the multiball releases every ghost; recapture them all for scaling jackpots to light three Super Jackpots at the Left Ramp, and tap the Triple Newton Ball for add-a-balls to stretch it out.
- PKE Frenzy (Right Ramp) (shot arrows) — lit: Reaching eighty ghosts, or a Tobin's award, starts PKE Frenzy -- a forty-second frenzy with an uncapped jackpot lit at the Right Ramp. · then: Hammer the Right Ramp, which returns to the right flipper here for quick repeats, and refresh the multiplier by completing a P-K-E top lane or hitting five switches before it decays.
Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.
Start scoring
- Ball one — Set both skill-shot picks and point the blue arrow at a flashing scene-start shot, so a single plunge collects the skill shot and opens a scene. Then follow the arrows and chain scenes by re-shooting the same start shot. — Two-Part Skill Shot, Beginner: First 30 Seconds, Best Opener Shot Sequence
- Building — Loop the Left Ramp to build Gear and light the 2x and 3x targets, collect Tobin's Spirit Guide at the Left Scoop for a random boost, and rush one short ladder to qualify We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its, the mini-wizard with flat, predictable jackpots. — Collecting Gear (Gear Combo), Tobin's Spirit Guide, We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its... (Mini-Wizard), Tournament Money Path
- The big one — Complete all nine scenes to start We're Ready to Believe You! at the Left Ramp, then reach a hundred ghosts inside it to trigger Are You a God? -- a three-level finale that pays a one-billion-point bonus, times your playfield multiplier, into a six-ball victory lap. — We're Ready to Believe You! (Main Wizard Mode), Are You a God? (Super Wizard Mode)
Does Ghostbusters have an action button?
Ghostbusters landed a year before Stern made the lockdown-bar button standard, so the front rail is bare. Everything selectable here runs through the flipper buttons: left picks your top-lane skill shot, right cycles the blue arrow through six playfield shots, and both of them get swapped on you for the whole of Mass Hysteria Multiball.
Goals in Ghostbusters
Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.
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Select a top-lane P-K-E award with the left flipper and a playfield shot with the right flipper before you plunge — both can pay out on the same plunge.
Reward: 1M + 5% of score per successful pick (both can pay out) + starts a scene immediately if the ladder-start shot lands
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A safe blue-arrow skill shot for flat points early in the ball. Older code started video mode straight off this plunge for a huge opener; current code does not, so take it for the points and the ball control, not a 60M head start.
Reward: 1M + 5% of your score + 10 ghosts caught
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The game's most repeatable combo: loop the Left Ramp as many times as you want to inflate a pending Gear award, then cash it in at the Library standups before it times out.
Reward: Lights the playfield multipliers at the left-ramp targets (2X, 3X, or 6X with both), plus the built-up hurry-up value collected at the left standups
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Build a hurry-up at the Right Orbit, collect it at the Right Scoop — collecting relights the same award so you can repeat it.
Reward: Banks the River of Slime hurry-up value at the Right Scoop, which relights the award for repeat farming
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Once lit (60 ghosts, or a Tobin's award), Super Jackpots are continuously lit at the Left Ramp for roughly 21 seconds — loop it as many times as you can before the timer runs out.
Reward: 5M+ Super Jackpot per Left Ramp loop (boosted by spinner level) for ~21 seconds; best stacked under 6X
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Hit the right captive ball (Single Newton Ball) to arm a feature, then hit it again within 10 seconds to start it — first in the cycle is the Scoleri Brothers drop-target duel.
Reward: Dropping both Scoleri Brothers within the 10-second window lights 3 Super Jackpots
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A 40-second frenzy where every switch scores and an uncapped jackpot sits lit at the Right Ramp — trivially farmable on Pro since the ramp kicks straight back to the right flipper.
Reward: Jackpot = 1,000 x PKE level x multiplier (caps at 12x) per Right Ramp hit during the 40-second frenzy
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Light the lock at the Triple Newton Ball, lock three balls at the Left Ramp, then recapture every ghost for three Super Jackpots.
Reward: Scaling Jackpot per ghost recaptured, then 3 Super Jackpots at the Left Ramp once every ghost is back
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Auto-starts at 100 ghosts collected — a 6-ball multiball that opens with the flipper buttons swapped, though hitting the right captive ball toggles the reversal off and on at will.
Reward: 6-ball multiball; conventional jackpot shots build toward a Super Jackpot, played with flippers reversed
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We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its... (Mini-Wizard)
Complete any one ladder (Library, Sedgewick, or Apartment) to qualify a 2-4 ball multiball where every shot is lit for a jackpot that starts around 6.25M and climbs 750K a shot, with a 100M Super Jackpot once you have collected enough of them.
Reward: Every shot pays a jackpot: ~6.25M rising 750K/shot to a 30M cap, then a 100M Super Jackpot
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First scene of the Library ladder — 3 shots to any combination of four lit shots clears it fast.
Reward: Clears the scene for ~18.5M via 3 Left Ramp loops; advances the Public Library ladder
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First scene of the Sedgewick Hotel ladder — alternate left and right shots to move the Ecto-1 along.
Reward: Completes the scene, advancing the Sedgewick Hotel ladder toward He Slimed Me!
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First scene of Dana Barrett's Apartment ladder — one hit each on three shots, themed around fleeing the Terror Dog.
Reward: ~21M total for the scene; advances Dana Barrett's Apartment ladder toward Spook Central
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The Apartment ladder's climactic 4th scene — pick a multiplier, unload unlimited shots, then finish at the Right Orbit.
Reward: 3.5M + 125K per shot x your locked multiplier in Phase 2, plus a final Right Orbit payout off everything accrued
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Playfield Multiplier (2X/3X/6X)
Light both standups flanking the Left Ramp for a multiplicative 6X on nearly all scoring — save the cash-in for right before a mode or multiball.
Reward: Up to 6X multiplicative on nearly all scoring while both the 2X and 3X targets are lit
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Bonus X (End-of-Ball Multiplier)
Stack Bonus X across balls via the P skill-shot lane, Pop Bumpers, and Tobin's, then hold your bonus to cash a big multiplied payout at ball end.
Reward: Stacks Bonus X from the P lane (+3 to +5), Pop Bumpers (+1X/+3X), and Tobin's (+3X) to multiply your end-of-ball bonus
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We're Ready to Believe You! (Main Wizard Mode)
Complete all 3 ladders (9 scenes total) to qualify it, then shoot the Left Ramp to start a 4-ball multiball racing to collect 100 ghosts in 60 seconds.
Reward: 4-ball multiball racing to 100 ghosts in 60 seconds; each rank-up (Junior to 'Maybe a God?') adds a ball with ball-save
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Are You a God? (Super Wizard Mode)
Reach 100 ghosts inside We're Ready to Believe You! to trigger the final 3-level wizard mode, ending in a 6-ball victory-lap multiball.
Reward: 1-billion-point bonus (x playfield multiplier) then a 6-ball victory-lap multiball with all shots lit for escalating jackpots
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The lowest-friction on-ramp: take whatever Start Scene shot is already lit, plunge into it, and let scene-chaining carry you.
Reward: Starts a scene immediately off the plunge and keeps the ladder chain going; GHOST hits on a whiff give a second on-ramp
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The concrete soft-plunge-and-backhand opener that banks the skill shot and starts a scene on the very first shot.
Reward: 1M + 5% of score skill shot + starts the first scene in one hit; sets up 2X/3X readiness via Gear Combo loops
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The highest-percentage scoring plan: rush one full ladder to light We Came We Saw We Kicked Its rather than grinding for ghost-count multiballs cold.
Reward: Flat, predictable Super Jackpots via We Came We Saw We Kicked Its — one good run is enough for a good tournament score
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The right captive ball hands out features in a fixed order — Scoleri Brothers, Terror Dog twice, then Gozer. Arm it, restart it inside ten seconds, and work all the way through the cycle.
Reward: Each stage of the cycle in turn: Scoleri Brothers duel, two Terror Dog features, then Gozer
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The Left Scoop hands out a random award from a strong pool — bonus multiplier, lit playfield X, a queued multiball, a frenzy. Keep it lit and collect it whenever the scoop is free.
Reward: One random award from the Tobin's pool: +3X bonus, lit 2X, Storage Facility lit, Loopin' Supers, PKE Frenzy, and similar
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Negative Reinforcement on ESP Ability (Video Mode)
Collect enough ghosts and the right scoop hides a mentalist mini-game instead of a points award. A card is chosen, you call which of the two it is, and every correct call doubles the money already on the table — the whole skill is knowing when to walk away with it.
Reward: A bank starting at 250,000 that doubles with every correct call, up to 64 million, collected when you cash out
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Don't Cross The Streams (Video Mode)
The other mini-game at the right scoop puts a proton stream on each side of the display and ghosts in between. The detail that catches everyone out is that each flipper drives its own stream across to the opposite side, and both streams slide back to where they started the moment you let go.
Reward: Roughly 2-3 million per ghost caught, plus a completion bonus of around 20 million — a clean run lands near 60 million
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