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Medieval Madness

Williams, 1997 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Medieval Madness in the Pinball Genie app →

Designer: Brian Eddy (rules), Lyman Sheats (software). The CGC 2015 remake and all its trims (Standard, Royal, Special/Limited, Merlin editions) are rules- and layout-identical to the 1997 original — cosmetic/hardware only. There is no Pro/Premium/LE split, so every shot is trim = all.

Objective

Destroy 6 castles — five random King's Men castles, then the King of Payne's castle — while completing five single-ball "Madness" modes to fuel multiball, ultimately qualifying the wizard mode Battle for the Kingdom.

The Five Madness Modes (single-ball qualifiers)

Completing a Madness flashes its light at Merlin's saucer (arming Multiball Madness). Completing one three times (10 trolls for Trolls) lights its blue "title" dot toward the wizard mode.

Multiballs

Castle Destruction (core progression)

Each castle is a 3-step kill: moat hits lower the drawbridge (hits = castle number) → gate ~3 hits to open (≈200K × castle number each) → one shot into the castle interior destroys it (≈2M × castle number). The 3rd castle lights an Extra Ball; the King of Payne's final castle is worth the most (~1M/gate + ~20M destroy).

Castle Hurry-Up

Completing a Madness after the first Multiball Madness (or via Super Skill Shot / Merlin's Magic) lights the gate for a hurry-up starting ~1M, decaying to ~250K. Stack further completions to build it "millions at a time" (1M → 3M → 5.5M → ~8M+; players hold to >50M), then cash at the castle. 10 hurry-ups light an Extra Ball (40 for a second).

Merlin's Magic

Random award at Merlin's saucer (lights when the three Merlin standups are completed): Light/Award Lock, Start Castle Multiball, Light/Start Trolls!, 3 Troll Bombs, Smack-A-Troll, +5 / Hold Bonus X, Light Extra Ball, 250K/500K/1M, Start Hurry-Up, Start any Madness, Lower Drawbridge, Destroy Gate/Castle, Video Mode.

Combos & Multipliers

Wizard Modes

Strategy

Castles are the scoring engine — the 60-second castle loop (moat → gate → castle, repeat) carries scores; weave in ramps/orbits to light Madnesses for a big Multiball Madness, then dump castles during it. Right drains are more common than left; the catapult is the hardest, most drain-prone shot. Battle for the Kingdom only lights in single-ball play, so guard the ball when one goal away.

How Medieval Madness plays

Medieval Madness is a castle siege: drop each drawbridge, crack its gate, and storm the keep, over and over, while knocking out five separate kinds of Madness around it. Light all six title dots to reach Battle for the Kingdom, the grand wizard war that ends on the King of Payne's keep.

The loop

  1. Work the moat to drop the drawbridge, the gate to crack it open, then the keep itself to level a castle -- the richest loop on the machine.
  2. Farm the ramps: four left ramps light Peasant Madness, four right ramps complete Save the Damsels, and both stack a Castle Hurry-Up you cash at the keep.
  3. Joust the orbits into each other, slam the catapult, and battle the trolls to light the rest of the five Madness types.
  4. Light Madness modes in single-ball play, then start Multiball Madness at Merlin's saucer for more balls and bigger jackpots.
  5. Earn all six blue title dots -- the five Madness types plus razing every castle -- to open Battle for the Kingdom.

Reading the lights

  • Castle Siege (shot arrows) — lit: The castle runs in three lit stages -- the moat to lower its drawbridge, the gate to blow it open, then the mouth of the keep to destroy it -- and each next castle wants more hits than the one before. · then: Run moat to gate to keep to raze a castle, then move on to the next; the tally of fallen castles sticks all game, your second one lights an extra ball, and toppling all six is one of the wizard's title dots. The keep out-scores nearly every other shot, so keep this loop turning even inside a multiball.
  • Peasant Ramp (ladder) — lit: The left ramp is the safest repeatable shot, and four of them climb the peasant awards up to Peasant Revolt, lighting Peasant Madness and a Castle Hurry-Up; a clean ramp returns down its wireform to set up the next shot. · then: Keep ramping while a hurry-up runs to stack its value millions higher, then cash the whole thing at the keep. Ten hurry-ups collected light an extra ball, and folding several into one stack still counts every one of them toward that ten.
  • Dragon Ramp & Damsel Tower (ladder) — lit: The right dragon ramp mirrors the left -- four shots complete Save the Damsels and light Damsel Madness -- and after enough hits its diverter opens to the Damsel tower tucked up the back right. · then: Farm it the same way for hurry-up stacking, since the ramp keeps handing the ball back for quick repeats. Damsels is one of the five Madness types feeding the wizard, so this ramp is doing two jobs at once.
  • Joust Orbits (lanes) — lit: The two orbits joust by feeding into one another, and three jousts win a Joust Victory to light Joust Madness; the third victory closes the orbit gate so the ball spills into the pop bumpers. · then: Win three victories across the game to light the Joust Champion dot for the wizard. With the gate shut the orbits routing into the jets also rack bonus switches, which your end-of-ball Bonus X then multiplies.
  • Trolls (status) — lit: The two motorized trolls pop up to guard the lock and Merlin's eject; the standups flanking the castle light Trolls! at Merlin's saucer, and a ball glanced off a raised troll into a feature banks a Troll Bomb. · then: With Trolls! lit, hit each raised troll three times to kill it; kills ladder toward Master of Trolls and its title dot. Bank Troll Bombs now off those ricochets, because those banked bombs are the only thing that drops the deathless trolls in the wizard fight.
  • Upper Rollover Lanes (lanes) — lit: The two upper rollover lanes light for Bonus X, but the lane the ball is drifting toward may not be the lit one. · then: Complete both lanes to add to Bonus X, the multiplier on an end-of-ball bonus that builds all ball long; the same lit lane is the Normal Skill Shot for a bigger Bonus X jump off the plunge. Bonus X only holds for the ball unless Merlin gives you Hold Bonus X to carry it over. · control: Either flipper button: a flipper tap walks the lit rollover across to the other top lane, so you can slide it beneath whichever lane the ball is heading for and finish the pair (as the ball rolls through the upper lanes)
  • Merlin's Saucer & Lock (status) — lit: Completing the three Merlin standups lights Merlin's Magic at the right eject, and the eject is also where Multiball Madness and the mini-wizard begin; the Moat Jump left of the castle is your ball lock. · then: Take Merlin for a mystery award -- Light Lock, extra Bonus X, Hold Bonus X -- then lock three balls at the Moat Jump for Castle Multiball. Start Multiball Madness here with as many Madness types lit as you can, since ball count and jackpots both scale with how many are showing.
  • Catapult (status) — lit: The far-left catapult flings loaded objects at the castle, and three slams into it light Catapult Madness; the flipper buttons cycle which object the catapult will hurl next. · then: Land all five different objects to trip the hidden Barnyard Multiball, and three completed slams also light the Catapult Ace dot. It is the single toughest shot on the game and the likeliest to drain, so take it only from a dead cradle when nothing safer is a hit from lighting.

Lane change: the flipper buttons move the lit lane. A flipper tap walks the lit upper rollover across to the other top lane. Set it beneath whichever lane the ball is heading for to finish both, which steps up Bonus X and multiplies your end-of-ball bonus; Bonus X stays for the ball only, unless Merlin's Hold Bonus X carries it forward.

Start scoring

  • Ball one — Get safe points and the multiplier going: take the Normal Skill Shot into a flashing top lane for Bonus X, hit both ramps to light Peasant and Damsels, grab an orbit toward Joust, and bank your first castle. Landing a castle or two early sets your score up for the rest of the game. — Normal Skill Shot, Peasant Madness (Revolting Peasants), Damsel Save (Right Ramp Farm), Castle Destruction Loop
  • Building — Light Madness types in single-ball play, then start Multiball Madness at Merlin with as many lit as you can for a four-ball start. Lock three balls for Castle Multiball, and keep razing castles the whole time, since the keep out-scores almost everything even during a multiball. — Multiball Madness, Castle Multiball, Castle Destruction Loop
  • The big one — Battle for the Kingdom is the summit. Light all six blue dots -- the five Madness types plus Castle Crusher -- then storm the King of Payne's keep, clearing its immortal trolls with banked bombs between gate shots. Winning lights Victory Laps whose Ultra Combos double each Victory Lap as you chain them, climbing with no cap anyone has found; Royal Madness is the mini-wizard you pass on the way. — Battle for the Kingdom, Ultra Combo (Victory Laps), Royal Madness

The Launch Button (Troll Bombs) on Medieval Madness

The red ball-launch button on the cabinet front — this game auto-plunges, so there is no shooter rod.

The red button that fires your plunge is also a weapon. Bank Troll Bombs from the troll standups or from Merlin, and one press puts a troll down without you having to hit it — which is exactly what you want when both trolls are up and you have three balls to watch.

Goals in Medieval Madness

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

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