Road Show

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

Open Road Show in the Pinball Genie app →

Road Show is a four-flipper widebody with two talking heads, eighteen modes, a shaker motor and a second plunger halfway up the left side. It is Pat Lawlor recycling his own best ideas, and there is almost always something lit somewhere. Scoring well is not about learning eighteen modes. It is about the four systems underneath them: miles, Blasts, the Wheel and souvenirs.

Miles move you west

Eighteen cities run east to west across the map, and each is a mode you start at the Start City Scene scoop or the Blast Hole. After finishing one you have to travel 400 miles to relight the scoop. The Left Loop pays 150 miles, both ramps 100, the Center Loop and both holes 75, the Lock 50, inlanes 25 and the spinner 5 a spin. The best mileage shot in the game is the Right Ramp with Bridge Out lit, because the diverter sends the ball round into the Left Loop and pays for both — 275 miles from one shot. The flashing city is always one of the next two on the map, and you change which one by hitting a bumper or standup of that city's colour.

Blasts and the multiplier combos

The Blast Value starts at 1M and every bumper hit adds 208,430 to it, up to 10M. Hitting the Blast Hole or the Magic Standup lights the Blast Targets for a plain collect, but how you light them decides the multiplier.

• Left Loop then Blast Targets pays double the Blast Value.
• Right Ramp with Bridge Out then Blast Targets pays triple, and advances your bonus multiplier on the way through.
• Big Blast from the Wheel makes the targets worth five times the value — the flasher in front of them tells you when it is lit.
• Left Loop or Bridge Out into the Blast Hole instead is a Super Blast, worth 5M, then 10M, then 15M, and it collects everything else lit at the hole at the same time.
• Blasts also work as a counter: three lights Flying Rocks, and further counts hand out extra balls, Specials and more Rocks all the way up past eighty.

The Wheel and Bridge Out

Bridge Out is cross-lit by the inlanes — left inlane lights the Right Ramp, inside right inlane lights the Left Ramp. Each collect advances your bonus multiplier from 2X to 6X, then lights an extra ball, then pays 10M. Advancing the multiplier also lights the twelve-award Wheel, collected at the Lock or the Blast Hole. Bumper hits and spinner rotations step the flashing award along, so you can steer it. Worth shopping for: Jets At Max, Spinner At Max, Big Blast, a free souvenir and Light Extra Ball. One warning — if the Wheel is already lit when you push the multiplier to its maximum, the Wheel goes out.

Souvenirs are real points

Every Skill Shot and every Bob's Freebie hands you a free souvenir, and you can buy more with your own score at Bob's Souvenir Bunker — light it with the Center Loop or the outside right inlane, then hit the Lock with nothing else lit and no mode running. At the end of the ball, each souvenir whose matching city you have visited is worth 10M, and two of the same souvenir pays twice. Three items in Bob's stock are not souvenirs at all: the lead pinball at 75M lights an extra ball, the zinc at 100M awards one outright, and the gold at 250M gives you an extra ball plus a lit Special. And if the sign in the shop window advertises uranium ore, hit both flipper buttons quickly to start Construction Mania — twenty seconds with every target on the machine worth 3M.

Payday Multiball

Bulldozer blade hits advance the day of the week. Reach Friday and the Lock lights; lock two balls and Ted falls asleep, the blade lifts, and his open mouth starts multiball. The jackpot opens at 40M and every blade hit adds 5M to a 75M ceiling, and jackpots then alternate between Ted and Red. Ted's blade rises and falls when he is next, which makes his half the harder one. Two things are worth knowing. Between lighting the lock and actually locking, every blade hit pays Overtime — 1.1M climbing to 3M. And if you drain two balls without a single jackpot, the Lock lights for twelve seconds to restart the whole thing with two balls.

The Magic Standup and Super Payday

There is a backwards-facing target under the tip of the upper left flipper, and the way to hit it is to do nothing — let a ball coming out of the Lock roll into it. It does something useful in nearly every mode in the game, once each: 16M added to the Atlanta hurry-up, two people thawed in Minneapolis, a tunnel spotted in Butte, a free Wheel award in Las Vegas, a flat 60M in Salt Lake City. Learn to leave the flipper alone. The wizard bonus, Super Payday, is reached during any of the three West Coast city modes: lock one ball in Bob's Bunker, then lock a second in the Bunker, the scoop or the Blast Hole. Everything turns on at once, and ramps and loops start paying back the points you scored in each city on the way west.

Goals in Road Show

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

• Skill Shot skillshot · Medium

  Plunge straight into the Blast Hole without touching anything else. It pays a free souvenir plus 5M the first time, 10M the second, and so on up to 25M. It counts any time you have a ball at the plunger, not just at the start of a ball.

  Reward: A free souvenir plus 5M climbing to 25M

• Shooter Bypass combo · Easy

  Any time a ball rolls down the Skill Shot lane, the Left Ramp lights for Shooter Bypass on top of anything else already lit there. It is worth 5M, then 10M, up to 25M — a free ramp award you get several times a game if you notice it.

  Reward: 5M climbing to 25M

• Bridge Out multiplier · Medium

  The inlanes cross-light the ramps: left inlane lights the Right Ramp, inside right inlane lights the Left Ramp. Each collected Bridge Out advances your bonus multiplier through 2X to 6X, then lights an extra ball, then pays 10M a pop.

  Reward: Bonus multiplier to 6X, then an extra ball, then 10M

• Build And Collect Blasts strategy · Medium

  The Blast Value starts at 1M and every bumper hit adds 208,430 up to a 10M ceiling. The Blast Hole or the Magic Standup lights the Blast Targets for a plain collect. How you light them decides the multiplier.

  Reward: 1M to 10M, doubled, tripled or quintupled

• Super Blast combo · Medium

  Shoot the Left Loop or a Bridge Out Right Ramp and then put the ball in the Blast Hole instead of the targets. That pays 5M the first time, 10M the second and 15M after — and it also collects anything else sitting lit at the hole.

  Reward: 5M, 10M, then 15M, plus whatever else is lit

• The Wheel mode · Medium

  Twelve awards below the Bulldozer, lit by advancing your bonus multiplier and collected at either the Lock or the Blast Hole. Bumper hits and spinner rotations move the flashing award counterclockwise, so you can steer it.

  Reward: One of twelve awards

• Buy Souvenirs strategy · Medium

  Souvenirs are the quiet points engine. Every Skill Shot and every Bob's Freebie hands you one free, and you can buy more with your own score at Bob's Bunker. At the end of the ball each souvenir whose city you have also visited is worth 10M.

  Reward: 10M per souvenir with a matching city, at bonus

• The Pinball Souvenirs secret · Hard

  Three souvenirs in Bob's stock are not souvenirs at all. The lead pinball costs 75M and lights an extra ball, the zinc pinball costs 100M and awards one outright, and the gold pinball costs 250M for an extra ball plus a lit Special.

  Reward: Extra balls and a Special, bought with score

• Construction Mania secret · Hard

  Watch the sign in the window when you arrive at Bob's. If it advertises uranium ore, hit both flipper buttons quickly and you start a hidden twenty-second round with every target on the machine worth 3M. You forfeit that trip's souvenir.

  Reward: 20 seconds of 3M targets

• Flying Rocks mode · Medium

  Light the Left Ramp from a Wheel award or from Blast counts, and the ramp feeds a second plunger on the left. A wireform with three exits leads away from it, and each exit is a different award. Nothing else can be lit at the ramp at the same time.

  Reward: 5X Blast, Radio Riot, an extra ball, or 25M

• Payday Multiball multiball · Hard

  Bulldozer hits advance the day of the week. Reach Friday and the Lock lights. Lock two balls, Ted falls asleep and the blade lifts — shoot his open mouth to start. The jackpot opens at 40M and every blade hit adds 5M to a 75M ceiling.

  Reward: 40M jackpots climbing to 75M, alternating heads

• Multiball Restart strategy · Medium

  If you drain two balls without collecting a single jackpot, the Lock lights for a restart for twelve seconds. Shoot it and multiball comes back with two balls. It is one of the more forgiving safety nets on any Lawlor machine.

  Reward: A second two-ball multiball

• Overtime combo · Medium

  Between lighting the lock on Friday and actually locking the first ball, every Bulldozer hit pays Overtime — 1.1M, then 1.2M, and so on up to 3M. If you can hit the blade reliably, milk it before you lock.

  Reward: 1.1M climbing to 3M per blade hit

• Big Millions combo · Medium

  Every time a ball is kicked out of the Lock, Red lights for Big Millions for a short window. It starts at 5M and climbs a million per collection to 25M, and the value holds for the entire game rather than resetting each ball.

  Reward: 5M climbing to 25M, held all game

• The Cheeseburger Bonus secret · Medium

  Keep feeding Red. After enough hits on her the game pays a flat 20M Cheeseburger Bonus, unannounced and unlit. It is one more reason to treat Red as a shot you take on purpose rather than one you hit by accident.

  Reward: 20M

• Drive The Map progression · Medium

  Eighteen cities run east to west across the playfield map, and each one is a mode. You start one at the Start City Scene scoop or the Blast Hole, and then you have to travel 400 miles to relight it for the next.

  Reward: Access to all eighteen modes, and Super Payday

• The Magic Standup secret · Medium

  A backwards-facing target under the tip of the upper left flipper. You hit it by doing nothing — let a ball coming out of the Lock roll into it. It gives a free award in nearly every mode in the game, once per mode.

  Reward: A free mode award, and it always lights the Blast Targets

• Atlanta — Worker Trapped mode · Medium

  A hurry-up that opens at 35M and drops to 5M. Collect it at the Blast Targets or the Blast Hole. The same combos that multiply Blasts multiply this: Left Loop first doubles it, Bridge Out on the Right Ramp triples it, and Big Blast makes it five times.

  Reward: Up to 5x a 35M hurry-up

• Nashville — Change The Station multiball · Medium

  A two-ball mode that runs until you drain one. You get 7M for starting it, and every hit on the three-bank of Radio targets pays 10M, then 11M, and so on to a 15M ceiling. Safe points, and the extra ball is a genuine safety net.

  Reward: 7M plus 10M to 15M per radio hit

• Las Vegas — Slot Machine mode · Hard

  Fifteen seconds with the Wheel spinning continuously, and every Lock shot hands you whatever award is lit right then — including ones you already collected. Trap the ball on the right flipper, watch the lights, and shoot when the award you want comes round.

  Reward: Repeatable Wheel awards, including extra balls

• Butte — Tunnel Hunt mode · Medium

  Three underground shots: the Lock, the Start City Scene scoop and the Blast Hole, worth 10M, 12M and 20M. Each one only pays once. There are no playfield lights for this, so track it on the display — three mounds of dirt, left to right.

  Reward: 42M for all three

• Super Payday wizard · Hard

  The wizard bonus. During any West Coast city scene, lock one ball in Bob's Bunker and then lock a second in the Bunker, the Start City Scene scoop or the Blast Hole. Everything on the machine turns on at once.

  Reward: Specials, 1M bumpers, 3X Blasts, Wheel awards and Payday bonuses

• Specials And Extra Balls strategy · Medium

  Blasts double as a counter award. Flying Rocks lights at three Blasts, an extra ball somewhere between five and fourteen, a Special between seventeen and thirty-four, then more Flying Rocks at forty, another extra ball at fifty, and Rocks again at sixty and eighty.

  Reward: Extra balls, Specials and Flying Rocks from Blast counts