Shrek
Stern, 2008 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.
Open Shrek in the Pinball Genie app →Shrek is a deep game hiding behind a licensed theme most players walk straight past. It has four separate multiballs, ten modes across two independent ladders, a fully playable mini playfield with its own ball and flippers, and a final wizard mode gated behind a six-item checklist. If you have only ever plunged and flailed at it, the machine will feel random. It is not. Almost everything on it is a counter, and once you know which shot feeds which counter the whole thing opens up.
Reading the playfield
The left side is targets: the Fiona standup, the Puss In Boots orbit that returns down the left rather than looping, the Pinocchio drop target and the four-target Baby drop bank. The centre holds the main ramp with the Castle Guard target standing in front of it, the three-target Shrek bank, and Prince Charming above that. The right side is where the game gets unusual — the Donkey mini playfield sits up there with the Puss In Boots Jackpot lane running underneath it, and the Swamp scoop and Gingy spinner feed the whole mode structure. Two captive balls spell P-I-N-B-A-L-L. Merlin, tucked by the bumpers, is your mystery award.
Start with the skill shots
There are two. The obvious one is the bottom target of the Baby bank, lit at the start of every ball, worth 500K the first time and 250K more with each one after. The one nobody finds is the Puss In Boots Jackpot lane: put the plunge through there while the skill shot is lit and you collect double the current value and add 250K to the next award on top. Take the secret one every time. Over a long game the difference is millions.
The two mode ladders
Prince Charming and the Swamp run in parallel, and the pop bumpers rotate both of them at once. That matters — a stray bumper hit changes what you are about to start on both ladders, so pick your target before you commit to a shot. Prince Charming is a counter target: five hits collects the flashing award, six for the next, seven after that. The Swamp is fed by the spinner, ten rotations for the first mode and five more for each one after, up to thirty.
- Un-Happy Hour doubles everything you score for twenty seconds. Never take it cold — stack it on top of a multiball or a big mode.
- Dragon Multiball is the Charming award worth chasing: two balls, six jackpot shots, and a 3M Super Jackpot if you can hold all six lit at once.
- Dinner Theater is the best-paying Swamp mode at 6.75M for hitting all six characters inside thirty seconds.
- Ogres Are Onions scales hard — one character pays 250K a shot, all four pays a million a shot, so spread out early and repeat later.
- Potion Problems is the reverse: pump the Donkey targets first to raise the shot value from 300K to 750K, then cash on the ramp.
Four multiballs, four different jobs
Baby Multiball is the workhorse — clear the Baby bank three times for the first, then four, five and six. Its jackpots are priced in switch hits, so it is a bumper-and-spinner affair rather than a shot-making one. Dragon Multiball comes from Prince Charming. Donkey Multiball is the reward for completing all five characters on the mini playfield during Donkey Pinball, and it demands every character be completed twice — once up top and once down below. Its Super Jackpot is 2M, and hitting Merlin in the seconds immediately afterwards pays triple that. Far Far Away is the final wizard mode, and it starts on the mini playfield before spilling out onto the main one.
The Far Far Away checklist
The last mode is not a shot, it is a report card. Six boxes have to be ticked: five Castle Guard Jackpots, ten lit shots during Repay Your Debt, fifteen Baby Multiball jackpots, all five Prince Charming awards, one Donkey Multiball Super Jackpot, and 25M or more scored inside a single Swamp Wizard. Hold either flipper during play and the third instant-info screen shows exactly which of them you still owe. The Swamp Wizard requirement is the hardest, so build your game around getting there twice rather than hoping to clear 25M on your first attempt.
Habits worth building
Knock Pinocchio down early — the save post between the flippers is real protection, and the lit Tell A Lie inlane raises the target so you can re-arm it. Watch which inside inlane is lit, because the slingshots swap them constantly and a doubled spinner rip is also doubled Swamp progress. Relight Merlin with ramp shots; the game never hands you a useless mystery award. And treat the Puss In Boots and Castle Guard pair as one shot rather than two, because those jackpots are on the wizard checklist whether you were thinking about it or not.
How Shrek plays
Shrek is a busy pre-lockbar Stern set in the swamp-and-fairytale world, built around a Donkey mini playfield, a stack of five Swamp modes, and a six-part checklist that opens the Far Far Away wizard. Play the Swamp modes, drop onto the Donkey deck, and tick every Far Far Away requirement to reach the finale.
The loop
- Rip the Gingy spinner to light the Swamp scoop, bump the pops to the mode you want, and start it at the scoop.
- Light every letter of P-I-N-B-A-L-L across the two captive balls so the next Swamp shot hands you the Donkey deck; finish its five characters to wake the main flippers for Donkey Multiball.
- Collect Prince Charming awards toward Dragon Multiball and run the Baby drop bank to zero for Baby Multiball, keeping Merlin lit off the ramp for mystery awards.
- Push all six Far Far Away requirements to threshold -- Castle Guard jackpots, Repay Your Debt shots, Baby jackpots, every Charming award, a Donkey super, and a big Swamp Wizard -- to light the wizard at the Swamp.
Reading the lights
- Swamp Modes (mode) — lit: The Swamp scoop lights once you have ripped enough Gingy spinner rotations -- ten the first time, then more each time out to thirty -- and a lit scoop is a Swamp mode waiting to be started. · flashing: The mode currently up flashes at the scoop, and pop-bumper hits rotate it through the ones you have not played yet. · then: Bump the flashing mode to the one you want, then shoot the lit scoop to start it for a flat award plus whatever it pays; play all five and the scoop lights once more for Swamp Wizard, whose starting jackpot is built from how many shots you made in each mode.
- Prince Charming Awards (ladder) — lit: The Prince Charming target keeps a running tally -- the first award costs five hits, the one after it six, then seven -- while any bumper hit rotates which of the five prizes is up. · flashing: The prize currently up flashes, so line up the one you want before you finish the count. · then: Rotate to your pick and bank the hits to collect it, saving Un-Happy Hour's twenty seconds of double scoring for a moment when a multiball is already running; Dragon Multiball is one of the five, so taking all five puts it on your Far Far Away checklist by default.
- B-A-B-Y Drop Bank (letters) — lit: The B-A-B-Y bank shows a lit target for each letter still standing, and clearing all four knocks one off the count shown above the right flipper, with dropped targets staying down until the bank resets for the next clear. · then: Run that count to zero to start Baby Multiball -- three clears for the first, then four, five and six -- and grind its switch-priced jackpots, since a stack of Baby jackpots is one of the six things Far Far Away demands.
- P-I-N-B-A-L-L Captives (letters) — lit: Each captive-ball hit lights one more letter toward P-I-N-B-A-L-L; when a captive is not already lit, the Fairy Godmother can spot a letter for free. · then: Finish the word and the next Swamp shot hands you the Donkey mini playfield; complete its five characters up top to wake your dead main flippers for Donkey Multiball.
- Donkey Mini Playfield (mode) — lit: Up on the Donkey deck five character shots run left to right -- Fiona, Gingy, Shrek, Puss and Charm -- while the Donkey standups buy extra seconds onto a short round clock that starts at fifteen. · then: Sweep the characters before the clock dies to score Donkey Pinball, then complete all five to launch Donkey Multiball, where every character must be finished again down on the main playfield for a Super at the Castle Guard lane. · control: Either flipper button: your two flipper buttons now drive the mini playfield's own pair of flippers while the main flippers sit dead, so each button works the character shots up on the deck (the Donkey playfield is live)
- Castle Guard Jackpots (shot arrows) — lit: A ball sent at Puss In Boots tends to clip the Castle Guard target as it passes, which bumps that jackpot up and starts a short timer on it. · flashing: The Castle Guard light runs down after a Puss shot, while a Merlin-lit one has no clock at all. · then: Pair Puss into Castle Guard to take the escalating jackpot, and with its light flashing start Repay Your Debt for twenty seconds of multiplied lit shots; five of these Castle Guard jackpots is one line on the Far Far Away checklist.
- Merlin Mystery (status) — lit: Merlin starts every ball already lit and comes back on with each ramp shot, and a lit Merlin is a mystery award the game tailors to what you are short of, never handing you something you already have. · then: Feed the ramp to keep Merlin available, then cash it for anything from a couple of million to Baby Multiball, an extra ball, a re-raised save post, or Far Far Away itself.
- Shrek Bank Bonus Multiplier (multiplier) — lit: The three Shrek targets are your end-of-ball bonus multiplier, and clearing the bank steps it up one toward a 5X ceiling, with each clear paying a little more until it caps. · then: Keep sweeping the bank to reach 5X, and grab a Hold Bonus X whenever Merlin offers one so the multiplier carries into your next ball instead of dropping back to 1X.
Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.
Start scoring
- Ball one — Knock down the lit bottom Baby target for the skill shot, or thread the plunge through the Puss In Boots jackpot lane for double the value, then drop Pinocchio so the post pops up between the flippers. Start ripping the Gingy spinner to light your first Swamp mode, and sweep the Shrek bank early to climb the bonus multiplier. — Baby Target Skill Shot, The Secret Skill Shot, Raise The Save Post, Light The Swamp, Build The Bonus Multiplier
- Building — Stack the Swamp modes and multiballs. Collect Prince Charming awards toward Dragon Multiball, run the Baby bank to zero for Baby Multiball, and fill P-I-N-B-A-L-L to drop onto the Donkey deck and its multiball. Save Un-Happy Hour's double scoring for whenever balls are already loose. — Prince Charming Awards, Dragon Multiball, Baby Multiball, Donkey Pinball, Donkey Multiball, Un-Happy Hour
- The big one — Far Far Away is the finish, and it is a report card rather than a shot -- five Castle Guard jackpots, ten Repay Your Debt shots, fifteen Baby jackpots, all five Charming awards, a Donkey super, and a 25M Swamp Wizard all have to be banked before the Swamp lights for it. Beat those and the wizard pays out everything you build on the Donkey deck across every lit shot below. — The Far Far Away Checklist, Far Far Away, Swamp Wizard
Does Shrek have an action button?
Shrek arrived about five years before Stern started putting a button in the middle of the lockdown bar, so there is nothing extra to press. The Donkey mini playfield up on the right has its own ball and its own flippers, but they run off the same two buttons you already have — your main flippers simply go dead while it is live.
Goals in Shrek
Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.
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The Baby drop bank's bottom target carries the skill shot light on every ball. Drop it and the game's first skill shot pays 500K; each one you make after that is worth 250K more than the one before.
Reward: 500K, +250K per skill shot
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Ignore the Baby bank. With the skill shot lit, put the ball through the Puss In Boots Jackpot lane instead and you collect double the current skill shot value, and the next one is worth 250K more on top.
Reward: 2x the skill shot value, +250K to the next
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The Pinocchio drop target raises a post between the flippers. It is not permanent — four gongs and it drops again — and bad flipper work will still drain you around it. When the Tell A Lie inlane is lit, rolling through raises the target so you can re-arm it.
Reward: 200K first hit per ball, +25K after, plus the post
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The three-target Shrek bank is your bonus multiplier. Every completion advances it, up to 5X. The first completion of each ball is worth 100K, and each one after that adds 20K until it caps at 250K.
Reward: Up to 5X bonus, 100K to 250K per completion
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Five awards sit behind one standup target. Hit Prince Charming five times to collect whichever one is flashing; the next award costs six hits, then seven, and so on. Bumper hits rotate which award is up.
Reward: One of five awards per completion
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The most valuable Prince Charming award if you can time it. Everything you score doubles for twenty seconds, so save it for a moment when you already have a multiball or a big Swamp mode running.
Reward: All scoring doubled for 20 seconds
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One of the Prince Charming awards. You get two balls and a generous save, and your jackpot list runs to six: both captive balls, plus Shrek, Fiona, Gingy and Puss In Boots. The first jackpot of the game is worth 250K, and each one after that adds 100K until the value tops out at 750K.
Reward: 250K to 750K jackpots, 3M Super Jackpot
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The spinner is the key to the whole left-hand side of the ruleset. Ten spins lights the Swamp scoop for a mode; after that the price climbs by five each time, topping out at thirty spins.
Reward: 500K and a Swamp mode
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Thirty seconds on the side shots and the ramp. Each lit shot pays 500K and every one after adds 100K, capping at a million a shot. Simple, safe and the friendliest of the Swamp modes to a newer player.
Reward: 500K per shot climbing to 1M
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Thirty seconds to hit all six characters once each. The first pays 750K and each one after adds 50K, so the sixth is worth a million — and finishing the set adds another million on top for 6.75M in all.
Reward: 6.75M for all six characters
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A brawl scored on switch hits. Every playfield switch you make lands a hit on the knight, and he swings back at random. The mode ends when either life bar empties, and winning pays a bonus on top of the points you scored.
Reward: Points per switch, plus a bonus for winning
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Thirty seconds where any of the five main shots pays 300K. The Donkey targets are the lever: every hit on them raises the shot value by 50K, up to 750K a shot.
Reward: 300K per shot, raised to 750K
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Four character shots for thirty seconds, and the payout depends on how many different ones you have hit. One character pays 250K a shot, two pays 500K, three pays 750K and all four pays a million a shot.
Reward: 250K to 1M per shot
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Play all five Swamp modes and they stay lit; the next Swamp shot starts the wizard round for a flat million on top. The starting jackpot is built out of everything you did in those modes, and every jackpot you take raises the multiplier.
Reward: 1M to start, escalating multiplied jackpots
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Spell P-I-N-B-A-L-L on the captive balls and the Swamp scoop hands you the mini playfield. Your main flippers go dead, the mini ball launches, and every drain is relaunched until the clock runs out. It starts at fifteen seconds.
Reward: Character values plus a playfield multiplier to 3X
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Finish all five characters on the mini playfield and the main flippers wake back up for Donkey Multiball. Every character now has to be completed twice — once up top and once down here — and jackpots start at 500K.
Reward: 500K jackpots, 2M then 3M Super Jackpot
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The workhorse multiball. Clear the Baby drop bank three times for the first one, then four, five and six for each one after, to a ceiling of six. The first is two balls with barely any ball save; later ones start with three.
Reward: Switch-count jackpots
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The mystery award, lit at the start of every ball and relit by ramp shots. It can hand you a million, two million, a bonus multiplier, a lit Castle Guard Jackpot, Baby Multiball, an extra ball, a Special, or Far Far Away itself.
Reward: One of roughly seventeen awards
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The Fiona target lights the Fairy Godmother, and her award is always something you can actually use right now — mode time, a hurry-up reset, a P-I-N-B-A-L-L letter, three free Charming hits, or an add-a-ball during multiball.
Reward: A context-sensitive award
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Either orbit into the upper captive ball pays a combo starting at 500K and growing 50K each time. Direction matters: starting from the Gingy side pays the full value, starting from Puss In Boots pays half.
Reward: 500K climbing by 50K, halved from the left
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Send the ball at Puss In Boots and it will usually flatten the Castle Guard target on the way through, bumping that jackpot's value up and putting the Castle Guard Jackpot on a short timer. Drill this pair of shots: five of these jackpots is one of the six boxes you have to tick for the final wizard mode.
Reward: An escalating jackpot, and Far Far Away credit
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Started from the Castle Guard target when its light is flashing. For twenty seconds every lit shot pays 200K multiplied by how many Castle Guard hits you have banked since the last one, up to a million a shot.
Reward: Up to 1M per shot, or a flat 400K from Merlin
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The final wizard mode is not a shot, it is a report card. Six separate parts of the game have to be pushed to a threshold before the Swamp scoop will light for it. Hold a flipper for instant info and the third screen shows exactly what you still owe.
Reward: Lights Far Far Away at the Swamp
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The end of the game. Phase one is eighteen seconds on the Donkey playfield building a jackpot that starts at a million, with drains relaunched. Phase two puts every ball on the main playfield with all of those jackpots lit.
Reward: Everything you built in phase one, paid at every lit shot
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One of the two inside inlanes is always lit, and every slingshot hit swaps which one. Lit 2X Gingy doubles the spinner for a few seconds; lit 2X Fiona doubles the Fiona target. Free points if you are paying attention before you shoot.
Reward: Double value on Gingy or Fiona
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