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Star Trek

Stern Pinball, 2013 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

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Designed by Steve Ritchie, licensed to the 2009/2013 J.J. Abrams film reboot. Three editions — Pro, Premium, LE — share an identical ruleset and physical layout; Premium/LE add a motorized "crash" Vengeance ship, a star-field laser, a left-outlane kickback, and a VUK that safely feeds the left scoop into the left ramp (Pro's scoop kicks out unpredictably). None of this changes scoring, modes, or multiball logic.

The playfield

Seven major shots anchor everything: Left Orbit (houses the spinner), Left Ramp, Right Ramp, Warp Ramp (reachable only from the upper-right/third flipper), Right Orbit, Left Scoop ("Mission Start"), and the center Vengeance drop target/ship — the most dangerous shot on the table, prone to rebounding hard toward the outlanes. Supporting hardware includes Shield standups, a bank of 3 green "lock" standups, a bank of 3 orange Weapon standups (loads torpedoes fired via the "Punch It" lockdown-bar button), a scattered family of Red Matter/Black Hole standups, three top BEAM-ME-UP rollover lanes, and a pop-bumper nest.

Skill shots

There's no traditional "flip the lit lane" skill shot. Instead: a soft plunge sets up a Warp Ramp Skill Shot off the upper-right flipper; holding the left flipper on a full plunge lights a Super Skill Shot (1M, +250K each repeat) at Vengeance or the right ramp; holding the right flipper for a full-power plunge that rejects off the top gate into the right orbit sets up the Super Warp Skill Shot (1.5M, the highest-value but riskiest option).

Missions (the "modes")

Six color-coded Missions — Prime Directive, Space Jump, Save the Enterprise, Nero, Destroy the Drill, Klingon Battle — each played across three Levels (18 mode instances total). Start any lit mission at Mission Start (left scoop) or Away Team (upper-flipper shot). Level I is a timed shot-collection pattern (Bronze/Silver/Gold medal thresholds); taking Away Team mid-timer adds +20 seconds and unlocks a bonus "Galactic Mode" shot sequence. Level II and III raise the complexity (roving shots, attacker pairs, dynamically-shifting lit shots) and medal thresholds. Fully clearing a mission's Level III permanently lights a dedicated shot for 2X scoring for the rest of the game (e.g., Nero → Left Orbit, Klingon Battle → Left Ramp).

Multiballs

Combos

Every major shot carries a red combo insert that stays lit for ~4 seconds after the prior shot; hitting a different eligible shot within the window doubles its value (repeating the same shot does not combo). Five named "crew combos" — Kirk (Left Orbit→Warp Ramp), Bones (Left Orbit→Left Ramp), Sulu (Right Orbit→Right Ramp), Uhura (Right Ramp→Left Ramp→Right Orbit), and Spock (Left Ramp→Right Ramp→Left Orbit→Warp Ramp) — each pay a flat 1,000,000 the first time and permanently raise the base value of all future combos.

Multipliers

Completing the three BEAM-ME-UP top lanes adds +1X to that ball's bonus multiplier (resets each ball). Repeated Warp Ramp shots climb a Warp Speed counter: 7 shots lights a one-time Extra Ball (collected at Vengeance), 10 shots lights 60 seconds of global 2X scoring, and 18 shots re-lights 2X scoring plus adds a ball into play (both repeatable after the first time).

Captain's Chair

Completing three same-level missions in a row lights a bonus tied to the side of the playfield: left-side missions → Super Pops, right-side → Super Ramps, bottom-row → Super Spinner. Super Ramps is generally considered the best single pick for players who can only manage one line.

Wizard modes

Qualification is built on finishing an entire Level of all 6 missions, which lights the center Vengeance shot white: 1. Kobayashi Maru (after all 6 Level I's) — 2-ball multiball where every shot needs 2 hits. 2. Enterprise Amok (after all 6 Level II's) — 2-ball multiball across 6 escalating switch-hit rounds. 3. Five Year Mission (after all 6 Level III's, the true final wizard mode) — 4-ball multiball, clear every lit shot for a Super Jackpot.

Strategy in brief

Open with the Super Skill Shot, launch a default Level I mission, use Away Team to extend it, and work toward Klingon Multiball locks and Warp Ramp shots. Tournament players deliberately start a mode just before locking the final multiball ball so mode scoring and jackpots run concurrently, save Double Scoring for a jackpot-heavy moment, and treat Vengeance Scoring/Battle as high-value, single-purpose detours rather than shots to chase mid-mode.

How Star Trek plays

Command the rebooted Enterprise across six away missions, each replayed at three rising levels, while you batter the Vengeance ship at center and bank Warp Ramp shots for double scoring. Clear every mission at all three levels to reach Five Year Mission, the four-ball final wizard.

The loop

  1. Start a mission at the left scoop, shoot its colored shots, and take Away Team mid-timer to add seconds and roll into the multiplied Galactic bonus round.
  2. Complete the green targets to light locks at the Vengeance and the left scoop, then lock three balls for Klingon Multiball.
  3. Load photon torpedoes on the orange Weapon targets and fire them with Punch It to damage the Vengeance from a safe distance.
  4. Bank Warp Ramp shots off the upper-right flipper to climb Warp Speed toward an extra ball, timed double scoring, and an added ball.

Reading the lights

  • Mission Shots (mode) — lit: A lit colored shot is a live objective in the mission you started at the left scoop; unlighting the required set relights the whole group for another pass while the timer runs. · flashing: The Away Team shot flashes as the extend option, worth twenty more seconds when you take it. · then: Shoot the lit shots for a Bronze, Silver or Gold medal by hit count, and grab Away Team around fifteen to twenty seconds in to add time and open Galactic Mode's doubled final shot. Clearing all six missions at a level lights the white Vengeance to start that level's stacked wizard round.
  • Vengeance Ship (status) — lit: The center Vengeance lights as the damage target and the hub of all three Vengeance rounds, and it is the most drain-prone shot on the table, rebounding hard toward the outlanes. · then: Build hits with direct shots and Punch It torpedoes to start Vengeance Multiball, then the Vengeance Scoring hurry-up with its repeatable extra ball, then the Vengeance Battle sudden-death worth up to forty percent of your score. The final blow always has to be a real ship shot, never a torpedo.
  • Weapon Torpedoes (status) — lit: Completing the three orange Weapon standups banks photon torpedoes, shown as a row of yellow triangle inserts up the middle of the playfield. · then: Stock torpedoes on the orange targets and spend them on the Vengeance to build its rounds without taking the dangerous direct shot. Torpedoes never advance the lit mission shots, so keep shooting those yourself. · control: Action button: pressing the lockbar Punch It button launches one banked torpedo at the Vengeance for a hit, letting you skip the ship shot that kicks back toward the outlanes (any time a torpedo is loaded and the Vengeance is standing in your way)
  • Klingon Locks (shot arrows) — lit: Completing the three green standups lights locks at both the Vengeance and the left scoop, and a lit lock waits until you shoot a ball into it. · then: Lock three balls to start Klingon Multiball, and light the Black Hole target off the scattered Red Matter standups to drop in a fourth. Work the red-lit shots for climbing jackpots and save the Warp Ramp for the twenty-million Double Super Jackpot.
  • Warp Speed (ladder) — lit: Every Warp Ramp shot made off the upper-right flipper steps the Warp Speed counter one rung, and the counter holds its place for the whole game rather than resetting each ball. · then: Reach seven shots for an extra ball, ten for sixty seconds of global double scoring, and eighteen for double scoring plus an added ball, both repeatable after the first. Time the double-scoring window to land right on a jackpot-heavy multiball or a big wizard shot.
  • BEAM-ME-UP Lanes (lanes) — lit: The three top rollover lanes spell BEAM-ME-UP and are fed by orbit shots that fall just short of a full loop. · then: Complete all three lanes to lift this ball's bonus multiplier by a step, then re-roll the set as often as you can before you drain. The boost counts only for the ball in play and starts back at base next ball.
  • Crew Combos (status) — lit: After a starting shot, a red combo insert flashes for roughly four seconds on the next link of a named crew chain, marking where to shoot next. · flashing: The lit combo insert counts down its four-second window; miss it and the chain resets to the start. · then: Chain the marked shots to complete Kirk, Bones, Sulu, Uhura and Spock -- the first time you land each one it pays a flat million and bumps every future crew combo's floor a little higher. Your next shot has to differ from the last you struck, so a repeated orbit shot will not extend the chain.

Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.

Start scoring

The Punch It on Star Trek

Center of the lockdown bar, right under your thumbs.

Star Trek was one of the first Sterns to put a button on the lockdown bar, and here it is your photon torpedo trigger, labeled Punch It. You stock torpedoes by completing the bank of orange Weapon standups, then spend them on the Vengeance — the center ship that kicks back hard toward the outlanes when you shoot it for real. The button buys you damage on the most dangerous shot on the table without taking that shot.

Goals in Star Trek

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

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