Surf 'N Safari

Gottlieb, 1991 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Surf 'N Safari in the Pinball Genie app →

Surf 'N Safari is built around one thing, and once you see it the machine makes sense: a five-by-five grid of lights above the flippers. Five major shots each own a column. Filling a column starts a timed round. Filling a row switches on a feature — an outlane award, a multiball lock, an extra ball, a scoring target. Everything else serves that grid, and Rodney the crocodile tells you when a column is one light from finishing.

The five slides

• The Pipeline — a saucer on the left that returns the ball through a metal pipe. Carries the Lock light and the Adv. Double light.
• The Rapids — a ramp around the back of the playfield. Jackpots, Super Jackpots, the Special and Go For The Record all live here.
• The Boomerang — a spinner lane that plays like a left orbit, worth 50K a spin at all times.
• The Splash — three centre drop targets under Rodney, worth 500K for the set whenever you clear them.
• The Whirlpool — a spiral cup fed by its own ramp, counting swirls on the way down.

The inlane rollovers are marked Advance Random Slide and give a free column advance when lit. On your first grid both are lit; after that only one is, and slingshot hits swap which. Columns also cannot be advanced during multiball or any timed round except Double, so building the grid while a round runs is wasted effort.

What each row does

• Bottom row — the Exit awards on both outlanes, worth a random 5K to 5M for a drain.
• Second row — lights the Arcade target at 100K, climbing 100K a hit to a 600K ceiling.
• Third row — lights the Lock at the Pipeline for multiball, and it stays lit until you collect or lose the ball.
• Fourth row — lights the Souvenirs target for an extra ball; three quick hits walk the purple lights up to it.
• Top row — Super Score. The Arcade target starts at a million and climbs a million a hit for the rest of the ball.

The rounds

Each completed column starts its own short timed round. The Pipeline column lights the Three Million target for nine seconds at 3M a hit. The Boomerang column lifts the spinner from 50K to roughly 250K a spin, also for nine seconds, so shoot it hard — the award is per spin. The Whirlpool column lights two random slides for twelve seconds and pays an extra ball if you hit both, so reading the playfield matters more than shooting fast.

The Splash column starts Safari, the best round on the machine. Four animals light for nineteen seconds — the toucan on the Rapids, the elephant on the Boomerang, the monkey on the Whirlpool and the lion on the Arcade target — and taking them in any order pays 1M, 2M, 3M and then a Special. The Rapids column instead lights the Pipeline for multiball as a hurry-up starting at 5M. That one is urgent: if the hurry-up expires you lose the multiball, not just the points.

Multiball

Lock at the Pipeline and multiball begins. Lock the ball and then make the skill shot and you get three balls; every other route, Instant Multiball included, gives two. Two random slides light — drawn from Pipeline, Rapids, Boomerang, Whirlpool and Arcade, never the Splash or Souvenirs — and hitting both lights the Rapids for a 5M jackpot. Collect it and all five light; clear those and the Rapids goes up for a 30M Super Jackpot, then it repeats. When multiball ends the Rapids lights briefly to arm the Whirlpool Million, where every swirl is a full million with no cap.

Double, and the Plunge

D-O-U-B-L-E is the single most valuable thing here. Once the Pipeline column is complete, Pipeline shots briefly light Adv. Double for a letter — and after collecting one you must hit another target before the Pipeline will relight it. The Plunge saucer can also award letters or complete the word outright. Finish it and everything doubles until you lose the ball: scores, extra balls, specials, even grid advances. Letters cannot be collected during multiball or a timed round, so build the word first and then go and start something expensive.

The Plunge is lit whenever you are not in multiball or a round, and its table is deep: 5K to 5M, extra ball, special, instant multiball, a lit Souvenirs target, a catch-up score, five free Whirlpool swirls, Double letters, or Award Everything — which completes the grid but skips the bonus rounds you would have earned. Shoot it on sight.

Long-game and consolation rules

Every completed grid is worth 5M on your end-of-ball bonus, plus 10K for each lit light. From the second grid onward the Special is lit, and after odd-numbered grids Extra Special lights too — but it goes out if you lose the ball before finishing the next grid. Once the Rapids column is done, consecutive Rapids shots count toward Go For The Record; beat it for your initials and a Special at the Rapids, and in Double round the counter climbs two at a time. The game is also kind to bad players: start your last ball under about 10M and the Souvenirs target is already sitting on Extra Ball, and if you have not had multiball by then, the Plunge simply gives you one.

Goals in Surf 'N Safari

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

• The Soft Plunge skillshot · Medium

  Plunge gently on your first attempt and drop the ball straight into the Plunge saucer for a random award. Get it wrong in either direction and the game tells you so — and if you plunge too softly first and then make it, you are awarded precisely nothing.

  Reward: One Plunge award

• The Too-Hard Plunge secret · Easy

  Overcook the plunge and the ball lands in the pop bumpers — but the Exit lights start flashing for about ten seconds, and a flashing Exit award is always an extra ball. A bad plunge is briefly one of the best things that can happen to you.

  Reward: Extra ball from an outlane drain

• The Bonus Grid progression · Medium

  Everything on this machine feeds one five-by-five grid of lights above the flippers. Five shots each own a column, columns start rounds and rows hand out awards. Reading the grid is the whole game — Rodney even tells you when a column is one light from finishing.

  Reward: Rounds, awards and 5M per completed grid

• The Five Row Awards progression · Medium

  Completing a row across the grid turns on a feature rather than paying points, and each row does something different. Knowing which row you are close to is how you decide what to shoot next.

  Reward: Exit awards, Arcade value, the lock, extra ball, Super Score

• Three Million Round mode · Medium

  The reward for completing the Pipeline column. The Three Million target lights for nine seconds and pays exactly what its name says on every hit. It is a short window on a small target, so have the ball under control before you finish that column.

  Reward: 3M per hit for nine seconds

• Boomerang Round mode · Medium

  Complete the Boomerang column and the spinner jumps from its usual 50K a spin to around 250K for nine seconds. One clean, hard shot up that lane is worth more than most of the playfield combined during those nine seconds.

  Reward: About 250K per spin for nine seconds

• Safari mode · Hard

  The Splash column starts the best round in the game. Four animals light for nineteen seconds — the Rapids toucan, the Boomerang elephant, the Whirlpool monkey and the Arcade lion. Take them in any order for 1M, 2M, 3M, and then a Special.

  Reward: 1M, 2M, 3M and a Special

• Extra Ball Round mode · Hard

  Completing the Whirlpool column lights two randomly chosen slides for twelve seconds. Hit both and you get an extra ball. Which two you draw makes an enormous difference, so look at the playfield the instant the round starts.

  Reward: Extra ball

• The Multiball Hurry-Up multiball · Medium

  Complete the Rapids column and the Pipeline lights for multiball as a hurry-up starting at 5M. The value counts down and the multiball itself is lost if you let it expire, so drop everything and shoot the Pipeline.

  Reward: Multiball, starting at 5M

• Multiball And The Super Jackpot multiball · Hard

  Lock at the Pipeline and multiball starts. Two random slides light — hit both and the Rapids is lit for a 5M jackpot. Collect it and all five light, and clearing those puts the Rapids up for a 30M Super Jackpot. That loop is the fastest scoring on the machine.

  Reward: 5M jackpots and 30M super jackpots

• D-O-U-B-L-E multiplier · Hard

  The most valuable thing on the playfield. Once the Pipeline column is complete, Pipeline shots briefly light Adv. Double for a letter, and the Plunge can award letters too. Complete the word and everything doubles until you lose the ball — scores, extra balls, specials, even grid advances.

  Reward: Everything doubled for the rest of the ball

• Build The Whirlpool strategy · Medium

  The spiral pays per swirl, and the per-swirl value is something you build. It starts each ball at 50K and climbs 50K for every Whirlpool shot up to 350K — then resets to 50K at the start of the next ball, so it is worth rebuilding early rather than late.

  Reward: 50K to 350K per swirl

• Whirlpool Million multiplier · Hard

  Lit by the Rapids or by the Plunge, and briefly available after every multiball ends. With it lit, each swirl is worth a full million and there is no cap at all — as long as the ball keeps spinning, the millions keep coming.

  Reward: 1M per swirl, uncapped

• Go For The Record secret · Hard

  Once the Rapids column is complete, consecutive Rapids shots are counted. Beat the machine's standing record and you get your initials in and the Special lights on the Rapids. In Double round the counter climbs two at a time, which is the realistic way to take it.

  Reward: Initials, and a Special at the Rapids

• Feed The Arcade Target strategy · Medium

  The spring-loaded target in the bottom right is worth far more than the 100K, 200K, 300K printed on it. With the second row lit it climbs 100K a hit to 600K, and with the top row lit it starts at a million and climbs a million per hit.

  Reward: Up to 600K a hit, or 1M and climbing

• Working The Plunge strategy · Medium

  The Plunge saucer is lit any time you are not in multiball or a timed round, and its award table is unusually rich — most of the game's shortcuts live in it. It is worth shooting on sight rather than saving.

  Reward: Anything from nothing to a completed grid

• Finish The Grid, Then Do It Again progression · Hard

  A completed grid is worth 5M on your end-of-ball bonus and starts you on a fresh one. From the second grid onward the Special light is on, and after every odd-numbered grid the Extra Special lights as well — but only if you complete the next grid before losing the ball.

  Reward: 5M bonus per grid, then Specials

• The Consolation Rules secret · Easy

  This machine looks after players who are struggling. Start your final ball under about 10M and the Souvenirs target is already lit and walked up to Extra Ball, so a single hit takes it. And if you have not had multiball by the last ball, the Plunge will hand you one.

  Reward: A free extra ball and a free multiball

• The Death Save secret · Hard

  A left-side drain here is not always final. The pin by the trough entrance can be used to bounce the ball back into play — but be aware that pulling one off stops any timed round you had running, with Double round the only exception.

  Reward: The ball back