The Flintstones

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

Open The Flintstones in the Pinball Genie app →

The Flintstones is a four-ball game with an unusually generous rule set for its era: almost everything runs concurrently. Modes stack with each other, they carry on through multiball, and you can start the Time Machine target modes while three balls are loose. That changes how you should play it — instead of clearing one thing at a time, you want several counters running at once and a multiball on top of them.

The layout in one pass

Two ramps feed a bottom loop running above the centre drain, which means either ramp can hand the ball to either flipper — and the game chooses based on what it wants you to shoot next. Two orbits run around the back. A narrow centre lane sits right of the Bowl-A-Rama targets and feeds the DIG rollovers. An upper flipper guards the right orbit and is the honest way to reach the BED drops, the U-Turn lane and Bronto Crane. Watch that centre lane: it is tight enough that a fast ball rattles and comes straight back down the middle.

1-2-3 and the four modes

Three lit ramp shots — not always on the same ramp — pay 2, 4 and 6 million and start a mode. Which mode starts is whichever one is flashing on the mode row, and bumper hits move that along, so you have more control than it first appears.

• Fred's Choice: twenty seconds, three lit shots, three voices arguing. Left orbit is 20 million, right orbit 15, centre lane 10, and each shot raises its own value by 3 million.
• Joe's Diner: fifteen million counts down until your first shot lands, then that frozen value is paid three times — two more shots inside twenty seconds, with the centre lane collecting the lot. Shoot early to freeze it high.
• Bedrock Water Buffalos: twenty-five seconds of throwing things at a band using the BED drops, switching to the ROCK drops partway through.
• Dino Frenzy: a two-ball multiball on the three Dino/Frenzy standups, starting at 10 million a hit.

Dino Frenzy deserves special attention because it is the one mode you can prepare all game. One of the three targets is always lit for Dino, and hitting the lit one adds a million to the frenzy value permanently — not just during the mode. Feed that target every time you see it and the mode pays several times what it otherwise would. Finish all four modes and Mystery Mode opens: twenty seconds, both drop banks, 5 million a target and 100 million if you clear all seven.

Inventing concrete

Multiball needs CONCRETE spelled out, and there are four ways to add letters: clearing the BED bank, clearing the ROCK bank, completing DIG for your first multiball only, and the Spell CONCRETE award from Bronto Crane. Letters often arrive two at a time, so it comes around faster than eight letters suggests. Start it on either orbit. The jackpot opens at 40 million and keeps growing for as long as at least one ball is sitting in the Time Machine wheel — so parking a ball up there is the strategy, not an accident. Collect the jackpot at the centre lane and the super at the U-Turn; the ball that scores the jackpot usually carries on to the upper flipper to set up the super.

Bronto Crane and the Time Machine target

One left orbit lights the crane, the next one collects it. The award pool is small and several of them are worth hunting: doubled 1-2-3 values, an extra ball, Spell CONCRETE, the bowling power-up, 2x playfield, a maxed bonus multiplier, 20 million, or Bedrock Derby — a bumper race worth 30 million that a handful of bumper hits will usually win. Separately, the standup facing the flippers hands out three modes in a fixed order, so you always know what the next hit buys: Time Machine, then Job Change, then Help.

Bowling

One of the two ramps is always lit for Go Bowling. Take it, the ball comes back to your right flipper, and you have about five seconds to throw at the Bowl-A-Rama targets — centre for a 5 million strike, either side for a 3 million spare, nothing at all for a miss. Three strikes starts a two-ball Bowl-A-Rama multiball where the same targets pay 20 and 10 million. Completing the target bank during ordinary play, rather than after a Go Bowling shot, builds Yabba-Dabba-Doo, and finishing that hands you the bowling power-up: a guaranteed strike on your next throw.

Small rules that add up

• The centre lane keeps a running count all game. The seventh one is your extra ball; the award after that is DIG Millions, which turns the bumpers into a scoring feature.
• The U-Turn is worth an increasing million even with nothing lit on it, starting at 2 million. Its switch is at the entrance, so a shot that fails the loop still counts.
• DIG completions pay 5 million each and build the bonus multiplier to 10x, after which every completion is a flat 10 million.
• The shell targets on either wall light Drain Shield on the outlanes. There is no kickback — a saved ball is auto-plunged, so be ready rather than cradling.
• Buying an extra ball starts whichever mode is currently flashing, so set the mode row with the bumpers before your last ball drains.

Goals in The Flintstones

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

• D-I-G Skill Shot skillshot · Easy

  The plunge lands in the DIG rollovers with one lane flashing. Move the flashing lane with the flipper buttons so it lines up with the lane the ball is heading for. It opens at 5 million and climbs by 2 million each time you hit it.

  Reward: 5 million, rising 2 million per collect

• Shoot 1-2-3 progression · Easy

  Three lit ramp shots start a mode, and they are not always on the same ramp. Watch which flipper the bottom loop hands the ball to — the game is telling you where the next shot lives.

  Reward: 2 million, 4 million and 6 million, then a mode starts

• Fred's Choice mode · Medium

  Twenty seconds and three lit shots, each with a different value, while three voices shout contradictory advice at you. Ignore them: the left orbit is the big one, and every shot you make raises its own value by 3 million.

  Reward: 10 to 20 million per shot, climbing 3 million each

• Joe's Diner mode · Medium

  A move-your-car mode with a countdown. Fifteen million ticks down until you land the first shot, and that value is then locked in for two more shots inside twenty seconds. The centre lane collects the lot.

  Reward: The frozen value, three times over

• Bedrock Water Buffalos mode · Medium

  Twenty-five seconds of heckling a band. Knock down the BED drops to throw things at the stage; partway through the mode the game switches you over to the ROCK drops instead.

  Reward: Scoring for each target knocked down

• Dino Frenzy mode · Medium

  A two-ball multiball built on three standup targets. Every Frenzy target pays the running value, and the one lit for Dino adds a million to that value permanently — that increase sticks for the whole game, not just the mode.

  Reward: 10 million and up per target, growing all game

• Mystery Mode mode · Hard

  Only reachable after the other four modes are done. Twenty seconds, both drop banks, and 100 million waiting if you clear them all. Each individual target is 5 million on the way, so a failed attempt still pays.

  Reward: 5 million per target, 100 million for clearing both banks

• Invent Concrete progression · Medium

  Spell CONCRETE to light multiball. There are four ways to add letters, and they often arrive two at a time, so it comes around faster than the eight letters suggest.

  Reward: Start Multiball lights on both orbits

• Multiball Jackpots multiball · Medium

  The jackpot opens at 40 million and keeps growing for as long as at least one ball is sitting in the Time Machine — so leaving a ball parked up there is the whole strategy, not an accident.

  Reward: 40 million and climbing, alternating regular and super

• Bronto Crane strategy · Medium

  One left orbit lights it, the next one diverts the ball to the popper and collects. What comes out is random, but the pool is small and several of the awards are worth deliberately hunting.

  Reward: One of eight awards, some game-changing

• Time Machine mode · Medium

  Twenty seconds with a counter that only climbs while a ball is inside the wheel. Both orbits feed it, and the value is paid when the timer expires — so the play is to get a ball in there early and leave it.

  Reward: 10 million, escalating for as long as a ball is held

• Job Change mode · Easy

  The second award from the Time Machine target: it lights Change Job on the right orbit for a flat 25 million. One target, one orbit, no timer games.

  Reward: 25 million

• Help mode · Medium

  A search mode with twenty seconds on it. Three shots are lit to look for the kids, each search pays 5 million, and finding them pays 15 million — then you still have to get them home on the right ramp.

  Reward: 5 million per search, 15 million to find, then the rescue

• Go Bowling mode · Medium

  One ramp is always lit for Go Bowling. Take it and the ball comes back to your right flipper with about five seconds to throw at Bowl-A-Rama. Centre target is a strike, either side is a spare, a miss is a gutter ball.

  Reward: 5 million for a strike, 3 million for a spare

• Bowl-A-Rama Multiball multiball · Hard

  Three strikes and you are into a two-ball multiball where the same targets pay four times as much. It is the reward for actually chasing strikes rather than settling for spares.

  Reward: 20 million per super strike, 10 million per super spare

• The Bowling Power-Up secret · Medium

  A guaranteed strike on your next Go Bowling shot, banked in advance. You get it from a Bronto Crane award or by completing Yabba-Dabba-Doo, and the game tells you it is active by changing what the coach says.

  Reward: A guaranteed strike

• Build The Bonus Multiplier multiplier · Easy

  DIG completions raise the bonus multiplier and pay 5 million each on the way. It caps at 10x, after which every further completion is a flat 10 million instead — so the lanes never stop being worth shooting.

  Reward: 5 million per completion up to 10x, then 10 million each

• The Centre Lane Counter progression · Medium

  The centre lane keeps a count all game. The seventh one is your extra ball; the next award after that is DIG Millions, which turns the bumpers into a scoring feature. It is a narrow, risky lane, but it pays.

  Reward: Extra ball at seven, then DIG Millions

• U-Turn Millions strategy · Medium

  When nothing is lit on it, the U-Turn is still one of the best-value shots on the machine: it opens at 2 million and climbs every time you make it. The switch is at the entrance, so a shot that fails the loop still counts.

  Reward: 2 million, rising with each shot

• 2x Playfield multiplier · Medium

  A Bronto Crane award that lights 2x Playfield at the U-Turn. Hit it and everything on the machine doubles for twenty seconds — the moment to be in a mode or a multiball, not fishing for a target.

  Reward: All playfield scoring doubled for 20 seconds

• Drain Shield strategy · Easy

  The shell targets on either wall light Drain Shield on both outlanes for a while. There is no kickback on this machine, so this is the only outlane protection you get, and a saved ball is auto-plunged rather than returned to a flipper.

  Reward: Temporary outlane protection

• Buy-In Starts A Mode secret · Easy

  A quiet rule most players never notice: buying an extra ball at the end of the game does not just hand you a ball, it immediately starts whichever mode is currently flashing on the mode row.

  Reward: A free mode start on the bought ball