The Hobbit

Jersey Jack Pinball, 2016 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open The Hobbit in the Pinball Genie app →

The Hobbit is a widebody with a lot running at once: 31 modes, two multiballs, a thirteen-dwarf collection, a spinner-fed journey across a map, a four-step Mystery ladder and a third cabinet button called the Ring. There is no instant info screen — the backbox LCD shows everything in quadrants, and learning to read it is most of learning the game. The shot map underneath is simpler than that sounds: two crossing ramps, two outside loops with spinners, three drop banks, two kicker holes and a captive ball.

The layout

• Left ramp — utility. Qualifies Gandalf modes, pages the book, buys mode time, lights the Spider.
• Right ramp — business. Qualifies five Bilbo modes, starts modes, takes Smaug locks, lights the Warg.
• Left and right loops — spinners worth 11 points a spin, both feeding the road to Erebor.
• ELF, DWARF and MAN banks — lower left, upper left, lower right. Each qualifies its own mode family and hides dwarf targets behind it.
• Kicker holes — the right qualifies Radagast modes; the left is walled off by the DWARF bank.
• Captive ball — between the ramps; where Super Spinners is cashed.
• Bag End — pop bumpers upper right that start Super Jets.

Modes: qualify, page, start

Modes come in six families, each with one qualifying shot. Left ramp gives a Gandalf mode, right ramp gives five Bilbo Baggins modes, the right kicker hole gives four Radagast modes, and the ELF, DWARF and MAN banks give three each. Qualified modes queue in the book. Page through them with the left ramp when BOOK is lit, then start the one you want with the right ramp when MODE is lit — and choosing matters, because a one-shot hurry-up sits in the same queue as a frenzy you could stack into a multiball.

Most modes run 30 seconds, and the left ramp is also your clock: TIME lit blue adds ten seconds and turns purple, and purple is worth only three. Mode progress flips it back to blue, so the pattern is score, ramp, score, ramp — not two ramps in a row.

Smaug and Beast Frenzy

Smaug Multiball uses the four L-O-C-K rollovers across the middle of the playfield. Complete them and the right ramp lights for a lock; Smaug takes the ball and returns it from the left kicker hole. The first multiball is generous — one completion arms all three locks. The second makes you complete the rollovers once per lock. From the third on you must complete them and collect the lock before a new set will start.

Beast Frenzy runs off the four inlanes, marked Warg, Orc, Goblin and Spider from left to right. Each beast is a pop-up target woken by its own shot: right ramp for Warg, right loop for Orc, left loop for Goblin, left ramp for Spider. Roll a lit inlane and the target rises for a few seconds — hit it before it drops. All four down starts a two-ball multiball. For your first Beast Frenzy an inlane roll alone lights one; after that only the shots work, though the Light Beasts mystery award will do it for you.

The two multiballs stack, and stacking adds a ball. Beast progress counts during Smaug, and Smaug locks can be lit and cashed during Beast Frenzy — so arm one and hold it while you build the other.

The long games: dwarves and Erebor

Thirteen dwarves sit on thirteen shots — three behind ELF, three behind the A, R and F drops in DWARF, three behind MAN, one on each spinner, one in the left kicker hole and Thorin on the captive ball. Collecting all of them starts Feast Frenzy, where the drop targets themselves score for a short window, then the set resets. Separately, every spinner rip advances a map from the Shire to the Lonely Mountain. Reach it and Super Spinners runs 60 seconds, building a jackpot only the captive ball will cash — and cashing ends the mode, so time it.

The Mystery ladder and the Ring

• Crossing one left inlane and one right inlane advances the ladder a level.
• Level 1 lights the Mystery target — awards include Advance Erebor, Super Jets, Light Kickback, Light Beasts, a spotted dwarf and an extra tilt warning.
• Level 2 lights the captive ball blue for a free dwarf.
• Level 3 lights Load Arrow at the left outlane: stop a swinging power meter with the Ring and fire the kickback at the MAN targets.
• Level 4 lights Precioussss at the right outlane — stop a moving line inside a blue window and a drain gives your ball back.

The Ring charges from switch hits and then does whatever the game needs: fire the kickback, take a free swing at a beast mid-hurry-up, postpone a lock or a mode start, or just pay points. Postponing is what stops locks and mode starts fighting over the same ramp.

What to aim for

An Arkenstone mode lights only once you have completed a mode, started both multiballs, run Super Spinners and collected all thirteen dwarves. The dwarves are usually the last requirement standing, so chip at the drop banks early rather than treating them as mode fodder. The extra ball needs either every mode qualified or five barrels tipped in Super Jets, then both kicker holes hit — clear the DWARF bank before hunting the left one.

Goals in The Hobbit

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

• Pick Your Skill Shot skillshot · Medium

  Four skill shots share one plunge and the Ring button chooses between them. The Dwarf shot cycles a raised drop for 10,000 and grows 1,500 every time you land it; the Lock shot pays 1,500 per rollover you catch and grows 500 a time.

  Reward: 10,000 escalating, or 1,500 per rollover

• Qualify The Six Mode Families progression · Easy

  There are 31 modes split across six families, and each family is unlocked by its own shot. Six shots, six sets of stories — this is the spine of the whole game and everything else hangs off it.

  Reward: Modes queued into the book

• Page The Book, Start The Mode mode · Medium

  Qualified modes queue up in the book on the playfield. Shoot the left ramp while BOOK is lit to page to the next one, then the right ramp while MODE is lit to start it. Most modes run 30 seconds; hurry-up modes are a single shot for 2,500.

  Reward: 30 seconds of mode scoring

• Buy Mode Time strategy · Medium

  Timed modes are short and the left ramp is your clock. With TIME lit blue it adds 10 seconds and turns the light purple; purple only pays 3 seconds, and it goes back to blue as soon as you make progress in the mode itself.

  Reward: +10 seconds, then +3

• Smaug Multiball multiball · Medium

  Complete the L-O-C-K rollovers to arm a lock, then shoot the right ramp. The lock is virtual — Smaug takes the ball, insults you, and spits it out of the left kicker hole. Three locks start a three-ball multiball with jackpots at 3,500 apiece.

  Reward: 3-ball multiball, 3,500 jackpots

• Locks Get Harder Every Time strategy · Hard

  The lock rules tighten with each Smaug Multiball. The first one is a gift; the second makes you complete L-O-C-K once per lock; the third and beyond make you complete the rollovers and cash the lock before the next set will even start.

  Reward: Repeat Smaug Multiballs

• Light The Beasts combo · Medium

  Four beasts match the four inlanes: Warg, Orc, Goblin and Spider from left to right. Each is woken up by its own major shot — right ramp for Warg, right loop for Orc, left loop for Goblin, left ramp for Spider.

  Reward: Beast hurry-ups, +25 bonus each

• Beast Frenzy Multiball multiball · Medium

  Put down all four beasts and a second ball launches. Beasts keep popping out of the playfield for 1,000 a hit. Trap up for a moment and the targets rotate, which opens a window to make a mode start or a mode shot instead.

  Reward: 2-ball multiball, 1,000 per beast hit

• Stack Smaug And Beast strategy · Hard

  The two multiballs are not exclusive. Beast progress still counts inside Smaug Multiball, and Smaug locks can be lit and cashed inside Beast Frenzy. Starting one on top of the other adds a ball.

  Reward: Add-a-ball and doubled scoring windows

• Collect All Thirteen Dwarves progression · Hard

  Thorin's whole company is scattered across thirteen different shots, most of them touch targets hiding behind drop targets. Getting all thirteen starts Feast Frenzy, and the set then resets so you can do it again.

  Reward: Starts Feast Frenzy

• Feast Frenzy mode · Hard

  The reward for reuniting the company. For a short window the drop targets themselves are worth real points, so hammer banks rather than hunting for the touch targets behind them. When it ends the dwarves can be collected again.

  Reward: Timed drop target scoring

• The Road To Erebor progression · Medium

  Both spinners feed a map that runs from the Shire to the Lonely Mountain. Every spin is 11 points and a step along the trail. It takes a very large number of spins, which makes clean loop shots the quiet long game of this machine.

  Reward: 11 points a spin, progress to Super Spinner

• Super Spinner mode · Hard

  Reach Erebor on the map and Super Spinners runs for 60 seconds. Every further spin stacks a jackpot that is sitting there uncollected — and the only way to bank it is to shoot the captive ball, which also ends the mode.

  Reward: 60 seconds of spinner value plus a stored jackpot

• The Four Mystery Levels progression · Medium

  Cross one left inlane and one right inlane to step the Mystery ladder. Level one lights the Mystery target, level two lights the captive ball, level three lights Load Arrow at the left outlane, and level four lights Precioussss at the right outlane.

  Reward: Mystery awards, a spotted dwarf, and a ball save

• The Extra Tilt Warning secret · Medium

  One of the Mystery awards adds a tilt warning on top of the normal allowance. It is easy to skip past, but it is genuinely the most valuable thing in the pool — it buys you a hard save you could not otherwise risk.

  Reward: One more nudge before you tilt

• Load Arrow secret · Hard

  Mystery level three turns the left outlane into a weapon. At the start of your next mode the kickback strength is shown on a swinging power meter — stop it with the Ring, and the ball fires out of the outlane at the MAN targets for points.

  Reward: Points off the kickback launch

• Precioussss secret · Hard

  The top of the Mystery ladder and the best ball save in the game. With the right outlane lit, draining there brings up a moving line and a blue window. Stop the line inside the window with the Ring and your ball comes back.

  Reward: The ball back from a right outlane drain

• Super Jets And The Barrels mode · Hard

  Enough hits in Bag End starts Super Jets. From then on jet hits load dwarves into barrels, and the barrels are knocked over by hitting the flashing DWARF target with the upper right flipper. Five knocked over is half of what you need for the extra ball.

  Reward: Progress toward the lit extra ball

• Light And Bank The Extra Ball strategy · Hard

  The extra ball has two prerequisites and two collect shots. Qualify every mode in the game, or tip five barrels during Super Jets, and the extra ball lights — then you have to hit both kicker holes to actually take it.

  Reward: Extra ball

• Charge And Spend The Ring strategy · Medium

  The Ring button charges from switch hits and then does whatever is most useful right then. It fires the kickback, gives you a free swing at a beast, holds off a lock or a mode start, and when nothing else applies it just pays 1,000 with a growing bonus.

  Reward: Backstabs, postponed shots, or escalating points

• Light An Arkenstone Mode wizard · Hard

  The end of the road. Finish a mode, start both Smaug Multiball and Beast Frenzy, reach Super Spinners, and collect all thirteen dwarves — then an Arkenstone mode lights. There are three of them: Into the Fire, Barrel Escape, and Battle of the Five Armies.

  Reward: One of three Arkenstone modes