The Lord of the Rings

Stern Pinball, 2003 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open The Lord of the Rings in the Pinball Genie app →

Lord of the Rings looks like a shot-arrow game and plays like a bookkeeping game. Almost everything you do feeds one of four independent ledgers: Rings, Souls, Fellowship members and K-E-E-P letters. None of them talk to each other, and the ending sits behind all of them at once.

Rings are the engine

Four shots carry Ring inserts: the left ramp, the inner orbit, the Sword Ramp and the right orbit. At any moment each one shows an Elf, Dwarf or Man insert, and hitting it banks that type. The moment you collect one, every shot lights red for a few seconds for two more of the same type, so a single Ring should always be the first note of a three-shot phrase rather than a shot on its own. The Spot Ring target down the right side gives a free Ring of a random type and is relit by the left inlane, which makes the left inlane feed quietly one of the most productive rollovers in the game.

• Three Elf Rings light Mode Start at the Ring.
• Seven Dwarf Rings light Mystery at the Shire.
• Nine Rings of Man light Gollum Multiball at Gollum's Cave.
• Finishing all three races starts Ring Frenzy, a ten-second hurry-up where every insert resets the clock and feeds a jackpot that starts at 600,000 and multiplies up to five times.
• Rings collected after an award is already lit only pay points — cashing the award resets that race.

The six modes, and why you should not save them

Mode Start sits on the Ring shot, which is only reachable by jumping the Ring ramp — a firm shot clears the gap to the backboard, a weak one dribbles into Barad-Dur or the top lanes. Flip either button to change the selected mode before you shoot. Escape the Ringwraiths is a countdown chase with the Sword Ramp always live to top the clock back up. Gandalf vs Saruman rewards back-to-back ramps with doubles. Warg Battle opens on the left ramp and then lights all seven main shots. War of the Ents is the one to prioritise: every shot into Orthanc rides the ball up to the Paths of the Dead, which is the only source of Souls in the game. Attack of Shelob alternates sides and takes a shot off the board each round. Kill the Witchking is pure combo work — the left ramp or right orbit arms the Sword Ramp, and only the Sword Ramp follow-up counts.

Each mode can only be played once per game, win or lose, and everything but the first runs on a 30-second timer. Every mode you actually finish lights a Gift of the Elves at the left orbit, collected at Barad-Dur, and the Gifts include 2X scoring for a full minute, a lit extra ball, five million flat, and Ring Multiball.

Three multiballs, three completely different jobs

• Fellowship of the Ring — collect all nine members from their own shots, then hit Barad-Dur. Then it is Balrog, ramp, Balrog, ramp, eight times over, with the ninth Balrog hit paying five million.
• The Two Towers — spell K-E-E-P with the inlanes and outlanes, then physically lock three balls on the Sword Ramp. Jackpots multiply by the number of balls in play and again by an escalating streak number, but pausing more than about three seconds resets the streak to one.
• Return of the King — bank 5,000 Souls first. Seven levels of four jackpots, and the trick is that collecting each level's four shots in ascending multiplier order raises every multiplier on the next level.

Gollum Multiball is different in kind. It adds a ball without stopping anything else, so it stacks with everything, and it flips between doubling and halving all scoring every seven seconds. Time your big shots to the Smeagol half of the cycle. It also has a rescue use: start it during the fanfare at the end of a movie multiball and you get pulled back into two-ball play.

The quiet earners

Gollum's Cave counts your shots into it and hands out Super awards at fixed intervals — Super Spinner, Super Pops, Super Ramps, Super Loops, Super Everything — and those points score regardless of what else is running. Barad-Dur pays on its third, seventh and twelfth hits and relights the Palantir every time. The Palantir is not truly random: the game reads your situation, so shoot it when a mode is about to time out rather than hoarding it.

Destroy the Ring, and the long road past it

Play all three movie multiballs, win or lose, and the Ring qualifies. Take the four Ring shots for one through two and a half million, then the Ring itself for three million — the magnet grabs your ball and a fresh one launches — then knock the trapped ball loose for five million.

Behind that is Valinor, which demands the harder version of everything: all three multiballs genuinely completed, all six modes plus There and Back Again played, all six Gifts collected, and the Ring destroyed. The catch is ordering. Finishing the multiballs qualifies Destroy the Ring, and while it is qualified you cannot start modes at all. So play modes early and hold back the last Two Towers lock, or you will find yourself needing a whole second lap through the multiballs to get another chance at the modes you skipped.

Goals in The Lord of the Rings

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

• The Three Skill Shots skillshot · Medium

  Three different plunge strengths pay three different prizes, and they are lit on every numbered ball and every extra ball. Only a ball-save relaunch and the plunge straight after destroying the Ring go unlit.

  Reward: +5X bonus, 250K climbing, or 1.25M

• Collecting Rings progression · Easy

  Four shots — both ramps, the inner orbit and the right orbit — each show one of three Ring inserts. Hitting a shot banks the type that was lit there. Three Elf Rings light Mode Start, seven Dwarf Rings light Mystery, and nine Rings of Man light Gollum Multiball.

  Reward: Mode Start, Mystery and Gollum Multiball

• Ring Combos combo · Medium

  Collecting a Ring lights every shot in red for a few seconds for two more of that same type. Chained Rings pay more than singles, so the fastest way to fill a Ring race is to treat every collection as the start of a three-shot burst.

  Reward: Escalating values per chained Ring

• Ring Frenzy mode · Medium

  Finish all three Ring races and a ten-second hurry-up starts. Every insert on the four Ring shots pulses, and each one you collect pays 100K, 125K then 150K, feeds the central jackpot and resets the timer.

  Reward: 600K jackpot base, up to 5X

• The Six Ring Modes progression · Medium

  Three Elf Rings light Mode Start at the Ring. Flip either button to change which of the six modes is selected, then shoot the Ring. Only one runs at a time, and each mode can only be played once whether you win it or not.

  Reward: A Gift of the Elves for each mode won

• War of the Ents mode · Medium

  The most valuable mode to play early, because it is not really about the points. The inner orbit diverter opens so you can put balls straight into Orthanc, and every Orthanc shot buys a trip up the Paths of the Dead.

  Reward: 750K per orbit, 500K per tower, plus Souls

• Kill the Witchking mode · Hard

  The one mode that is pure combo work. The left ramp and right orbit start lit for 500K each, and either one arms the Sword Ramp for a few seconds. Only the Sword Ramp follow-up damages him, and you need four of them.

  Reward: 500K per setup, 1M per combo

• Fellowship of the Ring Multiball multiball · Medium

  Collect all nine Fellowship members from their own shots, then put a ball in Barad-Dur. On later attempts only a couple of members are eligible at once, so it takes longer each time round.

  Reward: 5M for killing the Balrog, plus a Gift

• The Two Towers Multiball multiball · Medium

  Spell K-E-E-P with the inlanes and outlanes to light a Sword lock, then physically lock three balls on the sword ramp. Letters can only be collected in single-ball play, so a long multiball stalls your progress here.

  Reward: Jackpots multiplied by ball count and by streak

• Return of the King Multiball multiball · Hard

  Qualified by collecting 5,000 Souls from the Paths of the Dead, then started at Orthanc, Barad-Dur or Gollum's Cave. Seven levels of four jackpots each, and the order you take them in is what makes it pay.

  Reward: 250K base rising 50K a level, up to 4X per shot

• Feeding the Paths of the Dead progression · Medium

  Souls are the slowest currency in the game, so it pays to farm them deliberately. Any ball that drops into Orthanc during single-ball play gets lifted onto the Paths, and the four lamps up there decide what the trip is worth.

  Reward: Up to 2,000 Souls per trip

• Gollum Multiball multiball · Medium

  Nine Rings of Man light Gollum's Cave. It adds one ball and leaves everything else running, which makes it the best stacking tool on the machine — but every seven seconds it flips between doubling and halving all your scoring.

  Reward: One extra ball in play, 2X or 0.5X scoring

• Gollum's Cave Supers multiplier · Medium

  The cave counts every shot you put into it and hands out a Super award at fixed intervals — every three shots to start with. Super points score no matter what else is running, which makes this a genuinely free scoring boost.

  Reward: Spinner 15K, pops 20K, ramps and loops 250K, switches 10K

• Barad-Dur Tower Hits strategy · Medium

  The tower keeps a running count of hits and pays out on the third, seventh, twelfth and every fifth after that. It also relights the Palantir whenever it is dark, which makes it the cheapest way to keep that award available.

  Reward: Hold Ring Bonus, 2M awards, extra ball

• The Palantir strategy · Easy

  A white target that hands out whatever you happen to need. The award is not truly random — the game reads your situation and tends to give the useful thing, which is why you should shoot it when something is on the line rather than banking it.

  Reward: Add-A-Ball, ball save, spotted progress, bonus

• Mystery at the Shire strategy · Medium

  Seven Dwarf Rings light Mystery in the Shire, and the awards there are large. The trap is that Mystery will happily start a movie multiball that is close to qualifying, so collect it when a multiball start suits you.

  Reward: 1M, Souls, bonus multipliers, or a multiball start

• Gifts of the Elves strategy · Medium

  Every mode or multiball you actually finish lights a Gift at the left orbit, collected at Barad-Dur. Six of them exist and you choose which one is flashing, so this is one of the few places in the game where you get to pick your reward.

  Reward: Extra ball, Ring Multiball, Special, 5M, 2X scoring or Super Ring Frenzy

• Stacking Modes and Multiballs strategy · Hard

  Only one Ring mode runs at a time, but any mode can ride along with a multiball. Start the mode first and the multiball second — once a movie multiball is underway you cannot start a mode until it ends.

  Reward: Mode progress under multiball scoring

• Victory Laps combo · Medium

  Finishing any movie multiball turns all seven main shots into laps worth 500K, then 550K, then 600K and so on. Clear all seven before touching the Ring and the whole ladder starts 50K higher next time round.

  Reward: 500K per lap, base rising with each clean set

• There and Back Again wizard · Hard

  Play all six Ring modes and the lamps strobe. Shoot the Ring to lock in a mode, then any lit shot pays what you originally scored in that mode — but each shot you use is gone for good, so the last modes are the hardest to cash.

  Reward: Your original mode totals, plus 5M to finish

• Destroy the Ring wizard · Hard

  The main goal of the game. Play all three movie multiballs — win or lose — and the Ring qualifies. Four Ring shots, then the Ring itself, then you have to dislodge the trapped ball using a second one.

  Reward: 1M to 2.5M ladder, 3M, then 5M

• Valinor Multiball wizard · Hard

  The deepest thing in the game and the reason serious players fight the Ring modes before finishing the multiballs. Everything has to be genuinely completed, not merely played, and Destroy the Ring usually has to happen twice.

  Reward: The final multiball

• O-R-C and the Bonus Multiplier multiplier · Easy

  Three rollovers above the bumpers. Completing them steps the bonus multiplier, the lit lane slides with the flipper buttons, and the bumpers underneath shuffle the Paths of the Dead lamps while you are up there.

  Reward: Bonus multiplier steps

• The Ring Bonus strategy · Easy

  The spinner at the mouth of the Ring ramp adds a thousand points a spin to a stored Ring Bonus. Shoot the Ring while it is not lit for a mode and the whole accumulated total pays out at once.

  Reward: 1,000 per spin, paid on an unlit Ring shot