The Party Zone

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

Open The Party Zone in the Pinball Genie app →

The Party Zone looks like chaos and plays like arithmetic. Under the rocket and the robot comic sits a clear structure: one lane pays a climbing million, one target bank hands out a 10x multiplier, and together they are worth more than everything else combined.

Start with the plunge

There is a Door just right of the B-O-P lanes, and plunging each new ball through it pays a Door Prize — a million the first time and another million every time after, reportedly to at least ten. It costs you nothing but plunge control and it means you have millions on the board before you have made a real shot. Do it on every ball.

The Payoff lane and Way Out Of Control

The Payoff lane sits behind the four Way Out Of Control targets on the right. When nothing is lit, it pays a million and climbs a million each time you make it, reportedly up to around ten million a shot. Clearing the Way Out Of Control targets lights one of four awards, and the Payoff lane is where you collect it.

• 5 Million — straightforward, and the least interesting.
• Millions Per Bop — every bopper is worth a million for the rest of the ball.
• 10x Playfield — about ten seconds where everything except the Big Bang is multiplied tenfold.
• Special — an extra game, and the only award swapped out if you drain before collecting it.

The important rule is that only one award can be waiting at a time. Once something is lit, further hits on those targets are wasted effort — go and collect. Then the loop that produces genuinely large scores: grind the Payoff lane to its ceiling first, light 10x playfield, and cash a maxed Payoff lane inside the multiplier. If Millions Per Bop is already running on the same ball, each bopper is worth ten million while 10x is up.

Eat, drink and be merry

The five green targets down the left side light EAT at the base of the ramp. Collect it on the ramp for a million and DRINK lights for about ten seconds; take the comic saucer through the comic entry for two million and BE MERRY lights for another ten; finish at the Captain Bizarre saucer in the middle of the playfield for three million. It is a genuine three-shot chain on a rolling clock, and the ramp doubles as Ozone Bonus and extra ball progress.

The ramp pays twice

The Ozone Bonus opens at 100,000 and climbs by 100,000 per ramp shot, capping at two million on most machines and five million on some. More usefully, ramp shots accumulate toward extra balls on a ladder that lengthens each time: six ramps for the first, then eight, eleven, fourteen and eighteen. Alternating ramp and comic saucer shots is a well-worn route, since the Ha-Ha-Ha targets that relight the comic sit on the way to his saucer.

The comic, and what he is worth

The comic starts every ball lit and goes dark once you use him. What his saucer pays depends entirely on two lights. With DRINK running it is two million, plus a Comic Award between 100,000 and 900,000 if he is lit as well. With the comic lit and no DRINK, you get one of three things: 2x on your bonus multiplier, a Laff Attack frenzy where every target is worth 100,000 for about twenty seconds, or a surprise two-ball multiball. With nothing lit at all it starts at a miserly 10,000 — which is the machine telling you to hit the Ha-Ha-Ha targets first.

Passes, Happy Hour and the Big Bang

Party passes come from the Captain. Light both Request targets, take the Captain Bizarre saucer, and you get a request — 250,000, the music selection, and a pass. Turn up at the Cosmic Cottage without one and the bouncer sends you away. With a pass flashing, run the Cottage and finish in the comic saucer for Party Animals, then Party Monsters, then Party Dudez, which brings the two-ball Happy Hour with it.

Happy Hour runs on rocket fuel. It opens with five million of it, or only one million if you have already collected a Big Bang. The comic saucer and the Back-2-Bop lane each add a million of fuel; the ramp cashes whatever the current value is, between one and seven million. Bank enough and the next ramp shot pays ten million and locks the first ball, leaving you to send the second one up the ramp for the Big Bang itself — worth anywhere from ten million to just under a hundred, depending on how long it has been since the last one. Collecting it drops the playfield into a frenzy at 250,000 a target until you lose a ball. Note that 10x playfield does not multiply the Big Bang, so save the multiplier for the frenzy that follows.

One for the patient

Leave the Captain alone long enough and he starts playing his own favourites. Make a request while that is happening and you collect the Party Saver: five million, and five million more every time you catch it again. There is no light for it — the only cue is the music changing — so have both Request targets already lit and listen. Some ROM revisions do not run it at all.

Goals in The Party Zone

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

• Door Prize Skill Plunge skillshot · Medium

  Plunge each new ball through the Door rather than letting it drop into the lanes. It pays a million the first time and another million every time after, up to at least ten — which makes it the cheapest big scoring habit on the machine.

  Reward: 1 million, climbing 1 million per collect

• End Zone Bonus strategy · Easy

  A quiet accumulator with a two-step setup. The right inlane lights the target at the base of the ramp; hitting it while lit adds 100,000. You are paid the total when the ball drains down either outlane.

  Reward: 100,000 per lit hit, paid on the drain

• Request Time mode · Medium

  Light both Request targets, then put the ball in the Captain Bizarre saucer. It pays 250,000 and hands you the music selection — and more usefully, it is how you get a party pass out of the Captain.

  Reward: 250,000 and control of the soundtrack

• Party Saver secret · Hard

  Leave the Captain alone too long and he starts playing his own favourites. Make a request while he is doing that and you collect the Party Saver — five million, and five million more every time you catch it again.

  Reward: 5 million, climbing 5 million per collect

• Light B-O-P multiplier · Easy

  Complete the three top lanes and you get 2x added to your bonus multiplier, which tops out at 8x. The same completion also arms the Dance Contest at the Back-2-Bop lane.

  Reward: +2x bonus multiplier, up to 8x, and the Dance Contest armed

• Dance Contest mode · Medium

  A bumper frenzy with no fixed timer. Every bopper hit adds a climbing amount to the dance total, and the mode only ends when the boppers have gone about ten seconds untouched — so keeping the ball anywhere near them is the entire skill.

  Reward: 50,000 per bopper, climbing 50,000 each time

• Back-2-Bop Award combo · Easy

  When the Dance Contest is not armed, the Back-2-Bop lane pays its own climbing award instead — 50,000 to start and 50,000 more each time. It is a good habit shot because it always feeds you back into the top of the playfield.

  Reward: 50,000, climbing 50,000 per shot

• Eat, Drink And Be Merry combo · Hard

  A three-shot chain on a rolling clock. Clear the green targets to light EAT, then each collect lights the next stage for about ten seconds. Done cleanly it is a million, then two, then three.

  Reward: 1 million, 2 million and 3 million in sequence

• Way Out Of Control mode · Medium

  Clear the four right-side targets and one of four awards lights. Only one can be waiting at a time, so once something is lit, stop shooting these targets and go collect — every further hit is wasted effort.

  Reward: 5 million, Millions Per Bop, 10x playfield, or a Special

• The Payoff Lane progression · Medium

  With nothing lit, the Payoff lane pays a million and climbs a million each time — reportedly to ten, which is the highest repeatable award on the machine. Learning this shot is the single biggest thing you can do for your score.

  Reward: 1 million, climbing to around 10 million a shot

• Ozone Bonus And The Extra Balls progression · Medium

  The ramp pays an Ozone Bonus that opens at 100,000 and rises by 100,000, capping at 2 million on most machines. More importantly, ramp shots stack toward extra balls on a ladder that gets longer each time.

  Reward: Ozone Bonus up to 2 million, plus repeatable extra balls

• Relight The Comic combo · Medium

  The comic starts every ball lit and goes dark once you use him. The three Ha-Ha-Ha targets bring him back for about ten seconds, and they sit directly on the path to his saucer — so the relight and the collect are almost the same shot.

  Reward: About ten seconds of a lit Comic

• Comic Saucer Awards mode · Medium

  What this saucer pays depends on two lights, and the difference is dramatic. With DRINK running it is worth millions; with the Comic lit and no DRINK it can hand you a multiball; with neither it is worth almost nothing.

  Reward: Anything from 10,000 to a surprise multiball

• Laff Attack mode · Medium

  A twenty-second frenzy where every target on the playfield is worth 100,000. There is nothing to aim at, so the right play is to stop aiming — keep the ball live and let it hit things.

  Reward: 100,000 per target for about 20 seconds

• Cosmic Cottage Party Passes progression · Hard

  Three passes, collected in order, each worth 250,000 — and the third one is what opens Happy Hour. Each collect needs a pass flashing, a run through the Cottage, and then the comic saucer.

  Reward: 250,000 each, and Happy Hour on the third

• Happy Hour multiball · Hard

  A two-ball multiball built around rocket fuel. It opens with five million of fuel, or only one million if you have already collected a Big Bang. Fuel is built on the comic saucer and Back-2-Bop, and cashed on the ramp.

  Reward: 1 to 7 million per ramp, then the Big Bang

• The Big Bang wizard · Hard

  The biggest single award on the machine, worth anywhere from ten million to just under a hundred million depending on how long it has been since the last one. Collecting it also drops the playfield into a frenzy that lasts until you lose a ball.

  Reward: 10 million to 99,999,999, then 250,000 a target

• The 10x Payoff Loop strategy · Hard

  The known high-score route on this machine, and it is a loop rather than a mode. Build the Payoff lane to its ceiling, use Way Out Of Control to light 10x playfield, and cash a maxed Payoff lane inside the multiplier for a hundred million.

  Reward: Up to 100 million per Payoff lane shot