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Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye

Stern Pinball, 2026 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye in the Pinball Genie app →

Designer Elliot Eismin (layout), code/rules Elizabeth Gieske. Released June 2026. Three editions — Pro / Premium / LE — with identical scoring; only physical toys differ (animatronic firing Megatron cannon, Soundwave physical ball lock, Grimlock sculpt, right-ramp diverter are premium-le). Playfield is split Autobots-left / Decepticons-right, three flippers including an upper-right flipper fed by the left orbit and plunge.

Core loops

Combos & multipliers

Skill shots

Soft-plunge to the upper flipper, then hit Optimus (500K/+5s), side ramp (5M/+8s), or space bridge (8M/+10s). Secret: catch on right flipper → left orbit → upper-flipper shot = 15M/+10s.

Wizard modes (code ~0.87)

Three mini-wizards top the ladder: One Shall Fall (play 2 missions → right ramp; 4-ball Megatron-vs-Optimus duel), Rescue Optimus (complete all 5 missions → VUK; 3 phases), Dinobot Desertion / Super Dinobot Desertion. No grand final wizard documented yet.

How Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye plays

Transformers puts the Autobot and Decepticon war under glass: run Megatron's five missions, assemble Combiners, and bring Optimus and Megatron to a head-to-head duel. Set each mission's difficulty with Energon, stack playfield multipliers into Transformers Multiball, and reach the mini-wizards One Shall Fall and Rescue Optimus.

The loop

  1. Knock down the three Megatron drop targets to open the scoop, scroll to a mission with the flippers, and start it -- spend or bank an Energon cube first to set that mission's difficulty and payout.
  2. Rip the center spinner to bank Energon cubes, and hit the color-coded standups to light nearby shots for the Tech Specs that feed the extra ball, Combiners, and your mission shot multipliers.
  3. Feed the center VUK to lock balls for Transformers Multiball, and spell BUMBLEBEE at the captive ball to arm 2x playfield before you start it.
  4. Play two missions to light One Shall Fall at the Right Ramp; clear all five instead and the VUK opens for Rescue Optimus, handing you an extra ball too.

Reading the lights

  • Megatron Drops & Mission Scoop (mode) — lit: The three drop targets sit lit in front of the Megatron scoop and block it; knocking them down opens the scoop, and they reset as the recurring toll on every new mission. · flashing: The scoop flashes when a mission is ready to start or a mission's final blow is lit. · then: Start your pick at the scoop, make its shots, then cash the final blow back at the scoop for a 2x shot multiplier; clearing all five missions lights the VUK for Rescue Optimus and an extra ball at the Space Bridge. · control: Either flipper button: with the scoop open, the flippers scroll the five missions so you start the one whose shots you are hitting cleanly, and spending or banking an Energon cube beforehand sets whether it runs Energized (easier, smaller) or Rusted (harder, far bigger) (drops cleared, scoop lit, no mission running)
  • BUMBLEBEE Playfield X (multiplier) — lit: The Bumblebee captive ball adds three BUMBLEBEE letters per lit hit and changes color as it climbs; if it has gone dark, two pop-bumper hits relight it. · then: Three lit hits complete the word and arm thirty seconds of 2x playfield -- start it just before a multiball, then shoot the Space Bridge for its once-a-game add-a-ball and bash the captive ball again within ten seconds to push the whole thing to 3x.
  • Tech Spec Standups (status) — lit: Hitting a color-coded standup lights the major shot beside it for a Tech Spec in that target's color, and the specs you bank hold as a running inventory across five circulating colors. · then: Collect fifteen specs in any mix to light the extra ball at the Space Bridge, three of every color to start Tech Spec Mania, and keep in mind a mission's final-blow 2x only pays while a spec is lit on that shot -- so neither system scores much without the other.
  • Transformers Multiball Locks (mode) — lit: The center VUK lights for a lock after its shots stack up, and each locked ball holds -- physically on Premium and LE, virtually on Pro -- until three are banked. · flashing: Major shots flash as they cycle purple to red to a flashing jackpot during the multiball. · then: Lock three to start Transformers Multiball, hit a major shot until it turns over for each jackpot, and cash the Super Jackpot at the Side Ramp for the combined base value of every jackpot you banked.
  • Combiner Parts & Grid (status) — lit: Each Combiner needs five parts, most coming off the Side Ramp, and a completed Combiner stays built for the rest of the game. · flashing: The Space Bridge flashes for Combiner Multiball once three of the five Combiners are built. · then: Build three Combiners to start at the Space Bridge, spin the grid onto a finished one for eight-to-ten-million jackpots, then finish the Side Ramp into the Space Bridge for a super that tacks on an extra ball, sized to the number of Combiners you had built going in. · control: Action button: inside Combiner Multiball, holding the button spins the Combiner grid -- land it on one you actually finished and jackpots light at the upper-flipper shots, the spinner, Megatron and the Right Ramp, while a half-built Combiner is just a slot the grid can waste itself on (during Combiner Multiball)
  • Cassette Combo & Button (shot arrows) — lit: Rolling the Left Inlane briefly lights the Cassette target, and chaining the Right Ramp into the Left Ramp into that lit target completes the three-way Cassette combo before the light dies. · then: Complete the combo, press the lit button, then cash the fifteen-second window at shots carrying a mission final-blow 2x -- the game's go-to repeatable scoring loop. · control: Action button: completing a Cassette combo lights the button -- press it to switch on every Tech Spec for fifteen seconds and double scoring at your completed mission shots (right after a Cassette three-way combo)
  • Inlane Tug-of-War (lanes) — lit: Once the Megatron drops are cleared the return lanes light a tug-of-war, and you pick a side by which lane you feed the ball through rather than by tapping a flipper. · then: Roll the Left Inlane twice without touching the right and the Left Ramp lights for a chain of pink hurry-up shots opening at fifteen million; feed the Right Inlane twice while sparing the left instead, and Starscream Frenzy lights over at the Right Orbit.
  • Grimlock & Dinobot Missions (mode) — lit: The two Grimlock standups flanking the Left Orbit gate the Dinobot missions, and hitting both lights the orbit's orange arrow to start one. · then: Shoot the lit Left Orbit on its orange arrow to start the selected Dino mission -- the hidden upper-left slingshot quietly cycles which one -- then score three Dino Jackpots back at the Left Orbit to complete it and qualify Dinobot Desertion.

Lane change: not verified for this machine yet.

Start scoring

  • Ball one — Short-plunge to the upper flipper and take a skill shot -- Space Bridge pays the most of the standard three at eight million with a ten-second ball save, the back-door secret route fifteen. Clear the Megatron drops, start an easy mission like Autobot Run off the scoop, and take incidental VUK locks as they present. — Space Bridge Skill Shot, Beginner Safe Opener, Solar Needle
  • Building — Arm Bumblebee 2x at the captive ball, lock three balls at the VUK, and start Transformers Multiball; trigger the Space Bridge add-a-ball to reach 3x, light four jackpots, and cash the Side Ramp super inside that window. Build Combiners off the Side Ramp for their own multiball on the side. — Transformers Multiball, Bumblebee Playfield X, Add-a-Ball 3x Stack, Combiner Multiball, Super Jackpot Stack
  • The big one — Play two missions to light One Shall Fall at the Right Ramp, a four-ball Optimus-versus-Megatron duel whose payout you pre-load with banked Energon and rusted missions. Clear all five missions instead to light the VUK for Rescue Optimus -- a three-phase wizard that hands you an extra ball and ends in victory laps. — One Shall Fall, Rescue Optimus, Bank Energon and Stack Perks Before One Shall Fall

The Action Button on Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye

Center of the lockdown bar.

Two very different jobs. It cashes the reward you earn from cassette combos, and inside Combiner Multiball it is the steering wheel that decides which Combiner your jackpots come from.

Goals in Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye

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

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