Carnival: how to play
Win all six games on the midway to light the Grand Prize. Two games are on the main table. The other four are booths behind roll-down shutters: open one, shoot the ball inside, and play its own little table against the clock.
Carnival plays like an early machine: five balls and no ball save, no ramps and no multiball, and every score ends in a zero. New to pinball? How to play covers the basics.
The shots
- 1BALL ROLL, five lanes under the top arch, worth 50, 30, 10, 20 and 40 from left to right.
- 2RING TOSS, the hole in the middle. It is also where the extra ball and the Grand Prize are collected.
- 3SHOOTING GALLERY: its chamber in the top-left corner, a right flipper shot, and its three duck targets below.
- 4HIGH STRIKER: the chamber at the head of the lane up the left wall, a hard shot from the tip of the right flipper, and three targets beside the lane.
- 5MILK BOTTLES: its chamber in the top-right corner, a left flipper shot, and its three bottle drop targets below.
- 6MOLE BOP: its chamber on the right side, a right flipper shot, and three lanes in front of it.
- 7Pop bumpers.
Up close
Each numbered shot as it looks in the game.
The midway games
BALL ROLL. Roll through all five top lanes in one ball. Each lane scores its value in hundreds (1,000 to 5,000) and a ticket every time. The lanes you have rolled stay lit until the ball ends.
RING TOSS. Sink the ball in the centre hole three times (3,000 and a ticket each). Sinks count across balls.
The booths
- Open it. Hit the booth's three switches (1,000 and a ticket each). The third rolls up its shutter: OPEN lights over it, and its bulbs chase (5,000).
- Shoot the ball in. The table switches to the booth's own table, with its own flippers and one ball. The flippers work as usual.
- Play the round. Win before the clock runs out. Win or lose, the ball comes back out to the main table, and the shutter comes down.
Each booth gives you one try a ball. After a round, win or lose, that booth's switches go dark and can't open it again until your next ball. Switches you have lit and a booth you have opened but not played carry over between balls.
| Booth | The round | To win |
|---|---|---|
| HIGH STRIKER | The ball is the puck. Shoot it up the tower to ring the bell at the top (10,000 and a ticket, once a climb). Each new mark on the scale pays 1,000. | 2 bells in 16 s |
| MILK BOTTLES | Six bottles stacked 3-2-1. Knock one out from under the others and they fall too (500 each). You get three throws a stack; a stack left standing is cleared and restacked. | All 6 in 20 s |
| SHOOTING GALLERY | Three ducks ride a conveyor along the back. Hit a standing duck to knock it flat (2,000 and a ticket). | 7 ducks in 19 s |
| MOLE BOP | Five moles pop up one at a time for 1.6 seconds each. Hit the one that is up (3,000 and a ticket). | 7 moles in 18 s |
The round ends early if the booth's ball drains. Each round after a Grand Prize asks more: one more bell, duck or mole, or 2 seconds less for the bottles.
Winning booths and the featured booth
A booth won pays 25,000 and 5 tickets. One booth at a time is featured, marked by its fast-blinking star. A featured booth won pays double: 50,000 and 10 tickets. The game starts with BALL ROLL featured, and every slingshot hit moves the star to the next booth you haven't won, so you can steer it.
Your third booth of the game lights SHOOT AGAIN at the ring hole, once a game. A sink there collects the extra ball and still counts for Ring Toss.
Tickets
Tickets are the bonus. You earn them from the inlanes, BALL ROLL lanes, ring sinks, booth switches, booth rounds and booth wins, up to 30 a ball. The Ferris wheel's lights count them. When the ball ends, each ticket pays 1,000, or 2,000 once you have won three booths. A tilted ball loses its tickets.
Grand Prize
Win all six booths and the Grand Prize lights at the ring hole. Sink it for 100,000. The midway then starts its next round: every booth is open to win again, each worth more (25,000 times the round number, 100,000 times the round for the next Grand Prize), and the booth games ask more.
The Grand Prize also lights the Special, 50,000, paid the next time you win the High Striker.
When the last ball ends, the table draws a match number. It is for show and awards nothing.
Scores
| Shot or switch | Points |
|---|---|
| Slingshot | 10 |
| Pop bumper | 100 |
| Inlane (plus a ticket); a booth switch already lit or used | 500 |
| Outlane; booth switch (plus a ticket) | 1,000 |
| BALL ROLL lane | 1,000 to 5,000 |
| Ring Toss sink | 3,000 |
| Opening a booth | 5,000 |
| Ticket, at the end of the ball | 1,000 or 2,000 |
| Booth won (featured) | 25,000 (50,000) × round |
| Special | 50,000 |
| Grand Prize | 100,000 × round |
Tips
- There is no ball save, so the first seconds of a ball matter as much as the rest. Take your time on the plunge and catch the ball on a flipper before shooting.
- Use the slingshots to move the star onto the booth you are about to win, for double points and tickets.
- Open a booth but wait to shoot it until you have a calm ball: the open chamber stays open for later balls, and you only get one try a ball.