Pinball
Launch the ball, keep it alive with the flippers and build your bonus before it drains. Three or five balls.
How to play pinball online
- Choose Balls per game: 3 balls (the default) or 5 balls. Changing it restarts the game.
- Click or tap the table so it has focus, or press Tab until the focus ring appears. Keyboard keys only work after this.
- Hold Space or Down arrow to pull back the plunger, then release to launch. You can also press and hold the Launch button.
- Hold Left arrow, Z or left Shift for the left flipper. Hold Right arrow, / or right Shift for the right flipper. Release a key to let the flipper fall.
- With a mouse, press and hold the left half of the table for the left flipper and the right half for the right flipper. On touch, hold with one or more fingers.
- Watch the Score, Ball, Bonus multiplier and Best chips and the status line.
- Press New game at any time to start again.
- When the last ball drains, the Game over dialog shows your final score and says whether it is a new best for that ball count. Press Play again for a new game.
Press P to pause or resume, N for a new game and F for fullscreen. The Rules button shows the rules and pauses a ball in play until you close it. The game also pauses by itself when the browser tab is hidden.
Pinball rules: launch, flippers and drain
Each game has 3 balls, or 5 if you choose that. Each ball starts on the plunger, and you launch it by holding and releasing. Once it is in play, you use the two flippers at the bottom to hit it back up the table and stop it from draining between them. When a ball drains, the next one starts. When the last ball drains, the game is over.
Launch power depends on how long you hold the plunger. Full power comes after 0.8 s. A very short press under 0.12 s launches at 85 % power. A hold of about 0.12 to 0.35 s is too weak, so the ball rolls back onto the plunger and you can launch again without losing it.
What are the pinball rules and scoring?
Each target has a fixed value. A pop bumper scores 100, a slingshot 10, a drop target 500, a standup target 250, a rollover lane 500, all three rollover lanes 2,000, and a full set of drop targets 5,000.
The end-of-ball bonus builds up during the ball. It grows by 20 for each bumper hit, 250 for each target, 250 for each lit rollover lane and 1,000 for each completed drop target set. When the ball drains, the bonus is multiplied by the bonus multiplier and counted onto your score. For example, a bonus of 2,000 at x3 adds 6,000. The multiplier starts at x1 for each ball and rises by one for a full drop target set and by one when all rollover lanes are lit, up to x5. It multiplies only the end-of-ball bonus, not the points you score during play.
The ball saver lasts 10 seconds after the ball enters the table. If the ball drains during that time, it returns to the plunger for free, but only once per ball. The green lamp under the flippers is lit while it is active.
What are good pinball strategy and tips?
- Hit the ball with a moving flipper. A flipper adds its speed to the ball, so a ball hit by a swinging flipper leaves much faster than one that rolls onto a resting flipper. Timing your press matters more than holding a flipper still.
- Build the bonus before the drain. The bonus only pays out when the ball drains, so keep hitting bumpers and targets to make it large before a risky shot.
- Complete the drop target set. Each drop target is worth 500, and the fourth one completes the set for 5,000 more and raises the multiplier. When the fourth target falls you score 500 + 5,000 = 5,500, the multiplier moves up one step (x1 to x2, for example), and the bonus grows by 1,250.
- Move the lit lamps. While the ball is in play, pressing the left flipper key moves the lit rollover lamps one place left, and the right key moves them right. Use this to light lanes that are still dark.
- Choose your launch. A quick tap gives 85 % power. Holding for 0.8 s or longer gives full power, which launches at 1,600 px/s.
- Practise the same inputs. The game has no randomness, so the same inputs always give the same ball path. Repeating a launch and flipper timing shows you what a shot does.
Frequently asked questions
Is pinball free, and do I need to sign up?
Yes. The game is free to play in your browser. There are no accounts and no sign-up.
Can I play pinball on a phone?
Yes. The table fits a 320 px wide phone without sideways scrolling. Touch and hold the left or right half of the table to use a flipper, and hold the Launch button or the plunger lane and release to launch.
Is my game saved?
Only your best score for 3-ball and 5-ball games, and your chosen number of balls, are saved on this device. A ball or game in progress is not saved, so reloading the page starts a new game at score 0.
Does pinball have sound?
No. The game has no sound or music, and no mute option.
Why does the ball roll back down the plunger lane?
The launch was too weak. A hold of about 0.12 to 0.35 seconds does not get the ball onto the table, so it rolls back onto the plunger and you can launch again without losing the ball. Hold longer, or tap quickly for an 85 % launch. The table itself is an original design, not a copy of any existing machine.
Does the game have multiball or extra balls?
No. There is no multiball, no extra balls, no missions, no ramps and no skill shot. Only one best score is kept for each ball count.
Can I play with the keyboard only?
Yes, once the table has focus. Use the arrow keys, Z, /, Shift, Space or Down arrow for the flippers and plunger.
More games
- Brick Breaker: another game where a ball bounces around and you knock things out.
- Pong: a simpler ball game with paddles on each side.
- Bubble Shooter: to aim and shoot to clear a board.
- Snake Game: a classic game of steering and growing.
- Stacker Game: to test your timing by stacking blocks.
- Block Puzzle: to fit pieces together on a grid.