Jack-Bot (styled JACK•BOT) is a 1995 pinball game which was designed by Barry Oursler and Larry DeMar, and released by US-based electronic gaming company Williams. It is the third game in the Pin-Bot series, following Pin-Bot (1986) and The Machine: Bride of Pin-Bot (1991).
Description The game has a futuristic casino theme. Certain elements of the original Pin-Bot table carry over to Jack-Bot, such as the spiral ramp, visor targets, and locking the balls in the holes to activate Pin-Bot's eyes.
Jon Hey created the music and sound which includes a new arrangement of the Pin-Bot theme previously composed for Williams Pinball by Chris Granner.
The game uses an easy to understand playfield, where novice players can just shoot up the middle of the playfield. The more sophisticated player can "cheat" to set the rules to their own advantage.
The playfield has the same design as Pin-Bot, with new software and rules. The game was created to fill a possible "hole" in the production line and another game was needed quickly. RePlay reported that the game was easier to build.
Ball purchase/Extra ball button Jack-Bot also allows players to buy an extra ball for one credit, and then pressing the "EXTRA BALL" button; players can buy a maximum of three balls this way. The game, has two separate high score lists: one for games without buy-ins, and one including buy-ins. The Grand Champion is the highest score of scores where no buy-ins were involved.
Pressing the EXTRA BALL button can also activate various cheats if done properly, such as Pin*Bot changing the results of a dice roll. This is not a hidden feature, and is described on the instruction card.
Pressing the EXTRA BALL button during attract mode activates a message on the dot-matrix display, which reads, "In memory of Joe Joos, Jr.," who had died a year earlier; the display then tells the player a brief biography on Joos. There is a dedication to Joos in the manual for the game.
During attract mode, pressing the left flipper button three times while holding down the EXTRA BALL button activates a long credits roll on the dot-matrix display accompanied by a medley of the game's music.
Objectives The game has two main objectives: to activate Casino Run and to start Multi-Ball; during Multi-Ball, the objective is to score enough Jack*Bots (jackpots) to light Mega Visor.
Table Details and Rules Vortex Skill Shot As in the original Pin-Bot, the plunger launches the ball towards a spiral ramp known as the Vortex, which has a top, middle, and bottom section. To score the highest value offered, shoot the ball into the middle section.
The vortex value resets to 10 million for each ball unless it is held (see below).
Shooting the middle vortex hole during Multi-Ball can score a Jack*Bot.
Hit Me A touch target just above the right inlane/outlane area. Hitting this target randomly draws a card to add to the player's total (starting from zero), with the goal being to reach 21 (as in blackjack) or get as close as possible without busting (going over 21). Each time the target is hit, the player scores 1 million points times the total (i.e., bringing the hand to 17 scores 17 million points). Hitting 21 exactly or busting resets the total to zero, but if the player hits 21 exactly, they win a 50 million point bonus.
Aces can count as 1 or 11, as in regular blackjack.
The Hit Me target can also be used to score up to 75 million points during the Hurry-Up Mode, and for scoring Jack*Bots during Multi-Ball.
Poker Targets To the left just beneath the ramp, there are three poker targets. One is lit during play; hitting the lit target advances the bonus multiplier up to 5x. If an unlit target is hit, the player must wait until the targets reset before trying again. If the lit target is hit, and the player hits the two other targets before they reset, the machine spots the player a poker card to be used in the game Pin-Bot Poker (see below).
Cashier Target Underneath the left ramp is a cashier target. When activated, the ramp will lift up to allow the ball to go underneath to hit it. Hitting this target can do a variety of things for the player: score the bonus during Cashier Mode, collect the Solar Jets award, doubles the winnings for a casino game, and collect Jack*Bots during Multi-Ball.
Ramp and Vortex Increaser When the ramp is down, shooting the ball up the ramp and over to the mini-bagatelle playfield (a carry-over from the original Pin-Bot) begins the Vortex Counter, which gradually adds 1 million points to the value of the vortex (starting from 10 million), up to a maximum of 50 million points. The ball then will randomly make its way either through the hole, activating Solar Jets Mode, down to the right inlane, which will award a random award (which changes in synchronization with the Vortex Counter), or back to the plunger for another skill shot.
Solar Jets If the ball falls through this hole and into the bumpers, it triggers Solar Jets mode. The ramp flips up; the player then has about 20 seconds (represented by a slow countdown from 10) to hit the Cashier target to score the Solar Jets value, which starts at 40M and goes up by 4M for each bumper hit. Starting Multiball or Casino Run before the timer runs out will also score the Solar Jets award.
Inlane Awards If the ball goes through the right inlane, it will trigger one of the following awards: 25 Million: Awards 25 million points. Cashier: The player has 20 seconds (represented by a slow countdown from 10) to hit the Cashier target and score twice the bonus value (though this replaces the end-of-ball bonus instead of adding to it). Starting Multi-Ball or Casino Run also awards the Cashier value. Light Extra Ball: Lights an extra ball on one of the inlanes/outlanes. The light can be moved by pressing the flipper buttons. Mega Ramp: Lights the left ramp. The player must shoot the ball up the ramp within 5 seconds to win the Mega Ramp value, starting at 50 million, and increasing by 25 million each time it is achieved.
Game Saucer The Game Saucer is a narrow lane leading to a ball trap that is located just to the right of the left ramp. Shoot the ball into this trap to begin a casino game. During Multi-Ball, shoot the ball into this trap to collect a Jack*Bot, and during Casino Run, this trap is one of several that can be used to spin the wheels on the slot machine.
Visor and 5x5 Grid Keno Lights As in the original Pin-Bot, the machine has a visor that begins the game closed, and a 5x5 grid of lights underneath it, colored yellow, blue, orange, green, and red, in that order. Above the lights are a visor row of targets that light the lights vertically in columns, and to the right side is a side row of lights that light the lights in each row horizontally. To open the visor, the player either needs to complete the grid by hitting the targets in any order, or by shooting the correct visor or side row target when the lights are initially flashing; the lights initially flash one column at a time, left to right, and then one row at a time, top to bottom. In the latter case, opening the visor by shooting the correct target awards a 50 million point bonus (after this is done, however, the machine requires the player to open the visor each subsequent time by just completing all 25 lights on the grid in any order).
In Jack-Bot, the lights are known as Keno Lights, and each column also has a white arrow above it. When the visor is closed, shooting the ball into the target when the white arrow is lit awards a Keno Award:
Vortex at Max: Automatically brings the vortex value to 50 million. Add Vortex Value: Increases the value of the vortex if it isn't already at 50 million. Vortex Held: Carries the value of the vortex over to the next ball, including extra balls. 25M: Awards 25 million points. Add Poker Card: Spots an extra poker card for Pin-Bot Poker. 5X Bonus: Brings the bonus multiplier to 5X, the maximum available in the game. (Note that after the ball drains, pressing the EXTRA BALL button enough times to activate a cheat results in Pin-Bot slamming the 5X graphic, making it 6X; this is the only time a player can get a 6X Bonus.) Game Saucer Lit: Before the first Multi-Ball, and only before the first Multi-Ball, if the Game Saucer isn't lit, hitting the arrow will light the saucer. Extra Ball: Awards an extra ball; usually awarded only on the last ball if the player's total score is under 300 million points.
When the visor opens, the player can lock a ball into one of Pin-Bot's eye sockets; doing so puts another ball to the plunger, and locking the second ball begins Multi-Ball.
If the visor is open, and the player hasn't started Multi-Ball yet, completing all 25 lights a second time lights an Extra Ball light above the inlane and outlane roll-overs.
Extra Ball The inlane and outlane roll-overs have an extra ball light above them, which the player collects by getting the ball to roll over the lit inlane or outlane. It is possible to have more than one light lit and collect multiple Extra Balls.
However, there's a limit of five such per game, and any in excess scores 250 million instead.
Multi-Ball To start Multi-Ball, the player needs to lock both balls in the eye sockets of Pin-Bot. The first Multi-Ball is a 2-ball Multi-Ball, while subsequent Multi-Balls are 3-ball Multi-Balls; in the latter case, the player must shoot a ball from the plunger to the vortex to start Multi-Ball.
During Multi-Ball, Jack*bots are lit at the Eyes, at the Cashier target, and at Hit Me. The first Jack*Bot a player scores in a game is worth 50 million; future Jack*bots increase in value by 25M each time, so that the eleventh Jack*bot is 300M. Then the value starts advancing by 50M for each Jack*bot, so that the fifteenth and final Jack*bot is 500M.
Collecting a Jack*bot turns that location's light off; at least one location will always be lit. If the player collects Jack*Bots at all four places, the Cashier target will be relit, and the lit location will move from left-to-right (to the left Eye, then the right, then Hit Me, then back to Cashier) each time it is collected.
Hitting the Game Saucer relights all four Jack*bot locations. If you hit it when all four are already lit, it scores a Jack*bot instead.
Collecting Jack*bot at one of the Eyes, then hitting the other Eye (lit or not) within a second, scores a Super Jack*bot instead. This triples the points (thus; a Super Jack*bot can be as high as 1.5 billion points).
Multi-ball ends when the player is down to one ball in play. There is about a three-second grace period during which a Jack*bot can still be scored. If the player loses a Multi-ball without scoring any Jack*bots at all, they are given a 10-second restart period; hitting the Eyes or the Game Saucer before the time runs out restarts a two-ball Multi-ball with a skill shot at the plunger. Only one restart per Multi-ball is allowed, however; if this occurs a second time, the player has to start from scratch.
After Multi-ball is over, the Visor will remain open until the game decides that the ball is in a place where it won't get caught behind the Visor when it closes. The ramp, the Cashier target, the Game Saucer, the rubber below the Game Saucer, the Poker Targets, and the Solar Jets will all trigger the Visor to close. As soon as the Visor starts closing, the Keno card will reset (with a row or column flashing for an instant Visor re-open), ready for the player to start refilling it.
Mega Visor