Pinball Tips: How to Get Better at Pinball
To get better at pinball, stop flipping both flippers at once, catch the ball on a raised flipper so you can aim, and learn where on the flipper to hit the ball to send it where you want. Then play the rules: build the multiplier early on every ball, use ball save to take risks, and save your best shooting for multiball, where the jackpots are.
1. Flip one flipper, not both
The most common beginner habit is hitting both buttons every time the ball comes down. Flipping both raises the flipper on the far side for no reason and leaves a gap where the ball can slip through. Watch which side the ball is coming down and flip only that flipper.
Also: don't flip at the ball as soon as it appears near the bottom. A ball that rolls down an inlane or bounces off a slingshot often comes to you slowly. Wait for it.
2. Catch the ball, then aim
A raised flipper is a shelf. If you hold a flipper up as the ball comes down onto it, the ball rolls down the flipper and stops in the corner where the flipper meets the inlane. Players call this a cradle, and it's the single most useful skill in pinball: once the ball is still, you can breathe, look at what's lit and choose your shot.
Press Teach me under the table and Hop does the aiming with you: he rings the next shot worth going for, puts a lime dot on the flipper where the ball should be, and shows FLIP! at the right moment. The table also runs a little slower. Coached games are practice, so they don't count for best scores.
To shoot from a cradle, let go of the button: the flipper drops, the ball starts rolling down it, and you flip again when it reaches the spot you want (see the next tip). It takes a few tries to get the timing, so practise on Easy.
3. Where the ball sits on the flipper decides where it goes
A flipper doesn't send every ball to the same place. On GameLake's table, a ball hit from the left flipper goes:
- Near the base (close to the pivot): almost straight up, into the lily pads and the lotus bumpers.
- In the middle: up and to the right, towards Hop's log.
- Near the tip: flatter and right across the table, towards the right-hand side.
The right flipper is the mirror image. Since a cradled ball rolls from the base towards the tip once you drop the flipper, flipping sooner gives you the straight-up shot and flipping later gives the cross-table shot. Learn the one timing that hits Hop's log and you'll start multiball far more often.
4. Build the multiplier first
Every point on the table is multiplied by the multiplier, from ×1 up to ×5, and it resets when the ball drains. That makes the three lily lanes at the top the best early target on every ball: light all three to go up one step.
Each flip moves the lit lanes one step sideways. When the ball is heading back to the top, tap a flipper to slide the dark lane under it.
A jackpot is worth 5,000 at ×1 but 25,000 at ×5, so a few minutes spent on the lanes before going for multiball pays back many times.
5. Make the skill shot and use ball save
While the ball waits on the plunger, one top lane blinks orange. Hitting it on the launch scores 3,000 and lights a lane for the multiplier at the same time. Note how far you pulled when you get it and repeat that pull: the same pull sends the ball to the same lane.
Right after the launch, ball save is running (the lily pad between the flippers blinks): 15 seconds on Easy, 8 on Medium, 4 on Hard. This is the moment for risky shots like the orbits, because a drain costs nothing yet.
6. Know where balls drain
Balls are lost in two places: straight down the middle between the flippers, and down the outlanes along the side walls. The middle you can defend with the flippers. The outlanes you can't, except with a kickback: the lit arrow at the foot of an outlane fires the ball back up once.
Knocking down all four lily pads in the middle lights both kickbacks, so on Medium and Hard it's worth clearing that bank early on every ball. On Easy the kickbacks are always lit and relight themselves.
7. Make multiball count
Light H-O-P with the three targets on the left, then shoot Hop's log. During multiball the log pays a jackpot; after each jackpot, shoot an orbit (the loops up either side wall) to light it again, then go back to the log.
With three balls bouncing around it's easy to panic. Try this: cradle one ball on a flipper and keep it there while you play the others with the other flipper. When things calm down, shoot the cradled ball at the log. The 12-second ball save at the start of multiball means early drains are free.
8. String your big shots into combos
Orbits, Hop's log, finishing H-O-P and finishing the lily pad bank all count as big shots. Make two within 4 seconds of each other and you score a combo worth 500 × the combo count, and the count keeps climbing as long as you keep the chain going. An orbit that comes back down to a flipper is a good start: catch it, aim, and go again.
Frequently asked questions
How can I get better at pinball fast?
Flip only the flipper the ball is coming to, learn to catch the ball on a raised flipper, and then practise one shot until you can hit it on purpose. Those three habits add more to your score than anything else.
Should you flip both flippers at the same time?
Usually not. Flipping both raises the flipper you don't need and opens a gap for the ball to slip through. Flip only the side the ball is on.
How do you aim in pinball?
By choosing where on the flipper the ball is when you flip. On GameLake's table, near the base sends it almost straight up and near the tip sends it across the table. Catch the ball first, then drop the flipper and flip again at the right moment.
What is a cradle in pinball?
Holding a flipper up so the ball comes to rest in the corner between the flipper and the inlane. It stops the action so you can aim your next shot.
Can you nudge the table on GameLake?
No, there's no nudging or tilt in this game, so you can't save or lose a ball by shaking. Kickbacks and ball save do that job instead.
What's a good pinball score on GameLake?
It depends on the level. On Medium, 10,000 earns one star, 50,000 two stars and 150,000 three stars. The Daily table uses the Medium targets.