Little Joe

Quickie Version:

Shoot the upper right saucer all day. Seriously. Lit, it’s worth 5000; unlit, it’s still worth 3000. Beats anything else you can do for risk-reward.

Go-to Flipper:

Left

Risk Index:

High; Very High for anything other than the saucer or open gate unless the post is up.

Full Rules:

As for what the other stuff on the game does … You get a white dice value from the plunge, 1 through 6 at the top lanes. If you get the ball through a gate and re-plunge, the white dice value changes to whatever the new plunge goes through. The yellow dice value advances by one for each hit to a yellow mushroom bumper, going from 6 back to 1 at the end of the cycle. When your combined white + yellow dice total is either 7 or 11, it changes the top right saucer value from 3000 to 5000 and makes going through the upper gate on the right worth 5000 as well. When the combined value is 6, the upper gate is open. When the combined value is 8, going through the upper gate or hitting the standup target to the left of the top #6 lane opens the lower gate. A combined value of 4 lights the extra ball target. When the combined value is 2, 3, 5, 9, 10 or 12 … nothing happens. Clearly, you want to plunge to get a 7 or 11. If the 1 at the top will give you 7, you should soft plunge for it, otherwise note where plunges at different marker points go and try to nudge for whichever of 7 or 11 is easier. The bumpers are lit for 100 based on which top lane you get: lanes 2, 3, 4 and 5 light the red bumpers. Lanes 1, 3, 4 and 6 light the yellow bumpers. Getting #3 or #4 then lights both sets, so if one of those will get you 7 total when you plunge, choose that one. If you happen to get the center post up by hitting the marked rollover in the center of the game], try to let the ball drop onto the flippers and rest against the post, then use microflips to get the ball onto the left flipper just high enough to shoot at that top right saucer. Key feed is, of course, the kickout from the saucer.

via Bob's Guide