In a pinch, it's not a bad strategy to just shoot the Ringmaster all day to defeat him a few times and get to the Ringmaster Battle. If you're an always-be-in-multiball type of person, do this in addition to the hitting the posts on either side of the left ramp as well as the left ramp itself. Otherwise, collecting the 9 "marvels" on the playfield is the game progression and gets you to wizard mode. If there are marvels you have trouble with for any reason, try to spot them at the left ramp with enough hits to the Menagerie ball in the lower left.
The skill shot is a precise-power plunge just a little less than a full plunge, which scores 200,000 the first time it is made and an additional 200,000 on subsequent successes, up to a maximum of 1,000,000 points. Be careful of a full or close-to-full plunge in this game, though, as bounces off the skill shot target and the surrounding area are liable for center drains, and if your manual plunge gets ball-saved, the game will autplunge the second attempt at close-to-full power and possibly house ball you.
There are 9 marvels collectible around the game. Most of these will be discussed in more detail in their own sections later in the guide. Progress on the Marvels carries over from ball to ball. Lighting all 9 of them starts Join the Cirqus wizard mode.
The left ramp can be lit for Spot Marvel at certain numbers of Menagerie hits after collecting the Menagerie marvel itself.
On very early versions of the game/code, marvel #9 is Crank instead, awarded by the switches in the right loop rather than by the spinner itself. On even earlier prototype versions of the game, the center marvel (#5) is Visit Ring 3, collected by advancing the bonus multiplier to the max of 4x at least once during the game (see Bonus and bonus multiplier).
The three yellow targets in the back of the game spell Wow. Hitting any of the targets a total of 3 times (or just once, for the first Ringmaster of the game) summons the Ringmaster himself, a toy in the shape of a cartoony green headed guy. Defeat the Ringmaster by hitting him 5 times to cause him to raise up further, and then shooting the ball at him again to cause it to fall into the table. Successfully completing a Ringmaster scores 1,000,000 points times however many Ringmasters have been defeated in the game so far (or since Joining the Cirqus), and starts a unique multiball mode for any Ringmaster after the first.
When a Ringmaster begins after spelling Wow, he will fire the ball in a random direction. There is a brief ball save turned on during this time for in case he fires the ball directly down the middle. What he can also do, though, is send the ball behind him onto the habitrail, which scores a Sneaky Lock toward Highwire Multiball! Finally, if for some reason the magnet lets go of the ball early, there's a brief window where the ball can be shot underneath the Ringmaster before he settles in hit-me-5-times position, and doing so scores a 100,000-point Ringmaster Hideout.
Ringmaster Frenzie: the multiball that begins after 2 Ringmasters defeated. By default, this is only a 2-ball multiball, but it can be played with as many as 4 balls by stacking it with other multiball modes. During the Frenzie, the Ringmaster will be raised all the way up so that balls fall into the table underneath him. Shoot ball into this hole for a 250,000 point Ringmaster Jackpot. If a second ball is shot into this hole before the animation for the 1st one ends, an additional 500,000 points is scored. The third and fourth balls to make this hole in very quick succession score 750,000 and 1,000,000 points on top of all previous awards, so a "four way combo" into this hole scores a total of 2,500,000 points. Marvel #1 is awarded when Ringmaster Frenzie ends.
Ringmaster Razz: the 3rd Ringmaster's multiball. It's played the same as Frenzie, except the Jackpot base value is not always 250,000: instead, it is determined by a hurry-up that starts at 500,000 and counts down to 250,000. The first hit to the Ringmaster during this multiball locks in the jackpot value for the rest of the multiball, and it cannot be raised further. Double, triple, and quadruple jackpots are available just the same as they were in Frenzie, but also like Frenzie, Razz is just a 2-ball mode unless it runs concurrently with another multiball. On default settings, starting Ringmaster Razz lights an extra ball at the left orbit.
Ringmaster Special: the 4th Ringmaster's multiball. Despite the name, there are no Specials involved, at least not relating to the name of the conventional pinball award. This time, the Ringmaster Jackpot starts at 500,000 points, and it cannot be collected until hitting the Ringmaster 5 times. During this time, each spin of the right spinner or each hit to the Ringmaster himself adds 7,110 points to the jackpot. After the Ringmaster is hit 5 times, he will be fully raised, and jackpots can be made by shooting into the hole underneath him as before. Collecting the first Ringmaster Jackpot during this multiball locks in the jackpot value, and it cannot be raised anymore. This is once again a 2-ball multiball, with stacking and multiplied jackpots available in the same way as Frenzie and Razz. When Ringmaster Special multiball ends, marvel #5 (Defeat All Ringmasters) will be awarded.
Ringmaster Battle: a special multiball for defeating a 5th Ringmaster that the game never really tells you about outside of a single callout saying "try to go beyond my Ringmaster Special!". It's only available if Defeat All Ringmasters was not the last Marvel required to light Join the Cirqus. Ringmaster Battle is a mini-wizard mode with some similarities to Rescue the Princess from Tales of the Arabian Nights. It's a 2-ball multiball with an unlimited ball save until someone wins. Each hit to the Ringmaster himself or to one of the yellow standup targets on either side of him scores 1,000,000 points. It takes 10 hits to defeat the Ringmaster in this duel. However, the Ringmaster will periodically take away credit for hits: initially, this will happen about once every 5 seconds, but the longer the battle goes on, the more frequently he will take away your progress. The Ringmaster also takes away a hit if one of the two balls drains. When someone wins, the flippers will lock up and the balls will be allowed to drain, before a new ball is served to the plunger and the same player can continue. If you're the one who won, this comes with a 10,000,000 point super award, a lit extra ball at the left orbit, and a fantastic light show and animation!
If Ringmaster Battle was failed, defeating yet another Ringmaster from Wow -> 5 hits will restart the Battle, but if the Battle was won, no further Ringmasters can be played until after Join the Cirqus is started. Marvels can be collected during Ringmaster Battle, but other multiballs cannot stack with it, and if the final Marvel is collected during Ringmaster Battle, Join the Cirqus will not begin until the Battle ends.
Shoot the left orbit 3 times to light the Juggler, then shoot the left orbit 3 more times to lock 3 balls and start Juggler Multiball. During Juggler Multiball, the jackpots are on the orbits, with a base value of 500,000 points. Making a jackpot holds the ball in the back of the game for about 10 seconds. Shooting another orbit during this time scores a 1,000,000 point double jackpot and restarts the 10 second timer. A third orbit shot during this timer scores a 2,000,000 point super jackpot. When the timer runs out or when all balls are being held in the orbit, they will all kick back out near the Skill Shot target and the jackpot value will reset to 500,000.
Starting Juggler Multiball awards marvel #4, the Juggler. Having the Juggler marvel spotted for you does not instantly start Juggler Multiball. Juggler Multiball can stack with Strike an Arc, Ringmaster Frenzie/Razz/Special, or Neon multiballs.
Another left orbit feature. It is lit at the start of the game, and again by hitting the yellow targets on either side of the Ringmaster the number of times shown on the backglass. The Side Show is a mystery award that can give any of the following:
Collecting any Side Show award also lights the Side Show marvel (#2).
Any shot to the left ramp counts towards Strike an Arc Multiball. It takes 5 total left ramp shots to start the first Strike an Arc, and subsequent plays of this multiball each require 5 more ramp shots than the previous one. Strike an Arc is a 2-ball multiball. Any switch in the game adds power to the arc: when the arc is struck, a jackpot is scored. For the first jackpot, any switch in the game adds 10% power to the arc, and the jackpot is worth 500,000 points when the arc power is 100%. For successive jackpots, each switch adds 1% less power (to a minimum of 4% toward the 7th jackpot and on), and each jackpot scores 100,000 more points than the previous one. Strike an Arc can be stacked with Highwire Multiball or any Ringmaster multiballs other than Battle.
Hitting the standup targets on either side of the left ramp (or receiving Light Lock from the Side Show award) lights this ramp for a lock toward Highwire Multiball. Sneaky locks are also available if the Ringmaster throws the ball backwards off the magnet in his hat, or if the left ramp is shot just poorly enough that the ball falls into the lock habitrail instead of coming down the neon side on the right. When three balls are locked via any of these methods, Highwire Multiball begins. During Highwire Multiball, the two orbits and the left entrance of the loop around the Ringmaster score 1,000,000 point jackpots. At first, all three jackpots are lit, but after collecting a certain number (adjustable), only one will be lit at a time. Highwire Multiball can be stacked with Strike an Arc or Ringmaster Frenzie/Razz/Special multiballs.
When Highwire Multiball ends, the Highwire marvel (#3) is awarded. To play Highwire Multiball more than once, you may need to hit each of the Light Lock targets multiple times, or they may need to be hit within a certain amount of time as the other. Having the Highwire marvel spotted for you does not instantly start Highwire Multiball.
The left ramp can be lit for Spot Marvel by the Side Show or after collecting 15, 100, or 150 hits to the Menagerie over the course of the game (those latter two numbers may be incorrect). Making the left ramp then awards one uncollected Marvel for free. As far as I know, the awarded Marvel is completely random, with one exception: Spot Marvel will never award Defeat All Ringmasters (#5) for you unless it is the only marvel not yet collected.
Juggler, Highwire, and Strike an Arc multiball can all be brought into a non-battle Ringmaster multiball, but no additional multiballs can be started if Ringmaster Frenzie, Razz, or Special is running. Multiballs can never be stacked with Ringmaster Battle.
Highwire Multiball and Strike an Arc Multiball can only be stacked if the ramp shot that scores Lock 3 for Highwire is also the shot that meets the required number for Strike an Arc. The two cannot be started separately.
Neon Multiball and Juggler Multiball can similarly only be stacked if the left orbit shot that locks the third ball for Juggler also scores a Side Show which happens to award Neon Multiball.
Juggler and Highwire are 3-ball multiballs. Strike and Arc and Ringmaster Frenzie/Razz/Special are all 2-ball multiballs. However, combining any multiballs will always put 4 balls into play. If a new multiball is started while one is already running, the multiball ball save will restart as the game gets the playfield back up to 4-ball play. Also, after any time where there were multiple multiballs running, the left ramp will award Voltaire's Multiple Jackpots during the 5-second grace period after single ball play resumes. Voltaire's Multiple Jackpots scores one jackpot for each multiball that was just running in the previous stack.
There are 4 rollover buttons around the table: one in each out lane, and two in the middle of the playfield on the way to the standup targets on either side of the Ringmaster. Rolling over a button either lights or unlights it, and awards a letter in Volt. Spelling Volt the appropriate number of times starts the Boom Balloon round. For the first Boom Balloon, Volt just needs to be spelled once, but for subsequent Boom Balloons, it must be spelled 3 times (lighting, then unlighting, then relighting the four buttons).
The Boom! Balloon is a retractable pop bumper that only appears when the round is running. A post blocks a direct flipper shot to the Boom Balloon, so it can only be hit via the left orbit, the left loop, or a ricochet. Hitting the Boom Balloon even a single time lights the Boom! Marvel (#8). The Boom Balloon scores 100,000 points, plus an additional 5,000 for each hit to the two regular pop bumpers scored throughout the game. An extra ball is available after 15 hits to the Boom! Balloon, which can occur across multiple rounds.
The left entrance to this loop around the Ringmaster is lit for a jackpot during Highwire Multiball and certain parts of Join the Cirqus. Going through the loop in either direction causes the right spinner to spin, advancing the Spin marvel. Keep the spinner going with 2 or 3 consecutive shots to this loop in either direction to spell Spin on the playfield, which lights the Spin marvel (#9). The right spinner also increases the value of hitting a Wow target, and increases the jackpot in Ringmaster Special multiball.
The right orbit is the Acrobat. A strong shot makes it all the way up a rather long ramp that feeds to the left flipper, and a weaker shot falls out of the Juggler's kickout. The switch for the Acrobat is pretty close to the entrance to this shot, so don't worry about needing to shoot it perfectly to get credit. 4 shots to the Acrobat orbit turns the spinners into Super Spinners worth 10,000 points/spin for the rest of the ball, and also awards the Acrobat marvel (#6).
The colourful Menagerie ball itself in the lower left playfield doesn't actually do anything except score a few points. What you're looking for, then, is the switch in the wall just left of the Menagerie, or the white standup target just above it. These score Menagerie hits, with certain thresholds giving rewards:
Immediately after playing Join the Cirqus, the next Menagerie hit will award marvel #7 toward the next Join the Cirqus, no matter what.
Hit the Menagerie twice and the red standup target in the lower right of the playfield twice to spell Ring, which advances the bonus multiplier. 3 rings are available, for a max bonus multiplier of 4x. On prototype versions of the game, reaching Ring 3 was the requirement for the center #5 marvel instead of Defeat All Ringmasters.
After all 9 Marvels are lit and any multiballs are ended, the two orbits will light for Join the Cirqus, the game's wizard mode. There are 4 parts to Join the Cirqus.
For the first three levels, the mode does not end if the game returns to single ball play, and the wizard mode is not forfeited if all balls drain after the ball save expires- instead, the next ball will just start the current level over. Also, when any of the first 3 levels complete, the flippers go dead and are allowed to drain. However, for level 4, the game returns to normal, non-wizard-mode gameplay as soon as single ball play resumes, so don't let the last ball drain- keep playing.
Level 1: Spell Cirqus. This is a 3-ball multiball with about 20 seconds of ball save. The object is to hit the 6 shots in the game corresponding to the letters in Cirqus:
Completing this scores 10,000,000 points and allows all balls to drain before starting level 2.
Level 2: Unmask Voltaire. Again, a 3-ball multiball with about 20 seconds of ball save. Shoot the Ringmaster, then shoot the left ramp. Alternate between the two until the Ringmaster has been hit 5 times in proper sequence. Completing this scores 10,000,000 points and allows the balls to drain, again.
Level 3: Meet the Cirqus, This is just a 1-ball round at first. One of the three jackpots will be lit: either the left orbit, right orbit, or left entrance to the Ringmaster loop. Make a jackpot to add another ball to the playfield (maximum 4) and change which jackpot is lit (purely random). There are about 10 seconds of ball save at the start of level 3, and whenever a jackpot is made and a new ball is autoplunged to the playfield. Make 6 lit jackpots to score 10,000,000 points, complete the round, and allow all balls to drain one last time.
Level 4: Party Time Multiball. A 4-ball multiball with a very long ball save (about 30 seconds?). For as long as multiple balls are in play, every shot in the game is lit for 1,000,000 points, with all pop bumpers scoring the Boom! Balloon value. When Party Time ends and the game returns to single ball play, everything is reset and marvels can be collected again, with no big award or animation or auto-ball-drain.
Cirqus Voltaire has a mostly conventional in/out lane setup, but there is almost no vertical rail separating the in and out lanes. Instead, there is a post against the wall of the table for deflecting the ball toward the middle of the table, and one other post that is the only thing separating in and out lanes. The in lanes contain Volt rollover buttons that can be lit toward Boom! Balloon. The out lanes are lit alternately for Load Cannon, with the lit out lane being movable with the flippers. Going through a lit Load Cannon out lane scores random points between 10,000 and 2,000,000 million on the way out.
Hitting the Ringmaster or any Wow target, playing Juggler Multiball, or playing Highwire Multiball each give their own set of 3 judges. The judges give a rating of their corresponding feature between 0 and 10 (but typically not lower than about 4). There are many judges, quite a few of whom are easter eggs to other games or the programmers of this game, and some are more stingy than others. As far as I know, it's random what judges you get. The first part of the bonus is 50,000 points times the average score given by all of the judges.
The second part of the score is 20,000 points for each cannonball collected over the course of the game. Cannonballs are awarded for collecting a marvel, hitting the Boom! Balloon, collecting a jackpot in any non-Ringmaster multiball, or going down a lit out lane (but NOT for playing Cannonball Run at the Side Show, strangely).
The third part of the bonus is 500,000 points for each set of judges who gave perfect 10-10-10 scores on that ball.
The three parts of the bonus are added together, then multiplied by the bonus multiplier, which can be 2x, 3x, or 4x after spelling Ring once, twice, or three times as described above. Bonus can easily be in the 7-figures, but it takes a really really good ball to reach the low 8-figures. It's worth being careful not to tilt, especially if you got to Ring 3 on the current ball.
The judges scores are based entirely on the events of the ball that just ended, but the cannonball count builds throughout the game. By default, bonus multipliers are not carried over from ball to ball, but a setting to enable this can be turned on.
The Cirqus Voltaire manual does not list any ability to set extra balls to have a point value. I expect that they would be disabled outright for competition play.
The ball save at the beginning of the ball and at the start of each multiball other than Join the Cirqus can be individually set to anywhere from 1-15 seconds. Default is 5 for all, or 8 for Neon multiball. The 2-second ball save provided when Neon Multiball ends cannot be lengthened or removed.
Lit extra balls can be set to anywhere from 0-10 Ringmasters (default 3, 0 is just a disable) and 5-25 Boom Balloons (default 15). The number of Menagerie hits for each award cannot be changed, oddly.
Lit Rings (bonus multipliers) can be set to carry between balls.
The Side Show can be set not to be lit at the start of the game.
The Side Show awards each have their own timer settings: 10-30 (default 20) for Popcorn Mania, Amazing Roonie, and Go for the Hat Trick, and 5-15 (default 10) for Cannonball Run.
For Highwire Multiball, the lock may be lit multiple times at once, with the lit locks "stacking" so that the next lock is lit immediately after a lock is made. By default, this is only allowed for the first Highwire Multiball. A setting allows this to be possible for anywhere from 0-3 Highwire Multiball qualifications.
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