These three games all have the same playfield and rules (with one very minor difference to be called out later). Dipsy Doodle is the 4-player replay version. Doodle Bug is the 1-player replay version. Love Bug is the 1-player add-a-ball version.
Be sure to hit the saucer for a lit bumper or 5,000 points on the plunge. Shoot to the top of the table until the ball ends up in a side lane to raise the center post. Shoot 1-2-3-4 in order to advance the Doodle Bug's value, but only do so if the center post is up. Then, start the Doodler with the center target and keep the ball away from anything that says Stop Doodle Bug.
Entering this saucer spots a 1-2-3-4 target and scores the lit award. The awards, in order, are 500 - lite yellow bumpers - 500 - lite green bumpers - 5,000. Any 10 point switch, including the slings on either side of the saucer, advances the light through the progression above.
Best case scenario on the plunge is to score the 5,000; if this isn't possible, lighting a bumper is good too. Getting in the saucer at all is much better than not, though.
Other 10 point switches that change the top saucer's light include unlit green and yellow bumpers, the slings immediately above the upper left and upper right bumpers, and the slings near the flippers.
There are five: yellow-purple-green in the top row, green-yellow in the bottom row. Green and yellow bumpers score 10 points when not lit and 100 when lit; they can be lit at the top saucer. The purple bumper in the upper middle scores 100 points or 1,000 when lit, and only lights if both green and yellow bumpers are lit at once. Thus, if one bumper is lit and the ball is able to be controlled with nudging at the very top of the playfield, try to light the other bumper as well.
Each lane scores 100 points and stops the Doodle Bug if it is doodling. They also raise the center post that exists between the flippers. Finally, if the yellow bumpers are lit, the left side lane opens the gate in the right out lane; the right side lane does the same if the green bumpers are lit.
Embedded in the table is the Doodle Bug...toy? Hitting the center standup target causes the Doodle Bug to start doodling. This will flick a ball upward repeatedly, where it will hit a post and fall back down. In the middle of the ball's path is a rollover button that scores. While the doodling is happening, this button will be scored about 6 times per second.
The doodler is worth 10 points per hit at the beginning of the ball. Hitting the 1-2-3-4 targets in order (the one needed next will be lit) advances the per-doodle value. On Dipsy Doodle, the 4-player game, the doodle value can only be advanced once, to 100 points; on Doodle Bug and Love Bug, this value can be advanced three times with subsequent completions of 1-2-3-4, first to 100 points, then to 1,000 points (!), then to 10,000 points (!!!).
1-2-3-4 completions are difficult, though. Shooting any of the targets on the bottom of the table directly is extremely dangerous unless the center post is raised. To add to the difficulty, slingshots just to the side of the 1 and 4 targets lower the post if it is raised. Be patient when completing the numbers and take time to raise the post again if ever it is lowered.
The Doodle Bug starts whenever the center target of the 3-bank is hit, and stops doodling if the ball hits one of six things: the rollover buttons on either side of the center standup targets, the side lanes that raise the center post, or the slingshots just above the upper left and upper right bumpers. Starting the Doodle Bug also immediately lowers the post if it is raised, so be mindful of having no safety net on the return.
Completing 1-2-3-4 to advance the doodler score to 100 points also lights the center target for extra ball. Extra ball cannot be set to be worth points, it is either on or off.
The top saucer always spots the next number in 1-2-3-4, even if the 4 is lit to advance the doodle value. If the bumpers are strong and nudging is good, one trip to the top of the playfield can give multiple saucer hits, which is a pretty big deal toward advancing scoring.
Out lanes score 1,000 points each. The right out lane has a gate that can be opened by lit side lanes; which deflects an out lane ball back into the shooter lane one time.
There are no in lanes.
There is a gap, slightly larger than the width of a pinball, between the base (hinge) of the flipper and the slingshots. This makes it so that the ball cannot be trapped on a flipper to earn infinite points while the Doodle Bug is doodling. This gap can lead to some of the most infuriating drains in all of pinball. If the ball looks like it's heading toward this gap, nudge the machine in whatever direction makes it so the ball is most likely to hit the corner of the slingshot and stay in play.
There is a center post between the flippers. This allows the ball to come to rest, held up by a lowered flipper and the post. It is still possible for the ball to center drain when the post is up if it goes under a raised flipper. The post is raised via the side lanes and lowered via the slingshots next to the 1 and 4 targets.
When the ball drains, all progress is reset: this includes unlighting all bumpers, resetting the doodle value to 10 points, resetting the targets so that the 1 is lit, closing the gate, and lowering the post.
There is no end of ball bonus on this game. Tilt ends the ball, not the game, even on the single player versions of the game.
On Dipsy Doodle, most machines have 5 digits of scoring, with no light or designation for a 100,000 score, though some games early in the production run have 4 digit scoring with a 0 knocked off the end of every point value.
Most copies of Doodle Bug and Love Bug have 5 reels for scoring, and a light-up 1 to the left so that scores between 100,000 and 200,000 can be displayed. These games will show an "Over the Top" light when 200,000 points are scored. However, some copies of the game have 6 digits in the reel, with the Over the Top light instead replaced with a 1,000,000 light. Unlike Bally games from around this time, no buzzer is played when the score is rolled over.