Ignore the center structure entirely and ideally avoid the two side captive balls as well. Instead, focus on the left orbit shot for completions of 1-2 in the outer lanes of the top left set, and collect as many awards from the top drop targets as possible. Multiball is relatively meaningless, with no jackpots or double scoring available, so Embryon letters aren't very important. Focus on bonus advances (10,000, 20,000, and 40,000 are super bonus thresholds) as well as bonus multipliers and the bonus collect at the top of the table.
On the plunge, the ball will arc around in the top right of the game and come down the star rollovers toward the upper right flipper. Shooting back up this entry point at any time during gameplay will put the ball in a saucer in the very back right of the game. This saucer scores 10,000 points, lights the star rollovers immediately below it, and locks the ball if Embryon has been spelled. The star rollovers always score 1,000 points, but if lit they also give a bonus advance. Entering the saucer at any time lights the rollovers; starting a multiball, though, turns them off.
Each target down scores 2,000 points and a bonus advance. A wheel of inserts in front of them is constantly spinning. Knocking down the last drop target in the set stops the wheel, and what happens next depends on where the wheel stopped.
If one of the three Spots Letter lights is where the wheel stopped, a letter in Embryon is immediately awarded and the wheel starts up again.
If the wheel landed on Spots Multiplier, Collect Bonus, or Extra Ball, the wheel will remain stopped but the drop targets will reset; the bank must be cleared again to earn the lit award. Once one of the three major awards has been earned, it will stay lit when the wheel starts spinning again, meaning it cannot be collected.
Once all three major awards have been collected, the three Spots Letter lights and the center Special light will all start flashing. At this point, one more completion of the drop targets scores a Special and unlights the entire wheel, allowing everything to be collected again.
The Spot Multiplier award does nothing if the bonus multiplier is already 5x. The Extra Ball scores 25,000 points if extra balls are off or if Same Player Shoots Again is already lit. The Collect Bonus is a full collect of the entire bonus including multiplier, which can be worth almost 300,000 points when bonus is maxed out, so to the farthest extent possible, try to time the Collect Bonus for when it's worth the most for you.
The three lanes in the upper left of the table can be accessed in two ways: by a conventional orbit shot from the lower right flipper, or via the upper right flipper with a shot that misses the top drop targets just low and goes through a one way gate. The first option, the left orbit, has a spinner in front that scores 100 points per spin when not lit or 1,000 per spin when lit, and is lit by making the back right saucer two times.
Going through either of the two outer lanes when not lit scores 1,000 points and lights that lane. Going through one of these lanes when lit scores 2,000 points and a bonus advance. Lighting both the 1 and the 2 will increase the bonus multiplier toward the maximum of 5x, and light the center lane for the next award if it was not already lit.
The center lane always scores 1,000 points and a bonus advance, and can be lit for 10,000, then 20,000, then extra ball, then special. A center lane award cannot be lit until the previous one was given, so completing 1-2 for a second time before collecting the 10,000 points that were lit after the first one means that the second 1-2 was a waste (other than the bonus multiplier it gave).
Each drop target down scores 5,000 points and a bonus advance. Clearing the bank reveals the left captive ball and qualifies the standup target behind it. Hit the captive ball to score and advance the lit value, which resets the drop targets. Captive ball value is 10,000 - 20,000 - extra ball - special. Collecting the special resets the sequence to 10,000 for the next captive ball hit.
Very similar rules to the left captive ball, but there is only one drop target blocking the captive ball instead of three, and the progression for captive ball awards is 10,000 - 20,000 - Spot Bonus Multiplier, after which the sequence resets. Also, if a ball has been locked, hitting this captive ball releases the locked ball, starting multiball.
The four standup targets surrounding the center structure score 1,000 points when not lit, or 2,000 plus a bonus advance when lit. Hitting an unlit target will it light it. Once all four green lights are on, the When Flashing insert in front of the center captive ball will start flashing. Now, hitting the center captive ball spots letters in the word Embryon. There are actually 2 separate captive balls and targets within the structure, so a strong hit can score you 2 letters in Embryon.
Spell Embryon, either from the center structure or by spotting letters with the top right drop targets, to light the back right saucer for a lock. Once a ball is locked, hit the right captive ball to start multiball. Multiball is incredibly pointless: there is no double scoring, no jackpot, and no exclusive features. You just get to whack two balls around instead of one. It can be kinda fun, but there's no point in trying for it in a tournament or high score setting.
Spelling Embryon to light the lock twice in a single ball (and naturally, playing a multiball in between) lights the out lanes for a special.
On the left side of the bottom of the table, the in and out lanes are reversed, with the in lane being closer to the edge of the table and the out lane being closer to the flippers. The out lane and in lane entrances are not right next to each other; there is a plastic in between them. However, this plastic is not solid underneath, and disguises another feeder lane that also directs the ball to the in lane.
On the right side, the in and out lanes are in conventional order, but there is once again plastic between the in lane and out lane entrances; this one is solid though, so no secret third lane to go into.
Going through an unlit in lane scores 1,000 points and lights it- A on the left, B on the right. Going through a lit in lane scores 2,000 points and a bonus advance. Out lanes always score 2,000 points and 2 bonus advances. If both A and B have been lit, the Flipsave is available to any ball going down the out lane. There is a smaller flipper within the right out lane that can be used for about 5 seconds if the ball enters the out lane with Flipsave active. This flipper is activated with the regular right flipper button, but it cannot be held up, and will instantly return to its "lowered" state. The goal of Flipsave is to whack the ball directly to the left, through a one-way gate that connects to the in lane. Once the Flipsave is used, the A and B collected at the in lanes will unlight, and need to be collected again before Flipsave can be reactivated.
Bonus is always advanced by any drop target (1 time) and any out lane (2 times). The following features advance bonus 1 time only when lit: the 1 and 2 top lanes, the upper right star rollovers, the center structure standup targets, and the in lanes.
Bonus multiplier is advanced up to a maximum of 5x by lighting both 1 and 2 at the top lanes, or from the Spot Multiplier awards at the top drop targets or right captive ball.
Max bonus is 5x 59,000 = 295,000 points. By default, bonus multipliers do not carry over from ball to ball, and only bonus up to the most recently reached checkpoint (10,000, 20,000, or 40,000) is retained for the next ball. A full bonus collect including the multiplier can be awarded mid-ball from the yellow top drop targets award.
In competition/novelty play, all specials score 50,000 points and all extra balls score 25,000 points. In arcade play, there is a limit of one extra ball per ball in play, so collecting an extra ball when Shoot Again is already lit will also award the 25,000.
The following features can be set to carry over between balls or be reset:
Hitting the captive ball in the center structure when Embryon Letter is not flashing can be set to spot 1 or 2 of the center structure targets.
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