Mystery Castle (Alvin G. and Co., 1993)

Quick strategy synopsis

Shoot shots lit for Item to start modes. Use the awkwardly-angled standup target just left of the right ramp to change which shot(s) are lit for modes if applicable. The best mode is by far the Skull, which lights Doom Mode at the left orbit: Doom Mode is a 2-ball quick multiball where all shots are lit for a 50,000,000 point jackpot and all scoring + earned extra balls are doubled for the rest of the ball. The bumpers rotate which item will be collected next.

Shots and table features

Skill shot

The plunge button on Mystery Castle should send the ball all the way around what becomes the right ramp, dropping the ball into the left in lane. The skill shot is to immediately and fully shoot the right ramp again for 5,000,000 points. The skill shot can be recollected if you continue to loop the right ramp without hitting any switches in between. The skill shot value increases by 1,000,000 each time it is made throughout the game; if there is a limit, it is at least 9,000,000 points. A shot that only goes halfway around the right ramp and falls off the habitrail into the bumpers does not count as a skill shot. Unfortunately, it is somewhat common for a Mystery Castle game to have a launcher that does not consistently send the ball all the way around the ramp, which as far as I have discovered means that the skill shot is simply unavailable for that ball.

Item modes

One or more shots will almost always be lit for an Item unless a mode or multiball is running. Shoot any of these shots to collect the currently flashing item on the playfield. Pop bumper hits rotate which item is to be collected next. The Change Item target next to the left ramp entrance will change which shot(s) are lit to collect an item. The five shots available to be lit are the Dungeon left orbit, the Bridge left ramp, the Tower upper loop, the Ballroom side ramp, and the Catwalk right ramp. In general, three shots will be lit to start the game; this decreases to two shots once 5 items have been collected, and decreases again to one shot once 10 items have been collected. If you play Crown wizard mode and restart the mode progress, there will only be one shot lit for an item at a time as well. There are a total of 14 mode items to collect, followed by the Crown, which is always last. The modes are:

Scepter: instant 5,000,000 points.
Crystal Ball: lights the right ramp for extra ball. In competition/novelty play, the extra ball scores 10,000,000 points.
Bell: pop bumpers score 1,000,000 points each for the rest of the ball.
Goblet: instant 10,000,000 points.
Potion: starts a hurry-up round. Three hurry-ups can be collected in total: the first two are at the Dungeon left orbit and the Catwalk right ramp, worth up to 9,000,000 points each, and the third is at the Bridge left ramp, worth up to 18,000,000 points. The display will only count down the remaining value 1,000,000 at a time, but the game keeps track of the time remaining more precisely than that, and when you collect each hurry-up, you'll usually receive the number shown on the display plus an extra few hundred thousand points. The mode ends prematurely if you fail to collect any hurry-up.
Candelabrum: the left and right ramps score 5,000,000 points per shot for the next 15 seconds.
Pandora's Box: a 20-second frenzy mode. All switches score 250,000 points.
Stack of Gold: instant 15,000,000 points.
Jester: a 2-ball quick multiball where all 5 major shots are worth 5,000,000 points.
Coat of Arms: you get 2,000,000 points for starting this mode, and then for 20 seconds, all Castle drop targets in the lower right score 2,000,000 each.
Mirror: for the rest of this ball, any bonus multipliers you earn will increase the bonus X by 2 instead of 1, subject to the usual limit of 10x.
Dragon Idol: the left ramp scores 5,000,000 points per shot for the next 15 seconds. This is just a worse version of Candelabrum.
Skull: scores 10,000,000 points and lights the Dungeon left orbit for Doom Mode. If you drain before starting Doom Mode, the chance to play it is lost. Doom Mode is a 2-ball multiball where all 5 major shots are lit for a jackpot worth 50,000,000 points. Collecting all 5 jackpots lights a moving super jackpot worth 200,000,000, and collecting that resets the regular jackpots. Also, from the start of Doom Mode until the end of that ball, all scoring and awarded extra balls are doubled. There is one drawback- you will not be able to see your score or anyone else's score for the rest of the ball. Callouts and animations and other important info will be shown on the display, but anytime you would normally see your score, the DMD will be covered by some dancing skeletons instead. This is by far the best of the modes and should be collected as early as possible so that you can double as many things as possible.
Painting: a 30-second mode. One shot will be lit for a 25,000,000 point jackpot, moving to a random shot every 5 seconds or so. Collecting the moving jackpot ends the mode.
Crown: this is the closest thing Mystery Castle has to a wizard mode, and it will always be the 15th and final item you collect. This is a 2-ball multiball where not quite everything is lit, but a lot of things are. All switches score 250,000 points; pop bumper 1,000,000s is activated; the left kickback is lit, if it was not already; bonus multiplier is maxed at 10x; extra ball is lit; a moving super jackpot worth 100,000,000 points is lit and can be collected repeatedly; and, a moving light will jump between the six Castle drop targets, and hitting the moving light scores a special. There's a rather long ball save for Crown Multiball, but it can only be used one time. When the multiball ends, regular play resumes and all mode progress is reset. From here on out, only 1 shot will ever be lit to award an item at a time.

Megamode

Megamode is this game's name for multiball. Megamode is lit at either scoop as one of the Mystery awards or by the first right ramp award; a different Mystery award can also award Megamode directly. Megamode is always a 2-ball multiball. Megamode cannot be started during one of the quick multiball item modes, but it can be started during other item modes. The reverse is never true, though; you cannot start an item mode during multiball. During Megamode, all shots are lit for a 25,000,000 point jackpot. Collecting all 5 lights a moving super jackpot worth 100,000,000. Collecting the super jackpots relights the five regular jackpots, and the process repeats.

Mystery

Hitting the four blue post targets in the upper half of the playfield to light and spell Trap lights the game's scoops for a mystery award. This will almost always give points- 500,000, 1,000,000, 2,000,000, 3,000,000, 5,000,000, 7,000,000, or 10,000,000- and if you're playing the game in tournament mode, it *will* always give points, but in regular arcade play it can also award Light Locks (light the scoops for Megamode), Megamode (instant start), light Catapult kickback, award next item, extra ball, light special, and possibly others that I haven't seen.

Right ramp awards

The right ramp also (quietly) gives various awards every 3 times a full ramp shot is made. These follow a set order: Start Megamode, Bonus X, Bonus Hold, Bonus X, 5,000,000 points, Award Item, Bonus X, Light Mystery, Bonus X, repeat.

Lower left standup targets

Hitting the three targets in order from top to bottom relights the Catapult kickback in the left out lane if it has been used.

Castle standup targets

Each target down scores 100,000 points. Clearing any 5 of the 6 targets- you do not need to complete the whole bank- increases the bonus multiplier by 1 and resets the targets. The bonus multiplier is increased by 2 instead if the Mirror has been collected on the current ball. Max bonus X is 10x.

There is no wall behind the L and E targets at the bottom. If those drop targets have been cleared, a precise shot or ricochet can send the ball straight through the target bank and back into the shooter lane. This scores a few million points (usually 3,000,000 or 4,000,000?), and then the game will autoplunge the ball again. If this autoplunge makes it all the way around the back of the game and comes to the left in lane, you get credit for anything lit on the right ramp at the time, including Items, jackpots, and extra balls!

Bottom of the table

Mystery Castle has a conventional in/out lane setup. Completing the Trap targets once lights one of the out lanes, alternating each time a flipper is pressed. The left out lane is Boulder Bonus, the right out lane is Chopping Block Bonus, but both give 5,000,000 points on your way out. The in lanes can supposedly be lit for Light Extra Ball, but I've never seen this happen- as far as I'm aware, every extra ball in the game is either given directly or lit at the right ramp with no other intermediate steps.

There is a kickback in the left out lane called the Catapult that is lit at the start of each ball, unlights once used, and is relit by the mystery award or completing the lower left standup targets.
There is a center peg between/below the flippers.

Bonus and bonus multiplier

Bonus is 10,000 points per switch hit on the current ball, times the bonus multiplier, plus an additional 1,000,000 points for each item collected over the course of the game. The item count does exceed 15 if you collect the Crown, start over, and then earn more items. Bonus multiplier is awarded from Mystery awards, right ramp awards, or by hitting any 5 of the 6 drop targets in the Castle bank in the lower right. Bonus multiplier does seem to always carry over from ball to ball. Bonus can be very worthwhile after a long ball that played a multiball or two, or a game with a lot of items collected- easily in the tens of millions. Care should generally be taken not to tilt away the bonus with the possible exception of trying to save a short ball 1.

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