Hit the Deck is the replay version. Neptune and Poseidon are two names for the exact same add-a-ball version. Layout is the same on all three, differences in rulesets and scoring will be discussed as they are relevant.
On the plunge, try to collect a red card lane that you don't already have. The playfield is so crowded that specific tips beyond "don't shoot directly at a bumper" are difficult. On Hit the Deck, collecting all 6 cards of one colour lights the upper left Joker lane, and making the lit Joker will in turn light any card lanes and targets that you have collected in both colours for 5,000 points. On Neptune and Poseidon, collecting all 6 cards of one colour will light both one card of that colour and the upper left Joker lane for Wow, which is worth extra ball or 50,000 points.
There are 6 red cards and 6 black cards: 9-10-J-Q-K-A for both. All 6 red cards have their own lane near the top of the table. The black 9-10-J have lanes in the lower left. The black Q and K have standup targets in the lower right. The K is also at the left in lane. The black A is at the right out lane only. Collecting any card will unlight it and score 500 points. The two saucers in the game score 5,000 points, and one will be light to spot a red card while the other will be light to spot a black one. Every 3 pop bumper or slingshot hits, the saucers will switch which will spot a red card and which will spot a black. The star rollovers in the center of the table score 100 points, or 1,000 when lit; each star corresponds to a different card rank, and will light up when both cards of that rank have been collected.
On Hit the Deck, collecting both cards of a given rank will light them alternately for 5,000 points. Collecting all 6 of a single card lights the Joker kickback lane in the upper left. A ball entering this lane scores 5,000 points; then, all lanes or targets that correspond to a card whose rank has been collected in both black and red will be lit for 5,000 points for the rest of the game (both will be lit, instead of just alternating). Collecting all 12 cards- 6 red, 6 black- will light the two saucers alternately for a special.
On Neptune and Poseidon, collecting both cards of a single rank does nothing other than light a star rollover. When all 6 cards of one colour have been collected, one of the 6 lanes or targets corresponding to that colour will be lit yellow for a Wow. Wow scores either extra ball or 50,000 points. Completing the red targets lights the upper saucer alternate for a Wow, and completing the black targets does the same for the lower saucer. If a Wow is collected at a red lane or the top saucer, all collected red cards will be taken away after the current ball drains; the same happens for black cards if a Wow is collected from any black lane/target or the lower saucer. The upper left Joker kicker lane will score 5,000, 10,000, or 15,000 points randomly when not lit. If both sets of 6 cards are completed on the same ball, this kicker lane will be lit and award 1, 2, or 3 Wows randomly.
On Hit the Deck, the left and right bumpers always score 100 points, and the center bumper can be set to score 100 or 1,000 points.
On Neptune and Poseidon, either the outer bumpers will score 1,000 and the center bumper will score 100, or vice versa.
The left side of the table bottom is conventional, with an in lane, out lane, flipper, and slingshot. On the right, there is no in lane, and the flipper backs up directly to the slingshot. Because of this setup, the right slingshot is significantly lower than the left one. Any ball coming off the left slingshot is at extremely high risk of a right out lane drain.
The left out lane is an alternate way to collect the red Ace. The left in lane is an alternate way to collect the black King. The right out lane is the only way to collect the black Ace, short of getting it spotted from a saucer. These in/out lanes score the same as all other playing card lanes/targets around the table.
There is no end of ball bonus.
On Neptune/Poseidon, be sure to take not of whether extra balls score points. If they do, they will score 50,000 each. This also means that the lit Joker lane, which gives 1, 2, or 3 Wows, will score 50,000, 100,000, or 150,000 points. Silkscreened numbers on the backglass allow scores for these games to be counted as high as 1,099,990. In most cases, 50,000 points from a Wow will be more valuable than the extra ball you would get otherwise, since that extra ball will unlight all of the collected cards that got you the Wow in the first place.
On Hit the Deck, specials cannot be set to have a point value. The max displayable score is 199,990 points. There are no extra balls on Hit the Deck whatsoever.
Despite how it may look on a glance, these games really are electromechanical machines. The score display is simply a set of score reels painted to look like seven-segment digits, and the random award calculation from the Joker kickback lane is tied to the status of the match unit rather than any electronics or computer code.
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