The most efficient and reasonable route to a good score is to play Truth Multiball (hit 5 lit X shots) and/or File Cabinet Multiball (bash the file cabinet toy) as much as you can. Picking Scully at the beginning of the game makes your first two Truths easier to get to, while picking Mulder makes your first two File Cabinets easier to qualify. Episode modes at the right ramp aren't really worth your time. Another underrated safe strategy can be to shoot the orbits repeatedly and take advantage of Super Pops as much as possible. The X Files is known for having extremely precise, narrow shots, especially the left ramp, so any practice you can get hitting that shot especially can be helpful. The right ramp should be backhandable on most copies.
There isn't one. However, you do get to make a choice at the beginning of the game whether to play as Scully (the woman on the left) or Mulder (the man on the right). Scully makes it easier to get to the first two Truth Multiballs, while Mulder makes it easier to get to the first two File Cabinet Multiballs. These are explained more in their respective sections. I tend to recommend picking Scully, as her boosts are a bit more powerful than Mulder's in practice.
To start Truth Multiball, fill in the entire large X on the playfield by shooting 5 different shots lit for small X's. Small X's can be lit at either orbit, either ramp, or either side of the center loop. Collecting a small X changes which shots are lit.
If you are playing as Scully, your first multiball will have 2 shots lit at a time with the ability to temporarily light a third by going through an in lane. Scully's second multiball has 2 lit shots, but no in lane opportunity. Scully's third multiball and onward, as well as any Truth Multiball for Mulder, have just one lit shot and no ability to light additional ones.
The base jackpot for Truth Multiball is 200,000 points. Completing the lower left standup targets during single ball play before starting Truth Multiball increases the jackpot by 50,000 points.
Truth Multiball begins as soon as you collect your last small X, which will almost always be one of the ramp shots. Truth Multiball is a 4-ball multiball. Step 1 is to make all six major shots in the game, which each score a jackpot equal to the starting value (200,000 plus 50,000 per lower left target completion). After that, step 2 is to shoot into the File Cabinet 4 times to decode the messages "deny everything", "the truth is out there", "trust no one", and "super jackpot". Each shot into the file cabinet scores the current jackpot and adds 50,000 to the next jackpot. For the 4th hit, the file cabinet raises and lowers repeatedly, making it slightly harder to make the shot. After 4 hits, step 1 starts again with the six major shots, but now each shot's value is 200,000 points higher than the previous time through step 1. I have not found a limit to how many times this process can be repeated or what the maximum jackpot value might be- it is at least 650,000. Shooting the File Cabinet at any time will cause the game to hold a ball on the magnet there, allowing you more space and one fewer ball to worry about. The magnet ball will stay there until knocked off or until all other balls drain.
After Truth Multiball ends, the Truth Jackpot resets all the way back to 200,000 for the next multiball (but can still always be increased with lower left targets).
Start File Cabinet Multiball by bashing on the File Cabinet toy repeatedly. For Mulder's first multiball, it takes just 3 hits; for Scully's first multiball, it takes 6. Each subsequent multiball needs 3 more filing cabinet hits than the last. For the final hit, the cabinet will lower, making it possible to shoot into the hole.
File Cabinet Multiball is a 3-ball multiball. Jackpots start at 500,000 points, plus 50,000 for each time you completed the lower right standup targets during single ball play before starting the multiball. This jackpot can also be raised during multiball; hitting the File Cabinet when the left ramp is lit for jackpot adds exactly 25,310 points to the jackpot. Jackpots 1 and 2 are at the left ramp. After making jackpot 2, the right ramp is lit for double jackpot for 10 seconds, but this time starts counting down immediately, and by the time the jackpot animation on the DMD ends there will only be about 4 seconds left on the double jackpot timer. If you collect the double jackpot, a super jackpot will be lit at the File Cabinet. The super jackpot is equal to the sum of jackpots 1 + 2 + the double jackpot. If you fail to collect the double jackpot (or super jackpot?), you need to collect jackpot 2 from the left ramp again to get another chance, and the ensuing super jackpot will only be the value of jackpot 2 + the double jackpot. After collecting a super jackpot, the base jackpot value is increased by 50,620, and the entire sequence resets, putting you back at jackpot 1. The max value for a regular jackpot is 1,000,000, which means the double jackpot cannot exceed 2,000,000 and the super jackpot cannot exceed 4,000,000. If a File Cabinet multiball ends and you have not collected any jackpots during any File Cabinet Multiball that game, you will be given 15 seconds to shoot the File Cabinet again for a multiball restart, which has only 2 balls instead of the usual 3.
If the final ball of the game starts and the current player has not played any multiball in the game so far, File Cabinet Multiball will instantly be lit.
Shoot the right ramp to earn a letter in F-B-I. After collecting all three, a trapdoor in front of the ramp will open; shoot into it to start an Episode mode. There are 10 modes in total: 8 standard modes, 1 trivia game, and Blood wizard mode. The 8 standard modes and trivia game are played in random order, and there is no way to see during gameplay which ones you have played or which one will be next. The only hint you get for your progress toward Blood wizard mode is the instant info page telling you how many modes there are left before Blood. At the start of the game, F-B will be lit for you, meaning it takes just one ramp to open the trapdoor for the first episode instead of the usual three. You get 100,000 points for starting a mode no matter what. Presented in alphabetical order, the modes are:
After playing all 8 episodes and the trivia question, it will take just one shot to the right ramp to open the trapdoor for Blood, the game's wizard mode. Blood is a 4-ball multiball with unlimited ball save for 60 seconds. Two jackpots are displayed: Ramps and Cabinet. Both jackpots start at 100,000 points. Any switch in the game adds 20,000 to both jackpots. Shooting either ramp will score the Ramp jackpot; then, the Ramp jackpot will stay the same, and the value of the Ramp jackpot will be added to the Cabinet jackpot. Scoring the Cabinet jackpot resets both jackpots to 500,000 points. When time expires, all balls are allowed to drain and episode progress resets. Blood is very worth it if you get here, being worth between 10,000,000 and 25,000,000 points depending on your shooting, but it's so unreasonable to actually play all the modes to get here that it's not worth focusing on episodes over multiballs unless you happen to be just 2 or 3 modes away.
When no mode or multiball is running, shooting an orbit increases the value of the pop bumpers. Bumpers start at 1,000 points and increase by 500 with each shot to either orbit. After hitting enough pop bumpers (60 are required the first time, which isn't as hard as it sounds), Super Pops begins, where all bumpers score 20,000 points. Super Pops runs for the entire trip to the pop bumpers where it is started, plus one trip to the bumpers after that. When the ball leaves the pop bumpers that second time, Super Pops ends the bumper value is reset back to 1,000 points. If there is a maximum value for not-Super pops, it is at least 5,500 points. The pop bumpers are strong and close together, so getting Super Pops frequently is not too difficult, to the point where an orbit strategy is relatively viable for decent scoring in a pinch, if slightly long-winded.
Both orbit shots also drop the ball at the top lanes. Roll through an unlit lane to light it. Lane change in both directions is available from the flippers. Spell E-B-E to advance the bonus multiplier in the sequence 2x-4x-6x-8x. The first time you complete the top lanes when 8x bonus is already lit, the right ramp will be lit for extra ball. There does not seem to be any additional award for completing the top lanes past 8x even further.
A right ramp shot that only makes it about halfway up will fall into the bumper area.
Shooting the left ramp during single ball play when no mode is running makes progress toward Tooms. At 4 and 13 ramps, Tooms begins, where you have 3 seconds to press the launch button as many times as you can. Your score is equal to 300,000 points, plus 20,000 per button press during the time limit. At 7 left ramps, the right ramp will be lit for extra ball.
Making the inner loop in either direction enough times when no mode or multiball is running earns a 300,000 point award. The first award takes 4 inner loops, the second takes an additional 8, and the third takes an additional 13.
X Files has a conventional in/out lane setup. In lanes are only lit for Scully's first Truth multiball, and will add one lit X shot for a few seconds. The left in lane will light the right orbit, or the right side of the inner loop if the right orbit was already lit. The right in lane will light the left orbit, or the left inner loop if the left orbit was already lit. Out lanes can be lit for special, but I have only seen this happen as consolation on the final ball of a particularly poor game.
There is a center peg between the flippers.
There are two bonuses: Scully and Mulder. Both start at 10,000 and seem to increase in increments of 10,000. This is purely speculative, but I would guess that Scully bonus increases with each shot to the lower left targets, lit X shots, and Truth Multiball, while Mulder bonus increases with shots to the lower right target and File Cabinet. If there is a maximum for either of these bonuses it is at least 690,000 points. The Scully and Mulder bonuses are added together and multiplied by the bonus multiplier, which increases in the sequence 2x-4x-6x-8x with completions of the top lanes. Bonus can be quite worthwhile if you've shot enough orbits to get the multiplier up. There is no way to hold the base bonus or multiplier between balls and there is no mid ball bonus collect.
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