Fish Tales Pinball Machine by Williams

Fish Tales pinball machine is one of the top 20 most produced pinball machines of all time, selling more than 13,000 units.

The game’s theme is fishing, with a general goal of catching as many fish and telling the biggest lies about their size possible. The machine’s backglass is topped with a plastic fish that thrashes its tail when the player achieves certain goals, and the players launches balls with an autoplunger shaped like a fishing rod.

Rules summary

The machine’s rules present the player with three main objectives:

• Multiball – Like most games of the era, the largest point awards are found in multiball. Shots to the Caster’s Club “lock” (hold onto) balls. Three locks starts multiball.
• Catching Fish – Two sets of side targets allow the player to catch fish. When at least one fish is caught, the player has about 10 seconds to shoot a spinner to “Stretch The Truth” about its size, from 1x-5x actual size (points for the catch multiplied accordingly), or a “total lie” which awards the player nothing for the fish.
• The Boat – The center of the board contains a captive ball area in the shape of a boat. Successful hits to a lit captive ball give the player increasing awards, from Hold Bonus to Instant Multiball, and then increasing point awards leading to a “Special” (free game).

Other lesser objectives include:

• Monster Fish – shots to the lit criss-crossing center ramps light “Monster Fish” on the spinner, a “Hurry-Up” that can be worth up to 50 Million points.
• Feeding Frenzy – 4 caught fish light light the two ramps and two loops, for 5, 5, 5 and 20 Million if completed in a short time.
• Rock The Boat – A captive ball award, it gives the player 10 million for ramp shots for a short time.
• Video Mode – Another captive ball award, the player plays a video game on the dot-matrix display where he has to shoot down waterskiers for points and a possible extra ball.
• Fish Finder – A random award achieved by shooting the top scoop at certain times.

Game Features:

Flippers (2), Criss-cross Ramps (2), Rollunder spinner (1), Multiball, Captive ball, Autoplunger (shaped like a fishing rod), ball-launching catapult next to the rotary reel lock.

Also has a rotary fishing reel ball lock and moving fish topper.