Stern The Beatles Rulesheet

Quick Links:

Game Information:

  • Lead Designer: George Gomez / Mike Kubin (original designer of the source material, Seawitch)
  • Code/Rules: Dean Grover
  • Lead Mechanical Engineer: Tom Kopera
  • Artwork: Christopher Franchi
  • Display and Animations: Eric Drucker
  • Music and Sound: The Beatles / Jerry Thompson
  • Release Date: November 2018
  • Wiki Rulesheet based on Code Rev: 1.22
    • Edit the Code revision, if applicable, when you make changes

Layout:

Gold:

Skill Shots:

  • Short plunge to star rollover: 10k.
  • Short plunge to upper right flipper followed by upper loop: 25k.
  • Plunge into the hole below the Top Magnet and hit the top Pop Bumper: 100k.
    • This can also be done by plunging to the Upper Left Flipper and shooting the top Pop Bumper.
  • “Secret Skill Shot” for 50k by rolling through the left inlane during normal play, then shooting the lit star rollover in time.

Hitting the same Skill Shot a 2nd, 3rd, etc. time will increase the amount of points awarded.

Modes:

Modes are lit at the start of a ball and can be changed with the flippers; the goal of each 60-second timed mode is to complete whichever objective is listed above the flippers to advance the level of the mode. The lit mode alternates every 5 seconds. Once a mode has ended (whether by time running out, or by completing it after level 5 has been reached), the next mode can be started by completing F-A-B and F-O-U-R, then shooting the upper magnet. If the mode has been lit during the ball, the pop bumpers will cycle the lit mode. The inserts for modes that have been completed all the way to level 5 will be lit solid, while those that have been played but not completed will slowly flash, and the currently selected mode will flash quickly.

  • All My Loving: 2-Ball Multiball. This untimed mode is added into the mode rotation on ball 3 as a pity multiball, or after the four other modes have been played. Jackpot increases with switch hits, starts at 250k points, and can be collected at the upper magnet. All scoring is doubled while the mode is running and Mystery will award an add-a-ball.
  • Drive My Car: Loop Mania. Shoot orbit shots (anything that goes around the upper magnet counts). Each loop advances a level. Each loop is worth 25k multiplied by the current level of the mode.
  • I Should Have Known Better: Drop Target Frenzy. Complete drop target banks. Each drop target bank completed advances a level. Each individual drop target is worth 7.5k multiplied by the current level of the mode.
  • Ticket to Ride: Super Spinners. Shoot the spinners. 30 spins at either spinner combined advances a level. Each spinner hit awards 10k multiplied by the current level of the mode plus a boosted value per spin.
  • It Won’t Be Long: Super Pop Bumpers. Collect 10 pop bumper hits to advance a level. Orbit shots send the ball to the pop bumpers during this mode. Each pop scores 5k multiplied by the current level of the mode.

Completing any mode will light Super Jackpot at the target behind the F-A-B drop targets for the entire value of the mode that was completed prior. This unlights if the player drains, and if multiple modes are completed on the same ball without scoring the Super Jackpot, the value will be multiplied by however many modes were played beforehand. (i.e. if you complete 2 modes without collecting the Super Jackpot and then collect it, it will award a 2x Super Jackpot for your 1st mode and a 1x Super Jackpot for your 2nd mode. This can go up to 5x for completing all five modes!)

Wizard Modes:

There are two wizard modes in the game that can be accessed by making it far enough in the game’s five modes, then shooting the upper magnet. (What happens if both wizard modes were qualified at once?)

Hard Day's Night / Beatlemania! Multiball:

Started by getting to level 2 (3 on Competition Mode) or higher in all 5 modes, this begins with 30 seconds of single-ball play where completing the drop target banks raises the multiball jackpot by 50k per bank completed. Once time runs out or you drain, 4-ball multiball begins. Completing the F-A-B and F-O-U-R drop targets lights the jackpot at the upper magnet, which continues to increase with every drop target bank completed and every jackpot collected. Modes then reset when the player drains down to a single ball.

Taxman Multiball:

After reaching level 5 in all 5 modes, a shot to the upper magnet will begin Taxman Multiball. This is a 4-ball Multiball where all four of the single-ball modes described above are active and completing the 4 Beatles standup targets will add a ball. Modes then reset when the player drains down to a single ball. *Multiball Jackpot and Super Jackpot, how are they lit?*

Other Features:

Drop Targets:

All 3 drop target banks have inserts in front of them for “Advance Loops,” “Advance Multipliers,” and “Score Bonus.” Progress towards these features do not carry over from ball to ball. Completing 1-9-6-4 in order scores a bonus (how much?)

Complete all 3 drop target banks once each on a single ball to light the extra ball, which alternates between inlanes with slingshot hits.

  • Advance Loops: Completing a drop target bank will light its “Advance Loops” insert solid and increase the loop value by that number. The solidly lit blue inserts indicate the loop value.
  • Advance Multipliers: Complete whichever drop target bank has the lit “Advance Multipliers”/“X” insert to increase the bonus X by +1x, up to 7x. Bonus X carries from ball to ball.
  • Score Bonus: After lighting the extra ball by completing all three drop target banks, do it again on the same ball and a bonus will be awarded. (More information needed.)

Loop Value:

Completing any drop target bank will advance the loop value by the number on it’s Advance Loops insert. Loop shots are worth 2k per lit loop insert. BEATLEMANIA Awards that add multipliers to the loops will reset the loop value. (How is “Bonus 2x Loop Value” lit?)

Right Spinner:

Completing any of the 4 Beatles standup targets lights a star in front of the right spinner. Each star advances the spinner value. The spinner value resets at the end of the ball.

Mystery:

Shoot the 2 “Light Mystery” standup targets - one in the top left corner and one in the top right corner - to light Mystery at the standup target below the F-A-B drop target bank. Mystery prioritizes add-a-ball as the first award during any multiball, and add time as the first award during any timed mode.

In Competition Mode, Mystery awards are scored in the following order:

Beatlemania Awards:

Every shot to the upper loop or right orbit will spot a letter in BEATLEMANIA. Spell BEATLEMANIA to light the upper magnet for an award, given in the following order:

  • Light 2x Spinners
  • 5x Loops
  • Collect Bonus
  • 10x Loops?

Bonus:

Bonus is built by switch hits and maxes out at 75k. Bonus X increases by completing the drop target bank with the “Advance Multiplier” insert lit and carries over between balls.

Extra Ball:

Extra ball is lit at the left inlane by completing all three drop target banks and alternates between inlanes with slingshot hits. A lit extra ball is unlit if the ball drains without collecting it, and they are worth 200k if extra balls are disabled.

Special:

Collected at either lit outlane, alternating with slingshot hits. Scores 400k if specials disabled. (How to light?)

5 Likes

I was watching the NYCPC finals and they played this game, I came here to quickly get a sense of the rules and realized there wasn’t a specific rulesheet for this game so I took it upon myself to watch tutorials and game play streams and created one.

There are still places that need clarification, someone who knows this game better than myself should probably read through and make sure things make sense.

Could we get this turned into a wiki please?

5 Likes

I do not know what completing 1964 does beyond adding bonus/adding bonus x when X is lit/working toward lighting an EB. Cousin Brucie gets pretty pumped up when I do it in order, so I guess it’s nice to make him happy.

I own a Beatles.

1 Like

Well, it will add to your Loop value in the amount of 3 Loop Inserts, which are apparently each worth 2K points so a completion of 1964 will boost the Loop value by 6K each time, plus it will score some amount of points if done in order.

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Done. Thanks for your contribution!

i believe the “plunge to the magnet hole” skill shot can also be earned by using the upper left flipper to hit the top pop bumper

also, if you’re starting a mode mid-ball, the pop bumpers change the lit mode, and (at least on NYCPC settings) include the multiball.

2 Likes

Yep! I’ve got it on footage when we streamed it on current code with HUP.

It should do that on all settings unless there’s a “must start multiball last” setting, which I don’t think exists. You can also get an early All My Loving, which if you didn’t cash in your Super Jackpot means you get a free Double Super Jackpot thanks to the doubled playfield.

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I read this post yesterday and just thought you actually had a cousin Brucie. I played some Beatles last night and heard the call out and got a good chuckle because I remembered your post. :joy:

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Super fun ruleset! Bowen did a tutorial of this game on the PAPA youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4uHZFGOhm0

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Yeah, it’s a great tutorial. I actually used it to breakdown a lot of the rules stuff to create this rulesheet.

I’m using this in a pingolf event tomorrow. I know the game pretty well, but I am having a hard time coming up with an objective based pingolf goal. Any suggestions?

(I’ll probably end up doing a score based goal, which is fine, because there really isn’t much in the way of progress that carries between balls).

Nothing saves progress really. Maybe increase bonus x to a certain point?

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Start 2 modes on 1 ball

Light or collect EB

Get 3x or whatever bonus x

Get to Level 5 on any song

Collect a song bonus jackpot

I agree, all of these are single ball things.

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Absolutely love this game. I’ve been on a mission to complete all of the Insider Achievements and down to just a few left. The one I can’t seem to get is 1M in Ticket To Ride (Spinners). Any tips?

Get 2X Spinners going before you start. Lube your spinners. Get good at shooting the right spinner, because it’s worth more than the left one.

Got it. So make sure I go for it as a second mode, and not just starting with it. And the right one is worth more. Did not realize that. Awesome. Thank you!

I’m not actually sure that 2X spinners affects Ticket to Ride scoring. You might want to test it before trying this strat.

I believe the right spinner only has the potential to be worth more, you need to hit the band member standup targets to increase the value. The left spinner is in a better position, and you’ll usually get way more spins out of that one, increasing your level faster (and higher levels are worth more points per spin). After you reach level 5, keep going. Every time you hit that spins threshold you get an extra 100k.

1 Like