"Good morning, sunshine! Welcome to another fun-filled day with your favorite pet!"
- Garfield
Garfield was originally released for Zen Pinball Party on Apple Arcade on December 9th, 2021. Inspired by the Garfield comics, the table features a variety of missions and multiballs - there's a lot more to Garfield's life than just sleeping and eating lasagna, after all.
Garfield was designed by Thomas Crofts. The table features similar rules to his My Little Pony table, where every shot corresponds to starting a mode, but there are a wider variety of modes in this table and not every mode is required to start the wizard mode.
Objective[]
Play through four missions, eating as much food and watching as much TV as possible, to start the Feast Frenzy wizard mode.
Missions[]
The four main missions on this table take priority over other main missions once they have been started; however, they can be started while any combination of side modes are running, and can also be started during any combination of multiballs (with a few exceptions described below; also note that Pooky is Missing can't be started during any mission). All missions have 45-second timers and encourage the player to either repeatedly make lit shots or collect food items scattered around the playfield, and are started in different ways. To make progress towards starting Feast Frenzy, the missions have to be played without draining the ball while they are active.
- Garfield's Favorites: There's nothing Garfield loves more than lasagna. Shooting the kicker shot under the animated Garfield figure three times will start a timed mode where slices of lasagna will spawn all around the playfield; each slice scores 100,000 points, and will increase the value of each major shot while the mission is running by 100,000 points. Lasagna Multiball can't start while this mission is running, and vice versa.
- Feed Me!: Garfield isn't alone in his love of food - the other residents of Arbuckle's apartment love to eat as well. To start this mode, each food bowl bumper must be hit 20 times. During the mode, all shots will score a value starting at 100,000 points that increases by 50,000 points with each bumper hit until the mode ends.
- TV Time: TV might be "mindless drivel" to Garfield, but it doesn't mean he won't watch whatever's on. If the TV side of the rotating toy is active, shooting the center scoop will send the ball to the armchair; making this shot three times will start the mode, where all shots will be lit to collect 100,000 points +25,000 points for every spin of the TV remote spinner and +200,000 points per shot to the TV.
- Odie's Treats: Odie is far less outspoken than Garfield - even though he's happy to eat. Shooting Odie's ramp three times will begin a timed mode where bones, worth 100,000 points per bone collected, will spawn around the playfield and can be cashed out for a value dependent on the number of bones collected: 1 million for 1 bone, 2 million for 2, and 5 million for all 3. The Big Vicious Dog target will be active during this mode - hitting the target will subtract a bone from the total. You've Got Mail is disabled from starting while this mission is running.
Feast Frenzy[]
Once all four missions have been played without draining the ball, shooting the kicker shot underneath Garfield will start the Feast Frenzy wizard mode and light an extra ball. As long as the player keeps more than one ball in play, all shots will be lit to score jackpots worth 250,000 points. While progress towards starting side modes is disabled during Feast Frenzy, multiball modes can stack on top of the wizard mode.
Side modes[]
These side modes (excluding Sleep Challenge) can usually be started at any time during play, even during multiball modes, as long as a main mission isn't active. Side modes have 30-second timers.
- Big Vicious Dog: Collecting 30 spins at the spinner in front of the left orbit will begin a mode where the Big Vicious Dog target will activate and move around the center of the playfield. Each shot to the target before the timer runs out will score 100,000 points + 50,000 points per hit.
- Flowers for Arlene: Three shots to the left ramp will start a timed mode where the player can shoot ramp combos to score big points. Shooting either the left ramp or right ramp will score 100,000 points + 100,000 points per shot.
- An Evening with Mozart: If the TV side of the rotating toy is active, shooting the TV remote spinner a total of 30 times will light the TV target to collect a hurry-up value starting at 2 million and decreasing to 500,000. Shoot the target as many times as possible to score big.
- Pooky is Missing: When the pizza loop isn't lit to lock a ball and no main missions are running, shooting it three times will start this timed mode where a target of a spider will spawn on the table's middle trail; this is a much smaller target and therefore more difficult to hit with the ball. Making three shots to the target will end the mode for 300,000 points and and light an extra ball.
- You've Got Mail: Shooting the right ramp three times will spawn a cardboard target of Herman Post that moves around the playfield's center trail. Repeatedly shoot the target within the time limit to score 100,000 points + 50,000 points per hit.
- Sleep Challenge: Spelling SLEEP at the return lanes, which cycle with the flippers, then shooting into the hole behind the TV remote spinner will begin a hurry-up mode where each left or right ramp shot scores 100,000 points + 100,000 per ramp and qualifies 10 seconds of time that can be collected at the clock. Shooting the alarm clock target will collect the current point value and light an extra ball if 30 seconds were cashed out at once. This mode pauses the timers of all other modes that were activated before starting it, and requires one more completion of SLEEP to light each time it has been started.
Multiball modes[]
Three multiball modes can be started, and all three can stack with each other for big points. Main missions and side modes can continue to be started while multiball modes are running.
- Mouse Trouble Multiball: If the trash can target is active, shooting it with the ball will raise either the left or right ramp to reveal a hole where a ball can be locked. Locking a ball in both holes will start a 2-ball multiball where both ramps can be shot to collect jackpots worth 100,000 points + 5,000 points for each trash can hit. Shooting the fridge after hitting both ramps will collect a double jackpot and relight the ramp jackpots.
- Lasagna Multiball: Every 3 shots to the oven ramp will lock a ball in the oven. Once three balls have been locked, the oven will release the balls into play for a 3-ball Lasagna Multiball where 5 lasagna slices worth 500,000 points each will spawn around the playfield. After collecting the 5 slices, the oven ramp can be shot to score a 2,500,000 point jackpot and spawn 5 more slices of lasagna onto the playfield.
- Pizza Special Multiball: Spinning the pizza disc 15 times will light the pizza loop to collect a hurry-up starting at 5 million points and lock a ball towards starting this multiball. After locking 2 balls during single-ball play, the player will be given a choice between either starting the multiball or continuing to lock up to 6 balls (if a lock is made while another multiball is already running, it will automatically start with the number of balls currently in play). All shots will be lit to collect jackpots starting at (1 million points x the number of balls in play) during this multiball, whose value decreases over time and can be increased by repeatedly spinning the pizza disc.
Perks[]
- Skill Shot: Two types of skill shots can be collected; using the left flipper when the ball enters the platform will alternate which pop bumper is flashing, and if the ball hits the flashing bumper, a skill shot worth 1 million points will be awarded. Players can also try for a super skill shot worth 2 million by holding in the left flipper before plunging to send it to the lower flippers, then shooting either the trash can target or the moving spider target within 5 seconds.
- Ball Saver: A 15-second ball saver is active at the start of every ball, and is reactivated at the start of each main mission or multiball mode.
- Kickbacks: Shoot the kickback saucer when the Odie target is raised to light both of the outlane kickbacks.
- Bonus Multiplier: Spell COFFEE by rolling over either top rollover a total of six times to increase the bonus multiplier by +2x. Completing COFFEE again after reaching 10x will hold the bonus multipliers to the next ball, then award a 1 million point coffee bonus (and light an extra ball the first time this is done in a game.)
- Combos: Repeatedly making shots within 10 seconds of each other scores combo points, up to 1 million points after making 10 combo shots in a row.
- Fridge Award: If the fridge toy is active, shooting the center scoop three times will open the fridge up for the ball to be shot into it; shooting the fridge will score a random Fridge Award. These include 5 million points, activating the ball saver, lighting the kickbacks, increasing the bonus multiplier, and lighting an extra ball. If any combination of timed modes are running and a Fridge Award is collected, it has a chance of resetting the timers for the modes.
- Extra Balls: Extra balls can be lit at the kicker underneath the animated Garfield figure by starting Feast Frenzy, completing Pooky is Missing, collecting 30 seconds during Sleep Challenge, completing COFFEE after maxing out and holding the bonus multiplier, and from a random Fridge Award. If more than one extra ball is lit, one shot to the kicker will collect them all.
Tips[]
- When in doubt, play for Multiball. Lasagna Multiball & Pizza Special Multiball are both very high-scoring modes that continue to allow other modes to start, making it easy to get to the wizard mode. The latter comes with the additional benefit of the lock hurry-ups, typically averaging around 2.5 million per lock.
- Having trouble making Odie's ramp? Hold a ball on the left flipper, then make a very late flip using the flipper. Along with being required to reach the wizard mode, Odie's ramp is also a reliable way to send balls to the upper flipper.
- Always have the kickbacks lit. They can be lit with a single shot to the kickback saucer on this game, so if they aren't lit, it should be your top priority to relight them.
Easter Eggs & References[]
- The callouts are taken verbatim from the Garfield Specials and the Garfield & Friends TV series.
- One of the TV channels during TV Time is airing "The Creature That Devoured Muncie". Muncie, IN was the former headquarters of Paws, Inc., referenced often in the Garfield & Friends series.
- The scoring for Pizza Special Multiball is very similar to the "Super Victory Laps" multiball in Stern's Avengers Infinity Quest. Both modes have scoring dependent on the amount of balls in play that increase with every spin of a disc on the playfield.
- Other tables to include a "Feast Frenzy" mode include Zen's own Shaman table, and Jersey Jack Pinball's The Hobbit.