"The next performance is about to begin!"
- Announcer, Theatre of Magic
The many "illusion" missions of Theatre of Magic. This table has a mix of missions and objectives required to reach the wizard mode, seen below the illusion inserts.
A mission is a mandatory mode that must be completed to progress towards the wizard mode, typically comprised of a series of one or more tasks that must be completed; this typically involves shooting lit lanes. Missions became frequent mechanics in pinball machines following the release of The Addams Family by Bally in 1992, and have become a staple of many modern pinball machines. In tables that have a narrative or story associated with their themes, missions are designed to reflect events from the larger narrative.
Each table has a different method of starting missions. All of a table's missions have either a unified start method or have to be started by making certain shots enough times; Sorcerer's Lair is an example of the former, where the player has to shoot the three standup targets in front of the disk, then shoot the hole marked "cellar" to start a mission. Tables where missions are started at various shots across the playfield include Wild West Rampage and Monster Bash. Other tables like Venom or Attack from Mars forgo missions entirely in favor of sets of objectives that must be completed to access the wizard mode, while early 90s Williams / Bally machines like Hurricane and Black Rose are simple score attack tables that lack a proper mission structure, but still have modes to play through.
An example of inserts for objectives in Attack from Mars.
At the start of a mission, information will be seen on the scoring display explaining what the player should do during the mission; then, the ball will be ejected, and particular lanes will be lit to help guide the player to finish the mission. Missions sometimes have a time limit and must be completed within the allotted time to succeed, or have certain mistakes or conditions that the player must avoid. Draining the ball on most tables also results in failing the mission, although some tables carry over mission progress between balls; tables designed by Peter "Deep" Grafl, like Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens and Son of Zeus frequently behave this way.
An example of inserts for missions in Solo: A Star Wars Story. This table refers to missions as "scenes" from the film.
Tables may also have variations on the specific conditions required to unlock the wizard mode. Some tables like Aliens and Theatre of Magic only require the player to start up all missions to get to the wizard mode, and if the ball is drained during a mission, it is simply skipped. Tables like Star Wars Rebels and A-Force make initial playthroughs of the game easier, by only requiring the player to attempt all missions to get to the wizard mode until they reach it. Other tables like Solo: A Star Wars Story or Tales of the Arabian Nights require the player to complete all missions successfully without draining the ball to unlock the wizard mode.