"You're on our turf now!"
- Buzz
No Good Gofers is one of three Williams pinball tables released in the fifth wave of Zen Studios' Williams pinball collection. It is a golf-themed table in which the player must complete 9 holes of golf, while fending off two gophers who constantly wreak havoc.
Objective[]
The goal of No Good Gofers is to complete a 9-hole game of golf while dealing with two mischievous Gofers named Bud and Buzz. While Bud is dim-witted and tends to help you out more than hurt, Buzz loves to make snarky comments and will give you a hard time as you try to complete your golf game.
To complete a hole, the player must shoot a certain number of randomly lit shots to drive the ball, which can be any orbit or ramp, then shoot the ball into the Putting Green sinkhole to finish the hole and collect a Whirlwheel award based on its current position, which can be changed with spinner, captive ball, and bumper hits; the 7th hole will instead award Short Circuit, and the 9th and 18th holes will start Hole in One Challenge in place of an award. Lit shots can be spotted by hitting the captive ball when "Drive" is flashing (which spots the leftmost lit shot); or the Putting Green will automatically be lit after making a skill shot or as the "Super Drive" award from Gofer's Choice. The player can only make progress towards completing holes during single-ball play when no modes are running, and progress towards completing holes is saved between balls.
The number of shots required to light the Putting Green depends on the hole:
- For the first hole, there will be no lit lanes and the player can immediately shoot the Putting Green to clear the hole and advance.
- For holes 2 - 9 (en route to the first wizard mode), the player must shoot two lit shots before being allowed to advance to the next hole.
- For holes 10 - 18 (en route to the second wizard mode), the player must shoot three lit shots before being allowed to advance to the next hole.
To start the wizard mode, Hole in One Challenge, the player must complete nine golf "holes". (Since there are 18 holes in total, like on a real golf course, a full run involves two instances of the wizard mode; after the second one ends, the bonus value will be reset and the table progress will reset back to the first hole.)
Strokes[]
Each hole has a certain par value that is subtracted from the total number of "strokes" made for it at the end of the hole, with the best score without performing a hole-in-one being 2 and the worst score being 7. Shooting a lit shot (or the Putting Green sinkhole to finish a hole) counts as a stroke. The stroke count increases as the player's ball drains down either outlane or falls into the sand trap, and decreases with direct shots to Bud or Buzz when they pop out.
Whirlwheel Awards[]
Each time the player completes a hole by shooting the lit Putting Green (unless the hole was the 7th, 9th, or 18th hole), the Whirlwheel will grant the player one of 16 possible awards. The Whirlwheel rotates by one segment during play every time either the bumpers are hit, the captive ball is struck, either spinner makes a complete rotation, or the jump ramp is lowered. When a hole ends, the segment of the Whirlwheel that is directly behind the yellow arrow is awarded immediately.
The awards that can be scored are:
- Hole in One: Instantly scores the current hole-in-one value and completes the current hole with a single stroke, replacing however many strokes it actually took you to complete the hole.
- Bad Shot: Were you really expecting the Gofers to play fair? If the wheel lands on this, you'll get no award from the current hole, and the next hole will start at the maximum number of strokes.
- Lite Ripoff: Lights the captive ball to instantly start Ripoff multiball. Rules described in the Multiballs section. Unlike the reward from hitting the captive ball enough times, the captive ball here isn't lit on a timer.
- Speed Golf: Starts the 3-ball Speed Golf multiball immediately. Rules described in the Cart Targets section.
- Free Lock: Instantly locks a ball for Multiball without having to light the lock manually. If the first ball was locked this way, a new ball will enter the plunger; otherwise, the ball will be virtually locked and ejected into the bumpers.
- Player's Choice: The player gets to stop the Whirlwheel themselves by pressing either flipper. Any of the 16 awards listed here can be scored from this award (yes, even Player's Choice again).
- Lite Outlanes: Lights the outlanes, whose inserts cycle between the left and right outlane with slingshot hits. The lit left outlane collects an extra ball, while the lit right outlane scores a special.
- Pop-A-Gofer: Starts the Pop-A-Gofer side mode immediately. Rules described in the Cart Targets section.
- Warp: Instantly skips between 1 to 3 holes, applying the stroke number for the current hole to each skipped hole. If you reach the 9th or 18th hole this way, Hole in One Challenge will start instantly. Warping past the 4th hole will still light extra ball, but Short Circuit will be skipped if the player warps past the 7th hole.
- Lite Q Jackpot: Lights the side ramp for an instant jackpot, worth 1,000,000 times the number of the current hole, up to a maximum of 10,000,000.
- Gofer Attack: Lights a hurry-up at the captive ball starting at 1M, counting down over 30 seconds.
- Cart Attack: Starts the Cart Attack side mode immediately. Rules described in the Cart Targets section.
- Lite Extra Ball: Lights an extra ball for collection at the Putting Green.
- Gofers' Choice: You've had your fun, now it's time for the Gofers to have theirs. This random award allows Bud to pick from a roulette and includes instantly starting super jets, starting Dance Party (all loops score 500k for 20 seconds), super drive (qualifies the next hole instantly), and big points (1M, 2M, or 3M). Sometimes, Buzz will pick the award instead - he likes giving you double skill or triple skill for chances at a multiplied skill shot.
- Big Spinners: Lights both spinners for 7,500 per spin, averaging around 50,000 extra points per cart path shot.
- Lite Kickback: Lights the kickback at the left outlane.
Short Circuit[]
After hole 7, Short Circuit starts in place of the standard Whirlwheel award. Buzz will begin gnawing on the wires inside the machine as the table lighting and Whirlwheel go haywire; though he will pop up sporadically, the player's best bet of distracting him is to shoot any KICK standup target, then making a direct shot to Buzz within 15 seconds to give him a taste of his own medicine. Hitting Buzz during this mode scores a base of 2M + 10k per switch hit, though the value can only be raised during the first part of the mode.
Hole-in-One Challenge[]
After holes 9 and 18, the Hole in One Challenge begins immediately (if the mode starts after hole 18, a 10M bonus will be awarded at the start of the mode). This is a 4-ball victory multiball that continues until the player drains down to a single ball. During this mode, everything is lit; the jackpot will be lit at the side ramp, Ripoff Multiball will be active, big spinners will be active, super jets will be active, and the jump ramp will lower on inlane hits for a shot at the Hole in One for a special. The jackpot is worth 1M + 1M per jackpot, and only relights once the Hole in One shot has been scored, while the center and right ramp follow the same scoring rules as they do in Ripoff Multiball. The first hole-in-one during this wizard mode will be qualified by rolling over an inlane, but subsequent holes-in-one require shots to the side ramp to set them up.
Cart Targets (Side Modes)[]
Alongside the Hole-in-One shot on the driving range is a golf cart with two targets below it. These targets help with banking the ball into the Hole-in-One, but also start certain modes once they have been hit enough times. The player can also earn all three of those modes instantly off of the Whirlwheel as described above.
- Cart Attack: Awarded after 3, 18, 33, etc. target hits. All shots are lit to score for 20 seconds: the first shot awards 250,000 points, while subsequent shots each are worth 100,000 points. Shooting the golf cart at any time during this side mode will count as two shots, and increase the value accordingly. If the player starts Cart Attack by banking the ball off the golf cart into the hole-in-one, all scoring during the side mode will be doubled. The shot value during Cart Attack is held between activations and only resets at the end of a game. This shot value is also used to determine the value of shots to the driving range from its respective captive ball award.
- Pop-A-Gofer: Awarded after 8, 23, 38, etc. target hits. Hit Bud and Buzz as many times as possible for 1M per shot within 20 seconds, but look out - they will constantly lower and raise to block the ramp entrances.
- Speed Golf Multiball: Awarded after 13, 28, 43, etc. target hits. This is a "frenzy" styled 3-ball multiball where every shot to the driving range scores 250k (increasing by 1k per switch hit), and shooting the golf cart or hole-in-one scores double the value.
Multiball[]
Shots to the center ramp (1 for the first Multiball activation, increasing to 3 for the second, 7 for the third, and 9 for further activations) will collect TNT crates; the final required shot will detonate the explosives and draw out a Gofer that the player can knock down to light the lock. Bud will be the first to raise, in front of the center ramp; repeating the process again will raise Buzz in front of the right ramp - although Buzz will only be up for 25 seconds before another center ramp shot must be made to draw him out again. (The procedure needed to light each lock can be skipped by collecting "Free Lock" off of the Whirlwheel.)
For later multiball rounds, the Gofers will be more aware of your center ramp shots: if you make three center ramps in a row, Buzz will call up Bud to prevent the player from repeatedly shooting the ramp anymore, for the rest of the ball. This means the player must alternate shots after every two center ramps to prevent Bud from blocking the ramp off.
After 2 balls have been locked, the next shot to the Putting Green will start a 3-ball multiball mode as the Gofers sabotage the player with the previously locked balls. The side ramp awards a jackpot worth a base value of 3,500,000, which lights a super jackpot worth double the jackpot value at the hole-in-one (requiring a strong jump ramp shot to nail). Subsequent super jackpots instead award the normal jackpot value plus an extra ball for all subsequent collections.
The jackpot at the side ramp can be relit by shooting the right ramp or by collecting a super jackpot, and will be worth 1M more than the previous jackpot with no known limit. Multiball ends when the player drains down to one ball; if the player fails to score a jackpot before returning to single-ball play, the player has 10 seconds to shoot the Putting Green sinkhole to restart the multiball. The multiball restart will only activate once per multiball attempt.
Ripoff Multiball[]
Completing two cycles of captive ball rewards (described in the perks section), or collecting "Lite Ripoff" off of the Whirlwheel, will light the captive ball to start Ripoff multiball for 10 seconds (without a timer if it was collected off the Whirlwheel).
This mode starts as a 2-ball multiball mode with the captive ball, center ramp, and right ramp flashing. A new ball will be added every time the captive ball is struck 5 times during the multiball, meaning up to 4 balls can be in play during this multiball. The two ramps are worth at least 150,000 points when lit - shooting the second ramp scores 2x the ramp value and relights both ramps to score jackpots again. The score reward for shooting the ramps increases by 25k points per ramp completion and 25k per captive ball hit.
To light subsequent Ripoff multiballs, more cycles of captive ball rewards must be completed - 3 for the second, 4 for the third, etc.
Perks[]
- Skill Shot: Plunge the ball softly so it hits either target below the side ramp (excluding the sand trap target above both of them). The skill shot awards 500k + 250k per skill shot and lights the Putting Green for the next Whirlwheel award if it isn't already lit. You can also earn double or triple skill shots from Gofer's Choice if Buzz chooses the award.
- Ball Saver: At the start of each ball, and at the start of multiball and hole-in-one challenge, a short ball saver will activate; if less than 3 unique switches have been hit, regardless of how much time has passed, the ball will still be saved. Once it expires, it cannot be reactivated normally. (Every time the ball saver is used during single-ball play, the player must manually plunge the ball back into play.)
- Kickback: The left outlane kickback is lit by default at the start of the game. Up to 2 kickbacks can be stacked (which persist across balls), and can be lit by spelling KICK at the right standup target bank, either by striking each target in that bank twice or by hitting the upper right standup target four times. Collecting Lite Kickback off of the Whirlwheel will also light the kickback.
- Cart Paths: The base value for shooting either cart path starts at 50,000 points. If the player shoots the same cart path entrance again within 6 seconds, the value will increase by 50,000 points per shot until enough time has passed without shooting an orbit and the value resets. The base value can be increased up to 100,000, then 150,000, by making the 2nd and 4th lit cart path awards by rolling over the leftmost left inlane or right inlane, then shooting the opposing cart path entrance.
- Bonus Multiplier: Rolling through the leftmost left inlane or right inlane lights the opposing side of the cart path to collect one of the lit cart path awards shown above the flippers. The 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th shots in the sequence advance the bonus multiplier by +1x, up to a maximum of 5x. Reaching 5x bonus for the first time in a session also lights the extra ball.
- Sand Trap: The sand trap saucer is lit by hitting either the target directly above it, or the lone standup target above the skill shot targets. Once a ball falls into the saucer (even if isn't lit), 1 stroke will be added to the player's golf score and a target will start moving quickly from top to bottom with a hurry-up (base 200k, increasing with bumper and sand trap target hits) running in the background. Press both flippers to fire the ball into the flashing target and score the currently displayed value. The speed of the moving target increases with each successful hurry-up scored.
- Super Jets: Hitting the jet bumper standup target in front of the middle bumper will score 25,000 points and light a currently unlit bumper. Once all 3 bumpers are lit, further hits to the jet bumper target will start making each bumper flash; once all 3 bumpers are flashing, Super Jets will activate, making all bumper hits worth 7,500 points per hit and lighting the jet bumper target for a super jets bonus of 50,000 points. One of the Gofers' Choice awards from the Whirlwheel can also start Super Jets instantly.
- Captive Ball Rewards: Striking the captive ball scores the topmost lit insert in a series of rewards: Drive (spotting a lit shot towards the current hole), Increase Bud Value (by 25k), Increase Buzz Value (by 25k), Increase Golf Cart (by 100k points), and Driving Range (qualifies the next left inlane drain to activate the jump ramp for three shots at the driving range starting at the current Cart Attack value). Collecting two cycles of these rewards with 10 hits to the captive ball (with one more cycle required for subsequent attempts) will start a 10 second chance to start Ripoff Multiball with one more hit to the captive ball.
- Range Award: Shooting the elevated center ramp with the jump ramp whenever lowered will award at least 50,000 points. The Range Award increases every time either of the two front-facing ramps are shot - by 35,000 points for the center ramp, and 50,000 points for the right ramp.
- Hole-in-One Award: The value for making a Hole-in-One shot starts at 1,000,000 points. Shooting the side ramp increases this value by 100,000 points per shot.
- Combos: Shooting the center ramp, followed by the right ramp and then the left orbit with no switches in between will score a 3-way combo worth 250k points. Following this up with a shot to the side ramp will score a 4-way combo for 500k points.
- Special: A Special can be earned by making a Hole-in-One shot during Hole in One Challenge, or by draining the ball down the right outlane when it is lit for a special via the Lite Outlanes Whirlwheel award. Specials score an extra ball.
- Extra Ball: Extra balls can be collected at the Putting Green, and are lit by making it past the 4th hole, collecting the Lite Extra Ball Whirlwheel award, reaching 5x bonus, collecting any super jackpot after the first during Multiball, or scoring 15M in a single game. If the player earned the Lite Outlanes Whirlwheel award and drains the ball down the left outlane when it is lit, an extra ball will be awarded immediately.
- End-of-ball bonus: Bonus is calculated by rewarding points for the strokes made to finish each hole; 10,000 points for 7 strokes, 25,000 + 25,000 for 6 - 2 strokes, and 250,000 for hole-in-ones. Once the player completes 18 holes, the bonus will reset. All bonus points are multiplied up to 5x by the bonus multiplier.
Tips[]
- The side ramp shot is arguably the most important shot in the game, as it lowers the jump ramp, scores the jackpot during Multiball, and is necessary to score the valuable Q Jackpot that can be lit off of the Whirlwheel. The easiest way to feed the upper right flipper for a shot at the side ramp is by shooting the left orbit; during Multiball, the right ramp will be constantly raised when a jackpot is available, allowing you to shoot under the right ramp to feed the upper right flipper. This can make going for jackpots quite a bit easier.
- Cart Attack is a very lucrative mode, as the values of each shot during the mode carry over between activations and it can be started with only 3 shots to the golf cart on the upper playfield. Bringing any Multiball mode into Cart Attack (or Pop-A-Gofer, although this is more rare) can often score more points than you'd expect.
- The captive ball and the Gofers have a tendency to quickly send the ball in dangerous directions. This can also happen if you strike the posts flanking the jump ramp when it lowers. Remember to nudge the table left or right if the ball looks like it will drain, and keep your kickback lit whenever necessary. If the ball enters the kickback by exiting the bumpers, don't worry - the kickback will save the ball for you, and won't count as it being used.