Tales of the Arabian Nights

"In ancient Baghdad, a most beautiful princess was imprisoned by the evil genie Saleem Bagazi..."

- Narrator

Tales of the Arabian Nights
Date available	December 10, 2019
Category	The Williams collection
Based on	One Thousand and One Nights Characters created by John Popadiuk
Designed by	John Popadiuk; recreation by Zoltan Vari
Plunger mechanism	Straight into miniloop
Skill shot type	Plunger strength (regular), flipper-assisted (super)
Number of return lanes	4
Number of flippers	2
Outlane protection	2 time-limited trap kickbacks
Number of main missions	7
Wizard mode type	Final mission and final multiball mission
Number of side modes	1
Number of multiball modes	2

Tales of the Arabian Nights is one of three Williams pinball tables released in the fifth wave of Zen Studios' Williams pinball collection, available in Pinball FX 3, the macOS version of Zen Pinball 2 and the Williams Pinball mobile app.  It is a table themed off of One Thousand and One Nights and follows the adventures of a hero who embarks on a quest to free a princess of ancient Baghdad from a giant evil genie, Saleem Bagazi, completing feats based on select stories from Nights along the way.

Table overview

The upper half of the table

A large orbit wraps around most of the table's lanes, but it has a unique design in that the left orbit does not usually take the ball down the right orbit while the opposite is true, unless a hidden diverter gate towards the back of the table takes the ball into it. The left orbit instead takes the ball through a bumper area representing rocs, giant predatory birds, at the back right corner of the table, before taking the ball down a one-way exit lane that is also where balls plunged into play land into. Weak shots up this left orbit may drop the ball into a hidden sinkhole. This exit lane drops the ball on the right side of the table. This exit lane's mouth is perpendicular to the entrance of the opposite right orbit, which is a variable-strength lane: a full shot through it will take the ball down the left orbit as usual, merging and dropping the ball downward through it, while a magnetic trap partway through the orbit, or a weak shot, will cause the ball to drop down to a rollover and into a magnetic saucer where balls can be locked. This saucer will drop the ball down a very short exit back into the main playfield.

Directly above much of the upper half of the table is the branching structure of the table's lone ramp. Its entrance is beside the left orbit, although there is a small gap between these lanes, with a captive ball target and saucer installed in front of the gap. One of two targets to activate the bazaar is placed on the ramp entrance's right corner. Where the ball goes upon entering the ramp depends on how strong the ball was shot, or what modes are activated. It curves right, wrapping around and behind a toy figure of Saleem Bagazi before making a tight inward spiral loop around the bumper area. The normal end of the spiral loop would take the ball down a clear exit ramp destined for the right inlane's elbow, which the ball will also drop to through a funnel hole early into the spiral, accessed with weaker shots. A diverter gate midway through the spiral can divert the ball to another clear ramp that curves left around the back left corner of the table while also wrapping around Bagazi's figure. This ramp normally takes the ball to the left inlane's elbow, but can be diverted to a magnetic scoop representing fireballs that the Bagazi can wield. This scoop traps the ball and rolls it down a diagonal habitrail leading to the end of the right inlane exit ramp.

To the right of the ramp entrance is a small magnetic space, formed between the ramp and the secret ball lock trap. A hidden magnet can briefly hold the ball in the middle of this area. Towards the back is the abovementioned figure of Bagazi, which itself is a target that can be hit at his waist. There is also a tiny target post right next to the figure that can also count as a hit on Bagazi. Both of these contribute towards spelling GENIE. The wall that separates the magnetic space with the abovementioned ball locker also curves out to the right towards the front of the table, with a 3-target target bank around the bend, used to activate the right kickback. Next to this target bank is the abovementioned ball locker saucer exit that also functions as a lane that can be shot with the flippers. The right orbit is right beside a sinkhole representing the bazaar, an open market where goods are freely traded. The right orbit is right beside it, with the second bazaar activation target placed between the two.

The entrances of these three lanes (the saucer exit/harem lane, the bazaar sinkhole and the right orbit) are all staggered, with the right orbit being closest to the front of the table, to allow space for a large magic lamp toy. It stands on two posts on a turntable that can be hit to spin the lamp. The rotating posts can affect the ball's trajectory as it is shot towards central lanes and targets.

The lower half of the table

Along the left side of the table, below a winding midway portion of the exit ramp heading to the left inlane, is another 3-target target bank just like the one further back on the table that is used to activate the left kickback. On the other side, right in front of the left orbit's other-side exit, are a pair of captive balls, likewise placed underneath a winding portion of the exit ramp heading to the right inlane.

There are 4 return lanes, 2 rebounds and 2 flippers. The entrance to each outlane is guarded by a trap kickback representing shooting stars. The kickback mechanism causes a ring of spikes to pop up to catch the ball and drop the ball into the outlane's nearby inlane. In the dead space directly behind the flipper are lamps representing the jewels that must be collected through missions. On the right apron is a toy model of the bottle the princess is trapped inside. Magical jewels that the hero has yet to acquire are also scattered across the aprons.

The plunger

The plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism that launches the ball up a straight jump ramp that lands the ball into one of three holes, all lined up in a column. These three holes, representing baskets of cobras that are traditionally charmed, will all drop the ball into play through the left orbit's other-side exit. A magic scimitar lines the left side of the plunger and collected jewels from finished missions are moved from the aprons and tacked to the scimitar. The goal of the skill shot is to guess the correct amount of plunger force that will bring the ball to a particular hole chosen by random on the scoring display before the ball is shot, resulting in successful snake charming. A successful skill shot opens a brief opportunity to shoot the ramp for a super skill shot.

Objective and missions

The goal of this table is to help an unnamed hero defeat the genie Saleem Bagazi and free a beautiful princess by obtaining jewels for a magic scimitar to battle the genie with through feats in select stores in the Tales of the Arabian Nights, through seven missions. A mission begins when the player hits Bagazi's figure, activating a magnet that briefly holds the ball in front of him. However, which particular mission will begin is determined with flipper operation and bumper hits, with the former cycling a flashing lamp across the series of mission jewel ramps behind the flippers with every button press. Once a mission begins, it will continue until it is completed successfully across balls. Missions are completed successfully when objectives are met or whenever a time limit that pauses in between balls expires, although players will earn better score rewards for completing missions successfully before time expires. It is not possible to fail missions and once a mission is completed successfully, the player must make a full shot through the ramp to claim its associated jewel before selecting another mission. Successfully completed missions cannot be repeated and are removed from the possible choice of missions decided with flipper operation and bumper hits before the ball hits Bagazi. Missions can also be skipped by making wishes to the hero's genie, depicted at the bottom half of the table.

The following seven missions must be completed to unlock the wizard mode:

• The Tale of Sinbad and the Rocs: Sinbad, a legendary sailor, faced the wrath of rocs for taking some of their prized eggs. The hero must assist Sinbad in eliminating the predatory rocs. This mission is completed by hitting any bumper within the time limit, then making a full shot up the ramp to acquire a white jewel.
• The Tale of Ali Baba: Ali Baba once discovered a cave full of treasure that can be accessed by speaking the words "open sesame". Finding this same cave, the hero must open it with the same phrase. This mission is completed by spelling the word SESAME across both kickback target banks within the time limit, then making a full shot up the ramp to acquire a yellow jewel.
• The Tale of the Flying Horse: A jewel is found within statues of several flying horses, but the hero must use trial and error to determine which one has it. The kickback target banks, the orbits and the ramp each represent one of five unique horse statues to check, and the player must shoot one that is chosen at random to have the jewel before time runs out. Checking and destroying a statue with one unique lane shot grants 8,000 points. Once the correct statue is found or time runs out, the player must make a full shot up the ramp to acquire an orange jewel.
• The Tale of Sheherazade: Sheherazade, daughter of a vizier, was said to be the narrator of the 1,001 tales comprising the One Thousand and One Nights, trying to stay alive by telling story after story to entertain a ruler who had executed women he married of the same number of tales to prevent them from being unfaithful to him.  The player must shoot any major lane marked with a golden symbol (the kickback target banks, the orbits and the ramp) as many times as possible within 25 seconds to earn points, with each lane hit awarding 50,000 points. After time expires, the player must make a full shot up the ramp to acquire a red jewel.
• The Tale of the Great Camel Race: Camel racing is a popular sport in the world of the Arabian Nights, but there is a particular 5-camel contest where a prized jewel is at stake, which the hero must win. The player must get to first place within a time limit by shooting lanes or targets marked with a golden symbol (the kickback target banks, the orbits and the ramp) a total of four times, with each shot causing the hero to overtake one of four opponents. When time expires or the hero gets to first place by passing all four opponents, the player must make a full shot up the ramp to acquire a purple jewel.
• The Tale of the Forty Thieves: The hero is chased by forty thieves who once tried to take Ali Baba's treasure on magic carpets. To successfully escape, the player must make a full shot up the ramp within a time limit. Once time expires or the ramp is hit, the player must shoot the ramp to acquire a blue jewel.
• The Tale of Sinbad and the Cyclops: In his adventures, Sinbad also fought a cyclops and the hero must help him defeat one. To defeat the cyclops, the player must hit either of two captive ball targets within a time limit. Once a captive ball target is hit, or time expires, the player must shoot the ramp to acquire a green jewel.

Once all seven missions are completed, the wizard mode, Rescue the Princess, is available to start the same way as the main missions. It is a final 2-part mission where the hero, having readied his magic scimitar with all seven jewels, confronts Saleem Bagazi for a final showdown over the princess.

• In the first part of the wizard mode, the player must vanquish Bagazi's skeleton army. There are eight skeleton warriors to defeat. All but the last one must be defeated by shooting the captive balls or Bagazi's toy figure, while the final enemy must be defeated by shooting either orbit. Skeletons can also be defeated by shooting the kickback target banks, the orbits or the ramp. Defeated skeletons award 500,000 points and once all skeletons are defeated, the second part of the wizard mode begins. This mode continues until all skeletons are defeated or no more balls are left, meaning that it will continue even if the ball is drained.
• The second part of the wizard mode is a 4-ball final multiball mission in which the hero uses the scimitar to engage in a tug-of-war battle against Bagazi for the princess. The status of the struggle for the princess is shown on the scoring display, with Bagazi on the left side of the display and the hero on the right side. The bottle in which the princess is trapped on will be at the middle of the display and will slowly move left over time. The player must repeatedly and quickly hit lanes or targets marked with a golden symbol (the kickback target banks, the orbits and the ramp) to move the bottle to the right towards the hero until the bottle goes all the way to the right side of the display for the hero to take and free the princess, defeating Bagazi in the process. The ball saver will remain on until either the hero or Bagazi takes the bottle, and once either occurs, the flippers will disable to allow all balls to drain. Freeing the princess successfully will award 20 million points.

Side modes

There is only one side mode on this table and it is the Fireball Hurry-Up, in which the hero contends with Bagazi's fireball attacks. This side mode becomes available to start with one shot up the ramp after shooting that same ramp or hitting the left captive ball target/saucer once (twice for the second instance of the side mode and thrice for subsequent starts of the side mode). The shot that starts this mode will divert the ball left into a scoop trap that pops the ball onto a diagonal habitrail. This ball becomes the fireball that Bagazi hurls at the hero and the player must race against time to deflect it back at him by hitting his figure quickly to claim whatever remains of a dwindling score pool on the scoring display before it shrinks to zero. The mode will end if the player hits Bagazi, loses the ball or takes too long to hit him such that the score pool shrinks to nothing. The score reward, which usually starts at 200,000, can be raised by 200,000 by shooting the left captive ball target/saucer when the side mode is ready to start or by shooting the ramp while the side mode is in progress, but the starting reward cannot be any larger than 1 million.

Multiball

There are two multiball modes on this table:

• Harem Multiball: The harem is an intimate space for women to enjoy sexual pleasure with men in the ancient Arab world. If the player spells HAREM with five shots up the left orbit when a lock is not lit for Genie Multiball or the Tiger Loop is not active (or performs 3 successful Harem Sneak-Ins worth 25,000 points each by dropping the ball into a hidden sinkhole with a weaker left orbit shot), the player can start a quick 2-ball multiball, in which any lane scores a jackpot, with the first ball locked into a ball locker at the back half of the table until the second ball is plunged into play manually. The jackpot will increase every time the bumpers are hit through a left orbit shot prior to the multiball. This mode will continue until either ball is lost.
• Genie Multiball: The hero will occasionally fight Bagazi during his quest. To start this 3-ball multiball, the first two balls must be locked either by spelling GENIE twice (or once for the first multiball instance) with repeated hits of Bagazi's figure, then shooting either orbit or the saucer exit to lock the ball into the ball locking saucer. Then, as subsequent balls are manually plunged into play following a lock, the genie must be hit again with the third ball. Alternatively, once per session, the player can make a weak shot up the right orbit or shoot the saucer exit lane before GENIE is spelled such that the ball lands into the ball locker saucer to achieve a secret ball lock, which will lock the first ball while instantly lighting a lock for the second ball. Spelling GENIE awards 50,000 points times the ordinal number of the spelling completion. During the multiball, the player must juggle 3 balls and hit Bagazi with them for jackpots. The jackpot starts at 400,000 and is increased by 25,000 with every half-circle spin of the lamp toy. After the first jackpot is scored, the player must shoot either orbit to relight the jackpot for another hit on Bagazi. This mode continues until all but one ball is lost, and if this occurs before a jackpot is scored, the player will have a 10 second grace period to restart the multiball for a rematch with Bagazi by shooting the Bazaar sinkhole.

Perks

The following perks can be activated:

• Ball Saver: At the start of each ball, a brief ball saver will activate. Once it expires, it cannot be reactivated. The ball saver will also remain on for the entirety of the second half of the wizard mode.
• Shooting Star Kickbacks: Completing the left kickback target bank will activate the left kickback and completing the right kickback target bank will activate the right kickback. Kickbacks will last for about 10 seconds and will use a ring of spikes to catch the ball if it approaches the outlane. If the trap fails to catch the ball, it will not count as a ballout and a new ball will be plunged into play with an apology from the hero's genie.
• Score Multiplier: The score multiplier can be advanced up to 12X every time both captive ball targets on each side of the table are struck once, and can also be advanced thrice from the Bazaar awards. It is only good for the current ball unless a multiplier hold is also earned from the Bazaar awards.
• The Magic Lamp: According to the tale of Aladdin, magic lamps are used to summon genies, and they can grant a limited number of wishes. Each half-circle rotation of the magic lamp toy will add 10,000 points to the end of ball bonus, as well as add 750 points to the current score (if no mission is active) or 10,000 points to the Jewel Bonus (awarded for the completion of the currently active mission, starting at 100,000 points). Every seven and a half full rotations of the lamp (15 half-circle spins) will activate the following perks below:
  • Make A Wish: Every 7.5 rotations will store up one wish (up to a maximum of 3) that can be requested and granted by the hero's genie the next time the bazaar sinkhole is hit. When a wish is used, the player can choose to either ask the genie for a jewel to skip a mission by pressing the left flipper, or some other reward that is randomly chosen when the wish is requested by pressing the right flipper (3 Tiger Loops, triple lamp scoring while Lightning Lamp is active, triple fireball value while the Fireball Hurry-Up is in progress, Lightning Lamp activation or addition of the current end-of-ball bonus to the total score).
    • The Genie's Ruby: The hero's genie can also gift him her ruby for more fortuitous rewards. If the player requests to use a wish while both kickbacks are turned on before the ball is lost (limited once per ball), the player can choose to collect two jewels instead of one.
  • Lightning Lamp: Every 7.5 rotations will also charge the lamp with lightning for a 15 second time limit that resets for any half circle spin of the lamp toy made in this state, which also grants 50,000 points and grows by 25,000 points every subsequent time Lightning Lamp is activated.
• Bazaar Awards: The bazaar is full of precious goods to buy and sell, and there is one kind merchant who seeks to gift the hero on his journey. Shooting the bazaar sinkhole will grant a random award, but once it is used, the player must hit the two bazaar targets to reopen the bazaar for another reward. Possible random awards include advancing the multiplier thrice or holding it, lighting locks immediately, granting one wish, granting an extra ball or making it available to claim at the right orbit, activation of lamp perks with 7.5 spins, activation of both kickbacks, instant start of Genie Multiball or extra points. Skipping the animation for the reward four times by pressing both flippers grants a New Cow Award, worth 1 million points.
• Tiger Loop: When the ball hits an inlane rollover, the player can earn a Tiger Loop by shooting the opposite orbit immediately afterward. Three Tiger Loops can also be granted as a wish from the genie. The sixth Tiger Loop grants an extra ball, but after that, 20 Tiger Loops are needed for subsequent extra balls.
• Extra Ball: Extra balls can be awarded by scoring 8 million points (the replay score), collecting 6 Tiger Loops (or every 20 loops after the sixth Tiger Loop), finishing 4 of the 7 missions, earning a random award from the Bazaar awards or collecting a special in a lit outlane after finishing the wizard mode regardless of outcome. Extra balls earned from the replay score or a particular Bazaar award are granted immediately, but must otherwise be claimed by shooting the right orbit.

Tips

• It is very easy to reach the wizard mode, given that it is impossible to fail missions, it is easy to start missions and you can also skip missions by asking the hero's genie for a random jewel for a mission yet completed. But what may be more challenging is the final tug-of-war battle with Bagazi himself in the wizard mode's second part, especially when the four ball multiball is difficult to juggle. Focus on one lane you like to hit and hit it as many times as you can quickly.
• Play very carefully! There is no ball saver and kickbacks will only stay active for a limited time. With that being said, if you want to make a wish, be careful when spinning the lamp. The rotating posts can pose as an obstacle and they can push the ball into the outlanes or straight down the middle if you are not careful. In spite of this risk, the rewards a wish may offer will help you greatly if you can earn them.
• To finish missions and earn jewels, you must excel at making full shots up the table ramp that must be made at the end of each mission. Make sure you know the flipper timing for a full ramp shot so that you don't get stuck on a mission.

FX3 Censorship

• On the backbox, an image of a man smoking a hookah has been changed such that the hookah is removed and its bowl is converted to a fruit bowl.
• Cleavage was removed.
• A small icon of a roc carrying a person in the bumper area is changed such that it is carrying a large rock.

Tournament notes

• Tales of the Arabian Nights isn't advised to be used in tournaments due to an exploit in Zen's recreation of the table. Similarly to the multiball glitch in Black Rose, starting Harem Multiball and nudging the game before plunging the ball will allow the player to play the mode with only one ball.
• The bazaar awards are scored in a certain order.

External links

• Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin