future spa

Rules

Future Spa (Bally 1979)

Future Spa is a widebody solid-state game from just after the electro-mechanical era, and it's a bonus game. The whole strategy boils down to two things: collect the FUTURE SPA letters and max out the bonus multiplier before you drain. The super bonus carries over between balls, so each ball builds higher than the last.

The safest and most productive shot is the spinner. Shoot the spinner and the ball goes up to the top lanes, where you collect FUTURE letters. This is the classic UTAD loop (up the top and down): shoot the spinner, the ball comes back down, catch it and shoot again. While the spinner is spinning, its points are counted – and if the ball hits a target at the same time, you get both the spinner and the target points.

The FUTURE letters are collected by repeatedly rolling through the top lanes, often helped by a small nudge. The SPA letters come from the center standup target – but don't shoot that target directly, because it's a drain risk. SPA letters also build from the inlanes and the kickback, so let them come from random hits and kickback returns. The only time it's worth aiming at the SPA target is when you need just one more letter to complete the full set of 9 letters.

Once all 9 letters are collected, an 18,000-point super bonus lights and carries over to the following balls. A second full set raises it to 36,000, and another 8 letters add 16,000 more – the maximum base bonus is 52,000 and the maximum total bonus with the multiplier is 312,000. If you complete the letters a third time, you get a special and the letters reset. If the special is set to award points, it's worth finishing; if not, stop one letter short.

The bonus multiplier is easy to max out on this game once the ball is cradled, i.e. trapped and controlled on a flipper. Cradling is the key to the whole game – calm, controlled play scores more than frantic flailing.

The right side has two rising values: the top saucer goes from 3,000 to 9,000 in steps of 3,000, and the horseshoe from 2,000 to 10,000 in steps of 2,000. Both reset every ball, so they aren't the top priority over a long game. Most of the time it's still better to shoot the spinner to get up top and collect more FUTURE letters.

The biggest risk is the left side – on this game, that's where you'll lose most of your balls. There are four lanes on the left: the outermost is a permanent kickback award (3,000, increasing by 2,000 with each collection up to a maximum of 9,000), then an outlane, then a conditional return lane, then a guaranteed return lane. The conditional lane is controlled by a gate that is tilted to the right at the start of each ball, making it an outlane. Making the skill shot, or otherwise sending the ball through the lit top lane (either of the two middle ones), flips the gate upright and turns the lane into a safe return lane. Keep this gate upright whenever you can.