American Dad!

> "We're not going to a steakhouse, but there will be stakes...high stakes."
>
> -Stan Smith

***American Dad!*** is one of four tables in the *Balls of Glory* table pack, based on animated Fox TV sitcoms. Released in the fall of 2015 for *Zen Pinball 2* and *Pinball FX 2* (and released for *Pinball FX 3* in 2017), the table depicts the many odd adventures of an American upper-class family headed by CIA agent Stan Smith.

## Table overview

### The upper half of the table and house mini-playfields

The back of the table is dedicated to the Smith family's home, with a micro-playfield representing the house's front yard and a larger mini-playfield resembling its garage, which is actually a homemade bar designed by Roger the Alien and frequented by family members. The front yard micro-playfield is accessed by the table's left ramp, the Decider ramp. It travels to the back left corner of the table, where a diverter mechanism takes the ball either to a long left exit habitrail, or a much shorter one that diverts the ball to the front yard micro-playfield. It comprises of a miniloop that wraps around the house's signature flagpole, with a red “X”-shaped target in front of it. There is a mini-flipper at the bottom of this micro-playfield, used to hit either the miniloop, the target or a ramp that leads to the Roger's Place mini-playfield. The micro-playfield drains back down to the main playfield through the right inlane.

The Roger's Place mini-playfield is shaped into an upside-down water drop, with one orbit of its own wrapping around a collapsible target bank resembling the front counter of the bar. Its outhole is guarded by two mini-flippers and a center post inbetween them and drains the ball into the habitrail of the table's CIA crossramp. A large table orbit wraps around the table lanes on the main playfield below, with the left orbit spelling MCFREELY, one of Roger's many identities. The opposite orbit spells AIR GUITAR, a musical instrument that Steve Smith, Stan's son, plays with his friend Schumely Snot Lonstein. It is gated by a bumper area. A figure of Agent Bullock, Stan's boss, stands on the frontmost right bumper. To the right of the left orbit, which is gated by a spinner, is the abovementioned left ramp, which spells DECIDER, another one of Roger's identities. As stated prior, it leads to a diverter gate that normally takes the ball left into a long exit habitrail desgined for the left inlane, but can also be switched to take the ball into the front yard micro-playfield.

To the right of the Decider ramp is a mini-orbit that spells COP, referencing yet another one of Roger’s many identities when he tried to become a police officer. It merges into the left orbit, and feeds the upper left flipper. A small television is installed over it displaying scenes from whatever episode is currently available to start, mounted between the Decider ramp and the Cop mini-orbit. Next to this mini-orbit is a sinkhole blocked by a fishbowl containing the family's pet goldfish, Klaus. The fishbowl can be destroyed to unblock the hole, which serves multiple purposes. It is also situated next to a miniloop combined with a rotating spinner post, which causes a dial that covers the miniloop's rear half to advance. This dial represents the color-coded threat level of the Homeland Security Advisory System, which can be low, guarded, elevated, high or severe. The left side of this miniloop has two collapsible walls: a front wall that traps the ball in the miniloop to spin it around and a rear wall that normally allows a ball shot up the left end to completely go through the loop, while collapsing to provide access to a ball locker sinkhole. The right end of the miniloop is accessible via the table's upper left flipper, which is also used to access the aboventioned CIA crossramp placed in front of the threat miniloop.

The CIA crossramp leads into a serpentine habitrail path that straightens as it heads towards the front of the table, before making a big horseshoe turn over the aprons to drop the ball into the center-left inlane at full strength, although there is a habitrail trap just before this final turn that can drop the ball into the right inlane, activating every other time the ball goes through this habitrail. The plunger habitrail also sends the ball into this area. A figure of Stan Smith, the family patriarch and CIA agent, stands near the plunger intersection. There are two targets on the left side of the left bumper that can be struck to advance the bonus multiplier. The upper left flipper sits in front of the left orbit. In the space between this flipper and the crosslanes are two tracks of moving drop targets that can change to represent Roger's many personalities and disguises. There are also a few more stationary drop targets scattered throughout the game that pop up and block the entrances of certain lanes.

### The lower half of the table

In front of the left mini-flipper is a collapsible target bank that spells FRANNY, the nickname of Stan's wife, Francine Smith. A figure of her stands in front of the target bank. On the other side, there are two vertical upkickers in front of the two frontmost bumpers, one for each one. They represent Wheels and the Legman, the crime-solving duo persona of Steve and Roger, inspired by the fictional TV series *Tex and Mex*. Both VUKs pop the ball into a short straight habitrail that merges with the CIA exit habitrail just at the end of its serpentine portion.

To the right of the Legman VUK is a single standup target that represents Stan, in contrast to Francine's target bank, which can lower at certain times to reveal a sinkhole. There are five return lanes that spell ROGER, the alien who lives with the Smith family. There are two slingshots and two main flippers. Each outlane is guarded by a kickback. The horseshoe-shaped ending portion of the CIA crossramp's exit habitrail runs over the table aprons. Along the way, each apron has a VUK that pops the ball back along this part of the habitrail, with an additional sinkhole to the right of the left apron's VUK that the ball may fall into along the way.

### The plunger

The plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism powered by the water bubblers in Stan's office, launching the ball up a straight shaft and onto a rising habitrail that merges with the CIA crossramp's exit habitrail just as it begins its serpentine course. The goal of the skill shot is to simply plunge the ball and flip when the ball goes down the portion of the habitrail that's directly above the bumper area so that Agent Bullock can seize the ball for a "skill stop" (worth 1 million + 500,000 per skill stop, times the current threat level). A successful Skill Stop also boosts the scoring for each bumper hit for the rest of the current ball.

### Threat levels

As the player shoots the rotating spinner post in front of the center mini-loop, the display will indicate the number of spins left to advance the **threat level**. The threat level is at level 2 at the start of a game, and can be increased up to 5; the higher the threat level, less time will be given for timed modes, but they'll score much higher than they would on lower threat levels. The physics will also become slightly tougher as the threat level increases.

Each time a mission is completed, the current threat level will decrease by 1; if the mission ended in failure, it will remain at the current threat level. Each threat level has a corresponding colored ball (green for 1, blue for 2, yellow for 3, orange for 4, and red for 5), and reaching threat level 5 for the first time in a game will light an **extra ball**.

## Objective

The goal of this table is to complete eight different missions that depict iconic moments from the *American Dad!* television series, with each mission spotting a letter in the word AMERICAN; once AMERICAN is fully spelled, **May the Best Stan Win** wizard mode will be qualified at the mission sinkhole. The first time through the missions, AMERICAN letters can simply be collected by starting a mission; on further attempts, they have to be completed by making the required shots without losing the ball.

### Missions

To start a mission, the player can destroy Klaus' fishbowl with three hits to reveal the mission hole, then shoot the ball into it. The mission that will start is the one shown on a small television screen near the left ramp, and can be changed to the next episode in the listed sequence below by shooting the mini-orbit during normal play. The mission timers, shot requirements, and score rewards are tied to the current **threat level**.

The following eight missions must be started to unlock the wizard mode:

* **Fun 'n Gun Shooting Range**: Stan spends time at a shooting range. This is a “video mode” mission where the ball will remain locked in the mission hole and Stan's figure will turn to the Roger's Place mini-playfield, which opens and reveals the target bank. The player must shoot targets as they pop up, and aim for bullseyes for more points. Stan's pistol will move up and down repeatedly and the player can pivot him around with the flipper buttons. The higher the threat level, the faster the pistol pivots and the more bullseyes have to be scored to win the mission.
* **Dungeons & Wagons**: The Smith parents participate in street racing, while their children play a RPG video game. This is a 2-ball multiball, representing the two activities occurring at the same time in the titular episode. The player alternates between shooting the lit VUKs and the right orbit to help the kids win the video game, and the three leftmost lanes to help the parents win the street race. Once both activities are finished (with a total of 5 shots to both sets, plus the number of the current threat level), the player must lock one ball into the mission hole to complete the mission.
* **Haylias**: The CIA has brainwashed Stan's daughter Hayley into a sleeper secret agent. The player must first activate the brainwashing by shooting a randomly lit lane to activate the spinner at the left orbit, then shoot the spinner enough times to raise the percentage level to 100% (the threat level determines how many spins are required - 10 spins multiplied by whatever level is active). Once the percentage is at 100%, the red “X” target in the front yard mini-playfield will light to score a large (7.5 million level 2, 10 million level 3, etc.) hurry-up that decreases to 0 points; hitting the target before time runs out will win the mission.
* **Tearjerker**: Stan becomes a heroic secret agent who must defeat the Tearjerker, a villain role assumed by Roger. To defeat the Tearjerker and stop his quest to unleash sadness across the world, the player must quickly knock down all 7 Roger drop targets before time expires, although targets will respawn if the player does not quickly knock another down. The higher the threat level, the less time will be given to finish the mission.
* **Stan's Night Out**: Stan goes on a night out, only for things to get hectic. The player must quickly shoot the rotating crosshair icons that appear randomly on the table, each scoring hurry-up values starting at 1 million points. The higher the threat level, the more crosshairs have to be shot (5 plus the number of the current threat level) to finish the mission.
* **Of Ice and Men**: Francine learns that Stan can skate and the two enter a contest. The player must shoot the flashing lanes, while avoiding the figures of Stan and Francine skating on the ice-covered playfield, as hitting them will decrease the score reward for hitting a target lane. The higher the threat level, the more shots will have to be made (5 plus the number of the current threat level).
* **Bullocks to Stan**: Stan discovers that his boss Agent Bullocks had an affair with his daughter Hayley, and a heated confrontation ensues. The player helps Stan win the brawl against his boss by depleting his health either with bumper hits for punches (2% per bumper hit) and crossramp shots for kicks (30% per shot). Failure to perform attacks after the timer on the display has run out puts Stan on the defensive, and health will continue to be depleted from his meter. The player must shoot the side ramp to go back on the offensive, or shoot Klaus' fishbowl to block attacks and take less damage for a short time. The higher the threat level, the less time you have to attack Bullocks before you switch to the defensive.
* **Cops and Roger**: Stan attempts to talk Roger out of being a dirty cop. The player must hit randomly appearing Roger drop targets before time runs out to win the mission, with each target hit scoring more points depending on how quickly they were hit. The higher the threat level, the less time you have to complete the mode.

### Wizard mode

After AMERICAN has been spelled and all currently running side modes have timed out, **May the Best Stan Win** will be lit to start with a single shot to the mission sinkhole. This is a final multiball mission, depicting Stan being scammed by a time-traveling evil version of himself from the future. In the first phase, the player shoots lit, strobing lanes to add balls from the future in preparation for the second phase, which begins once time runs out or three balls are added into play. Within (180 seconds minus 30 times the threat level), the player can then shoot lit lanes to earn jackpots; if a lit lane has both the Stan and Jackpot inserts lit, the lane will score a double jackpot. After the timer expires, the player must lock at least the last ball into the left ramp to send the evil Stan back into his own timeline and win the wizard mode, resetting the progress towards spelling AMERICAN and making it tougher to get to the wizard mode a second time.

## Side modes

The folowing side modes can be activated:

* **Roger's Personas**: Roger has adopted many identities during his stay on Earth. If the player spells ROGER on the return lanes, a target of a new Roger persona will appear, which the player can knock down to add to their collection. The player lights an **extra ball** for collecting half of them, and can start the **Roger's Rampage** multiball once all 16 have been collected.
* **Decider Frenzy**: Roger reveals that the purpose of his residence on Earth is to determine whether to save it or to destroy it. After shooting the left ramp 7 times to spell DECIDER, the player must destroy as many death dog boxes placed randomly throughout the table before time runs out. Each box destroyed scores a base value of (200,000 + 100,000 times the current threat level), while the left ramp scores half of the box value.
* **Cop Hurry-Up**: Completing the **kickback** activation process while both kickbacks are already active will start a brief hurry-up mode. The Cop mini-orbit must be shot once more before a score pool on the scoring display (1 million x current threat level) reaches zero, with whatever amount remaining awarded at the time the lane is hit.
* **Agent Bullock**: If the player shoots the side ramp three times to spell CIA, a side mode will begin where the player can shoot the Wheels and Legman VUKs to tire out Bullock and knock him out for hurry-up scores starting from 1 million points. Three (+1 times the current threat level) shots will defeat Bullock for 1 million times the current threat level and light an **extra ball** the first time he is defeated. The timer for the mode will be lower depending on the current threat level.
* **Wheels and the Legman**: Steve and Roger pretend to be detectives who solve crimes. Shooting either of the VUKs a total of 6 times (15 for subsequent attempts) will begin a side mode, where the player must help the two solve a case by shooting the center mini-loop to lock the ball into a sinkhole; right when it goes in, the player must press any button to activate a magnet to make the ball spin inside the mini-loop. When enough spins are made, the case is solved and big points will be awarded based on how quickly it was solved. More than one case can be solved in an attempt if the timer is long enough, and each solved case adds up in end-of-ball bonus.
* **Stan Smith Residence**: If the player spells STAN by hitting the rightmost Stan target four times, a side mode will begin where the player needs to make (1 + threat level number) loops in the front yard mini-playfield without hitting the "X" target to access the Roger's Place mini-playfield, then take the ball there and knock down all eight of the beer bottles in the garage shown as drop targets, or shoot the loops for a jackpot starting at 500,000 and increasing by 50,000 with no known cap. A completion bonus is awarded based on how quickly the side mode was finished, and the current threat level determines the timer for the mode.

### Multiball

Four Multiball modes are available to play, all of which can be stacked with each other and / or main missions:

* **McFreely Multiball**: Roger becomes Roy Rogers McFreely, a chairman of the homeowner's association. This is a quick 2-ball multiball that starts when MCFREELY is spelled on the left orbit by hitting the spinner enough times (10 spins per letter). Only one shot is lit to collect the jackpot - the sinkhole behind the center mini-loop - but shooting other lit lanes will raise the jackpot value and score smaller point awards.
* **Air Guitar Multiball**: Steve and Snot rock out with air guitars. This is another quick 2-ball multiball mode that starts when AIR GUITAR is spelled on the right orbit, with a total of 9 shots. To collect a jackpot, the player must fill the rock meter with shots to the spinner and bumpers; this process becomes tougher each time a jackpot is collected, requiring more hits.
* **Roger's Secret Multiball**: Hitting the bumpers 20 times (+10 hits per ball lock) will unlock the sinkhole behind the center mini-loop to lock a ball. If two balls have been locked and Multiball isn’t already active, the player can choose to lock more for higher jackpot values or start the multiball, which otherwise begins immediately once four balls are locked. Jackpots are claimed by shooting sinkholes or the left ramp, all of which divert balls to the Roger's Place mini-playfield for a chance at a super jackpot by knocking down all the drop targets.
* **Roger's Rampage**: After all 16 of Roger's personas are collected, a 2-ball multiball will start when the ball is locked into the sinkhole behind the center mini-loop. The goal of this mode is to score jackpots by knocking down all 16 of Roger's personas as targets throughout the table once, with three appearing at a time. Hitting all 16 drop targets scores a super jackpot worth all the jackpots that had been collected up to that point, and resets the process. This mode continues until either the timer runs out (180 seconds minus 30 times the threat level number), which will require the player to lock the second ball in the mission sinkhole; or until either ball is lost.

## Perks

The following perks can be collected:

* **Ball Saver**: At the start of each ball and multiball, a 15-second ball saver will activate. Once it expires, it can be reactivated as a random award from **Franny's Awards**.
* **Kickbacks**: Spelling COP at the Cop mini-orbit, followed by a shot to the side ramp within 5 seconds, will activate the left kickback followed by the right kickback. As subway kickbacks, they will eject the ball out of either VUK when used, and persist across balls; lighting a kickback when both are already lit will instead start the **Cop Hurry-Up** mode.
* **Bonus Multiplier**: Every time both standup targets to the left of bumpers are hit, the end-of-ball bonus multiplier will advance by +2x up to 10x. It is only good for the current ball unless a multiplier hold is earned from **Franny's Awards**.
* **Franny's Awards**: Spelling FRANNY at the left target bank will reveal the saucer behind it, allowing the player to lock the ball inside and earn a random award from a list that stops when any button is pressed or enough time passes. This list includes points (between 3 to 5 million), activating either **kickback**, +2x **bonus multiplier** or multiplier hold, increasing the **threat level**, and lighting an **extra ball**.
* **Extra Balls**: Extra balls can be lit at the mission sinkhole by reaching **threat level** 5, finding 8 of **Roger's Personas**, completing **Agent Bullock**, playing 4 of the main **missions**, or from a random **Franny Award**. Each method only lights an extra ball once per game.

## Tips

* Shooting the loops on the Stan Smith Residence mini-playfield is a very easy way to get a high score. Each loop shot scores more points than the previous with no limit, and it is very possible to get 200 million points on a single visit with a low threat level.
* The side ramp is one of the most important shots in the game, as shooting it after spelling COP is integral to lighting the outlane kickbacks. Shooting the Cop mini-orbit is the easiest way to reliably shoot for the side ramp, though with practice, the right orbit feeds the upper flipper nicely as well.
* The Roger targets and Klaus' fishbowl can bounce the ball sharply towards the outhole or outlanes, without a ball saver in sight; always try to have the kickbacks active to avoid these drains. Shots to the center mini-loop occasionally bounce down the outlanes, but the game will automatically save these balls.

## External links

* Official table trailer
* Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)
* Official table soundtrack (tracks 1 - 4 of the *Balls of Glory Pack Soundtrack*)