Star Wars: Ahch-To Island

> "Show me how to use the Force. How to control it."
>
> - Rey

***Star Wars: Ahch-To Island*** is a pinball table about Rey's visit to Luke Skywalker's island monastery on Ahch-To as one of a multitude of *Star Wars* Zen Pinball tables available for *Zen Pinball 2*, *Pinball FX 2* and *Pinball FX 3*. This table is one of two tables in the *The Last Jedi* pack and showcases the typical activities of Luke's monastery and Rey and Chewbacca's efforts to convince him to take a stand against the First Order during the events of the film *Star Wars: The Last Jedi*, the second installment of the sequel trilogy and the eighth overall installment of the Skywalker Saga.

## Table overview

### The upper half of the table

There is a stone ledge lining the back wall of the table where a figure of the hermit Jedi Luke Skywalker would normally stand, with the entrance to a stone hut at the back left corner of the table, with a campfire also nearby. Jutting out from the opposite corner is a large stone ledge resembling the one Luke sat upon to use his Force Projection power at the cost of his life to distract the First Order and help the Resistance escape. A large orbit wraps around most of the table's major lanes, although it is not a typical two-way orbit. A tension spring gate allows balls to be shot counter-clockwise up the orbit, but not the other way around. Balls shot up the left orbit will hit a flag that spins crosswise, but cannot go through the orbit clockwise and will be diverted by the gate into a bumper area passageway, with the bumpers being smaller replicas of the stone huts on the monastery island. It is also possible to shoot the ball backwards into the bumper area and down the left orbit via a mini-flipper cross shot.

To the right of the rightmost bumper is a spindisk representing a pool of water where Luke used to go spear-fishing. A barrier can also pop up to block it off. To the right of this spindisk is the left entrance of a two-way ramp whose opposite entrnace is the table's rightmost ramp. The rear apex of this ramp distinguishably has a stone texture. The right side of the ramp's left entrance is lined with a mini-flipper used to make a cross-shot left across the bumper lane and back down the left orbit. This flipper also lies between that ramp and a crossramp whose exit is made out of wood and is destined for the middle right inlane. Beside this crossramp, towards the front of the table, is another mini-flipper that can also hit the bumper lane, as well as a short lane in front of it leading to a saucer representing Porgs, birds native to the planet. This saucer can pop the ball to the back of this flipper. A small campfire is near this saucer.

To the right of the left orbit is a tightly-looping ramp that travels around the frontmost bumper en route to the middle-left inlane. Another small campfire is near the bumper. A target for the left kickback is also beside this ramo's entrance. The entrance of the right orbit can also rise to divert the ball to a sub-ramp that also merges with the wooden exit habitrail of the crossramp. The right kickback target is just left of this ramp, positioned between the right orbit and the Porg saucer lane. A figure of a Caretaker stands on the left side of the table, near a larger left mini-flipper used to access the crossramp on the other side of the table. Between the right orbit and the right entrance of the two-way ramp is a thin varitarget shaped into the hilt of Skywalker's lightsaber. There are two sinkholes resembling the hatch of the *Millennium Falcon* near the left kickback target and in front of the looping ramp that can open to lock the ball, but are usually closed.

### The lower half of the table

Just in front of the left mini-flipper is a sinkhole used to change character missions. There is also another figure of a Caretaker on the right side of the table. There are also two more hatch sinkholes. There are also two inaccessible exit poppers, one on each side of the table, that can pop the ball back into play through either of the two centermost return lanes. There are six return lanes with the blue glow of the Skywalker lightsaber's blade, two rebounds and two main flippers. The two outlanes each are guarded by a diverting kickback. Lights for score multipliers also appear near the flipper. A figure of Chewbacca sitting near a campfire with a spit is on the left apron. A figure of Rey may also stand on the opposite apron, which is textured off of a floor in the first Jedi temple established on the island.

### The plunger

The plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism provided by R2-D2 himself, launching the ball up a shaft that travels straight, before making a left turn to diagonally launch the ball into play. The goal of the skill shot is to use the plunger to shoot the ball up to the left mini-flipper and shoot any of three crosslanes: the left end of the two-way ramp, the crossramp or the Porg saucer. A successful skill shot opens up a brief time-limited chance to shoot the left orbit, looping ramp or the spindisk for a super skill shot. The reward of a skill shot is at least 1 million points.

## Objective and missions

The goal of this table is to re-enact the series of events that took place on Luke Skywalker's island monastery on the planet Ahch-To during the events of *Star Wars: The Last Jedi* through three missions, one for each character. The three characters are Luke Skywalker, the Jedi hermit who lives on the island, Rey, the Jedi who seeks to convince him to help the Resistance and Chewbacca, the pilot of the *Millennium Falcon*. There is no start procedure for the missions, and completing a mission will start a mini-wizard mode that's a 2-ball multiball (which can be doubled to a 4-ball one if either of two side multiball modes are activated); once all but one ball is lost and there is still at least one mission to complete, another one will automatically start at random. Before two of the three missions are completed, the player can switch missions by briefly locking the ball into the left sinkhole, then using the flippers and launch buttons to decide on which character's mission to target. Mission progress cannot be lost on ball drains, and once a mission is complete, it cannot be repeated until the wizard mode begins and is unselectable from the left sinkhole. Each character mission is divided into multiple parts, and successfully completing a mission if it's not the last one will start a mini-wizard mode.

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

* **Rey**: A scavenger from the desert planet Jakku who recently discovers that she is strong in the Force during the events of *Star Wars: The Force Awakens*, learns about the Jedi Luke Skywalker, who defeated the Galactic Empire years ago, and embarks on a quest to find him and convince him to help the Resistance fight the First Order.
	+ **Convince Luke**: When Rey presents Luke Skywalker's old lightsaber and hopes that he will consider coming back to fight the First Order, she is shocked to discover that he would not do so. To help Rey convince Luke, the player must shoot a sequence of six randomly lit lanes.
	+ **Meditation**: Luke reluctantly agrees to train Rey in the ways of the Force. The player must quickly shoot one of four flashing lanes that constantly change every few seconds. To make an easy shot, the player must cradle the ball with either main flipper so that Rey can meditate and focus on her target. Then, the target lane will change much slower, giving the player a chance to shoot it easily.
	+ **Training**: Rey must hone her lightsaber skills to be capable of taking on Kylo Ren and the First Order. The player must the shoot the backmost lanes several times, which can be the bumper lane, the left end of the two-way ramp or the crossramp.
	+ **Mini-Wizard Mode**: Completing this mission if it is not the last one will start a 2-ball multiball mode where the player can shoot lit jackpot lanes, although the table will periodically darken due to Rey sensing both light and darkness to make it challenging. This mode will continue until either ball is lost.
* **Luke Skywalker**: A Jedi in exile after his efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order after the evil Galactic Empire was defeated was thwarted after one of his students, Ben Solo fell to the dark side of the Force to become Kylo Ren, warrior of the First Order.
	+ **Change of Heart**: The player must shoot a sequence of five lit lanes, while avoiding the bumper area, to help Luke go through his change of heart to consider Rey's plea for help.
	+ **Memories**: R2-D2 uses his holograms of Luke's past heroics to convince him to join the Resistance. The player must shoot combos with a quick hand to advance.
	+ **Fishing**: One of Luke's typical activities while in exile is to go fishing for sustenance. The player must shoot lit lanes to help him spear a fresh catch.
	+ **Mini-Wizard Mode**: Completing this mission if it is not the last one will start a 2-ball multiball mode where the player can lock one ball into the left sinkhole, the spindisk or the Porg saucer for a time-limited chance to shoot a lit lane for a jackpot. This mode will continue until either ball is lost.
* **Chewbacca**: A fierce Wookiee warrior who helped the Rebellion defeat the Empire and now pilots the famous Rebel ship, the *Millennium Falcon*, after the death of its owner, Han Solo, at the hands of his son, Ben. He brings himself and Rey to Ahch-To.
	+ **Campfire**: Chewbacca needs to light a fire to keep himself warm and to maintain light at night. The player must collect five pieces of firewood across the table.
	+ **Maintenance**: The *Millennium Falcon* is subject to malfunction due to its age. The player helps Chewbacca repair it by hitting bumpers and spinning flags.
	+ **Porg Trouble**: Porgs prove to be a great annoyance for Chewbacca and he thinks they make a tasty meal. The player shoots lit lanes to help him catch one.
	+ **Mini-Wizard Mode**: Completing this mission if it is not the last one will start a 2-ball multiball mode where the player can shoot lit jackpot lanes, with the chance to shoot hatches that briefly open at random for a super jackpot. This mode will continue until either ball is lost.

Completing all three missions successfully immediately triggers the wizard mode, **Ahch-To**, which replaces the mini-wizard mode of the final character mission completed. This is a 3-ball victory multiball where lit lanes can score jackpots, which can be boosted with combos. (*Starting one of the two optional mulitballs just before finishing the final character mission will allow that multiball to overlap with the wizard mode, making it a five or even six-ball victory multiball.*) It will continue until all but one ball is lost.

## Side modes

The following side modes can be started:

* **Caretakers**: The monastery is staffed by an all-female group of aliens called the Caretakers. If the player hits the bumpers enough times, a hurry-up frenzy will start where the player can shoot flashing lanes as many times as possible to earn progressively smaller scores from a dwindling score pool shown on the scoring display, with each shot awarding whatever amount that remained at the time and freezing the score pool's shrinking briefly. The number of bumper hits needed to start this mode and the starting size of the score pool will increase with each instance of this side mode.
* **Lightsaber Trial**: If the player hits the lightsaber varitarget enough times, a side mode will begin where Rey's lightsaber skills will be tested. It is a never-ending cycle between shooting either one of two lanes and shooting a lone lit lane, with many points awarded once the latter action is done successfully. This side mode constantly repeats until the player takes too long to shoot a lit lane.

### Multiball

The following two multiball modes can be activated and will not interfere with completing missions, although both are only freely available while playing through Rey's mission; one or the other will be disabled when playing other characters' missions, as described below:

* **R2-D2 Multiball**: The astromech droid R2-D2 has faithfully served Luke Skywalker and is among those convincing Luke to help the Resistance. If the player is not playing Luke's mission, the player can activate R2-D2 by hitting both kickback targets when they are unlit, which will summon R2-D2 to the spindisk. The player can then charge a ball by shooting him there. With the ball charged, the kickback targets will then function as ball locks. When a ball is locked, the player can start a 2-ball multiball by hitting the same target, or a 3-ball multiball by hitting the other target. Once the multiball begins, lit lanes will award jackpots that become doubled when shot with a charged ball. This mode will continue until all but one ball is lost.
* **Hatchway Multiball**: The *Millennium Falcon* has several hatches where one may enter aboard. If the player executes a 5-way combo while Chewbacca's mission is not active, all hatches on the playfield will open for a limited time. The player can shoot one to lock a ball, and once three balls are locked, a multiball mode will begin where a toy model of the Millenium Falcon will drop the locked balls into play and lit lanes award jackpots that become larger as they are earned. This mode will continue until all but one ball is lost.

## Perks

The following perks can be acquired:

* **Ball Saver**: A 30-second ball saver will activate at the start of each ball. A 15-second ball save is also awarded at the start of any multiball and wizard mode. Once it expires, it cannot be reactivated normally, except as a random Porg award.
* **Barrier Kickbacks**: After a character mission and its mini-wizard mode is finished, the player can strike the now-lit kickback targets to activate kickbacks, with the left target activating the left kickback and vice versa. Kickbacks will persist across balls and can also be awarded as random Porg awards. Hitting both kickback targets when the targets are lit and both kickbacks are available will grant an extra ball. The kickbaks are diverter kickbacks that will pass the ball from the outlane they drained in back into a neighboring inlane to take it back behind the nearer flipper.
* **Lightsaber Score Multiplier**: The lightsaber is considered to be life-essential for Jedi, according to a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi. If the player lights all six lightsaber blade rollovers on the return lanes, whose lit positions cycle on flipper operation, the score multiplier will advance, which can also be accomplished by earning a particular random Porg award. The score multiplier is only good for the current ball unless a multiplier hold is earned from the random Porg awards.
* **Porg Awards**: The island where Luke's monastery is situated is home to Porgs, small bird-like creatures. If the player spins the flags on the table many times, the Porg saucer will be lit for a random award that can be collected once the ball is locked in it. Possible awards include ball saver reactivation, kickback activation, score multiplier advancement, score multiplier hold, extra points or extra ball.
* **Extra Ball**: Extra balls can be earned as a random prize from the Porg awards, charging the ball 10 times when R2-D2 is summoned to the spindisk while Luke's mission is not active, executing a 8-way combo when no multiballs are active, hitting both kickback targets after a mission mini-wizard mode while both kickbacks are already activated and starting a mission mini-wizard mode for the first time. All extra balls must be claimed at the character sinkhole at the left side of the table.

## Tips

* To be successful, you should be familiar with which flipper is best suited to access which lanes, as well as how to access the needed flippers to shoot such lanes. The right mini-flippers are ideal for shooting the bumper lane. The rear right mini-flipper can be accessed by shooting the right entrance of the two-way ramp on the right side of the table (the very rightmost lane), while the front right mini-flipper is accessed by shooting the Porg saucer at any time, even if it's not lit for a reward, as it will pop the ball directly behind the front right mini-flipper. The left mini-flipper is the only flipper that can hit the Porg saucer or the crossramp on the opposite side of the table, or the left entrance of the two-way ramp. Go for the skill shots to help you practice nailing the mini-flipper timing.
* Only shoot the spindisk if it is the only valid target lane in a mission, because it can throw the ball straight down the middle if you're unlucky enough. Be ready to give a corrective nudge if necessary to steer it away from disaster.
* Even though you cannot fail missions and mission progress persists across ball drains, it will always help to take advantage of ball protection mechanisms and extra balls to extend ball survivability and sessions. You can earn them easily at any time by seeking out Porgs - just shoot the orbits many times until the Porg saucer is lit, then hit it with a cross-shot from the left mini-flipper to earn a random prize!

## External links

* Official table trailer
* Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)