Table Article Guide

This FANDOM wiki attempts to describe each pinball table that Zen Studios has developed in a very comprehensive and detailed manner. It may be helpful to understand the structure of each table's dedicated article on this wiki.

## Quote and Infobox

Every table article is headed off with a voice quote from the table in question that is believed to best capture its theme. Below it is a brief overview of the table, which describes which games it is available on, what theme it belongs to, what work of fiction it is based on (if applicable) and a single-sentence description of the table's premise.

Besides this overview paragraph is an infobox that provides fast facts on the table. It lists the following information, from top to bottom:

* The **title** of the table
* A **screenshot** of the table in action, usually a landscape view of the table that crops out the score display.
* **Date available**: The date when the table was first available.
* **Category**: Which theme or category the table belongs to, which will contain a link back to the said category.
* **Based on**: If the table's theme is not original, this will show what work of fiction the table is based on. *(Note: For a number of Zen Originals tables that involve characters, this would mainly be "Characters created by Zen Studios".)*
* **Designed by**: The layout designer for the table. If the designer has a Wikipedia article (for Williams tables only), the article will be linked to here.
* **Plunger Mechanism**: Briefly describes the type of plunger mechanism utilized by the table to launch balls into play.
* **Number of Flippers**: Indicates the number of flippers present on the table, including any that are used in a mini-playfield.
* **Number of Return Lanes**: Indicates the number of return lanes present at the bottom of the table.
* **Skill Shot Type**: Indicates the type of skill shot that must be completed to earn a score bonus, based on the implemented plunger mechanism.
* **Outlane protection**: Describes what outlane protection mechanisms exist for the table.
* **Number of Main Missions**: Counts the number of mandatory missions that must be completed to reach the wizard mode.
* **Wizard Mode Type**: Describes the type of mission the wizard mode is.
* **Number of Side Modes**: Counts the number of optional side modes that can be completed for bonus points, but will typically not award perks.
* **Number of Multiballs**: Indicates the number of multiball modes available, excluding any from the table's Wizard Mode(s). Most multiballs are side modes, but if a traditional multiball that involves locking and launching balls is part of a mandatory mission, a separate count of mandatory multiballs is also included if there is a mix of mandatory and optional multiballs.

## Table overview

Following the quote, intro and infobox, there will be a section that describes the architecture and design of the table with great detail, but it will typically divided into two sections: the upper half of the table and the lower half of the table. Descriptions of the mini-playfields will also be part of these descriptions, but if they have more details that make them stand out, they will be described in a separate sub-section. This section then ends with a description of the table's plunger mechanism and explains how to perform a skillshot.

## Objective and missions

After the table is described, this next section explains the goal of the table, how to start main missions and rules for working on the main missions, particularly whether you need to start up, attempt or successfully beat missions to reach the wizard mode along with whether draining the ball will skip or cancel missions. Then, it will list all the missions in detail, the lore behind each mission and how to complete each mission. A description of the wizard mode, its lore connections, how it is played and its rules will then follow the list of missions.

If there are additional mechanics that are integral to completing the mission (such as combat against enemies for a *Bethesda Pinball* table), they will be explained separately in an extra subsection that follows the mission list.

## Side modes

After the main modes are described, this section describes all the optional side modes that can be completed for extra points. Side modes are defined to be challenges that do not count as progress towards the wizard mode. The article assumes that side modes can be activated at any time, but if that is not the case, conditions for activating side modes will be mentioned here in brief. Then, the table's available side modes are described, including their lore connections, requirements for starting up the side mode and how to complete the side mode.

After the side modes are listed, a subsection about possible multiballs that can be activated on the table will follow, adopting the same structure as the side modes section above.

## Perks

The perks section lists all the possible perks or helpful table aids that the player can earn while playing on the table that can award more points without a challenge or activate helpful mechanics to extend ball survivability (like kickbacks).

## Tips

The article ends with three overall tips for the table that are geared towards players who are aiming to reach and beat the wizard mode, or trying to get a high score on the leaderboards. Unlike much of the article, they are written in second person and addressed to the reader.

## References & Easter Eggs

This section details references to other pinball machines, including layout and toy similarities for the Zen releases and explicit references for the Williams releases, and Easter Eggs like cow appearances and flipper combinations for the Williams tables.

## External links

The external links section will provide a link to related online resources about the table, such as a PDF table guide written by ShoryukenToTheChin. If the table has a dedicated trailer, a link to it will be shown here.