Wild Fyre

Wild Fyre games are won more by long ball times than by strategy per se, but your best move is to try to repeatedly build up and collect bonus during each ball.

Bonus is advanced in 2K increments by the three small red rollover buttons above the return lanes, the outer right return lane, the top right and middle right stand-up targets, and the outlanes, which randomly give more than one advance. Bonus multiplier, just 2X, is earned by getting either the three top left drop targets twice or by shooting three arrows, from either top right orbit or mid-right stand-up target shots. Getting the three arrow advances also raises the value of the rollover button in the arrow lane to 10,000. Bonus can be collected at the top right saucer at any time, not just when the base is at maximum like on most games with a collect feature. Bonus resets when collected, but any multiplier stays lit.

The spinner value is irregular: rather than increasing in value due to making specific shots, it goes up from 100 to 1000 solely based on your current base bonus value. It’s only worth 1K when your bonus is 2K, 8K, 14K and 20K, i.e. in 6K increments or three bonus advances. It will pay you to keep watch on your current bonus value; when you’re on one of these magic numbers, switch goals to shoot the spinner while the higher value lasts.

Wild Fyre has a sometimes-cruel drain feature on your final ball. Once you have your double bonus, the game toggles back and forth between 2X and 5X on switch hits. This can actually provide an incentive to deliberately drain\! If you have enough bonus to win with 5X but not enough to win at 2X and have the 5X on at the moment, draining is better than playing on - - provided you can drain without hitting a switch to toggle it back to 2X first. It’s possible for you to outplay your opponent but lose because they drain with 5X lit while you drain with only 2X.

Two items’ desirability depends on how Specials are set. If you get points for Specials, e.g. 100,000, then the top three saucers and the WILDFYRE targets become more valuable. The top saucers are 3K each, but after you get all three on one ball, the center one becomes worth 7K and you get a Special. The WILDFYRE targets score 3K per set the first time and 5K per set thereafter but also lights the inner left return lane for a Special when completed. So if Specials give the points, keep those in mind for your shot selection; if you’re near to finishing either, do so. Getting just WILD will light the extra ball lane (inner right return lane) which may or may not be set to award an extra ball or points.