Glossary of Pinball Terms - M

M

Magic post

A risable post between the flipper fingers that completely blocks the middle drain. Sometimes also called Recovery Post.

Magna-save

A feature that allows the player to activate a magnet located just below the entrance to an outlane. A ball headed for the outlane will be held by the magnet and diverted to the corresponding inlane instead. WMS Industries pioneered this feature on the Black Knight game.

Match

The chance to win a free game after the last ball has drained. On most machines the free game is received when the last two digits of the score match a pseudo randomly picked two digit number. The winning chance can be altered by the operator.

Mode

A configuration of the table where specific goals must be met in a limited time to score points, hitting specific lanes or dropping specific targets, sometimes combined with multiball. Some tables have multiple modes that must be activated in order, usually building up to an "ultimate" last mode or the wizard mode where the most points can be scored.

Multiball (multi-ball)

A situation where multiple balls are on the playing field, as opposed to the single ball the player usually has to contend with. Multiball can be part of a mode, as well as a goal in its own right. Generally, multiball consists of two or three balls, but many more have been used on some machines, such as Apollo 13, which uses 13 for multiball.