Bram Stoker's Dracula Pinball: The Art of the Stack

Stacking modes and multiballs is a staple of modern pinball, but few games capture the art of stacking quite like Williams' Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Released in 1993 and programmed by Bill Pfutzenreuter (PFUTZ), Dracula takes a very different approach to rules design. Rather than offering a collection of traditional modes like The Addams Family or Indiana Jones, the game revolves around three unique multiballs. Each can be progressed and started independently, even while another multiball is already running.

The number of active multiballs determines your playfield multiplier, making the ultimate challenge not simply starting multiballs, but stacking them together.

Castle Multiball

Castle Multiball is the most demanding of the three and requires both precise shooting and quick reactions.

The goal is to lock three balls up the left Castle Ramp. To light a lock, you must complete either target bank by hitting the left and right yellow targets before the centre red target. Doing so lights a lock for 13 seconds.

With a lock lit, a shot up the Castle Ramp will capture a ball. If the timer expires before you make the shot, you'll need to relight the lock and try again. Locking three balls starts Castle Multiball.

Once multiball begins, shooting the Castle Ramp locks a ball and builds the jackpot value, but the jackpot must be collected before the timer expires or the locked balls are released.

If three or more balls are in play, a second castle lock can be made to double the jackpot and reset the timer. The left ramp relights the jackpot, while the upper-left tunnel collects it.

Coffin Multiball

Coffin Multiball is the simplest of the three multiballs to qualify.

The objective is simple: lock three balls in Dracula's coffin. Repeated shots to the Coffin Ramp on the right side of the playfield advance progress towards a lock. After five successful ramp shots, the coffin opens and locks are lit.

Lock three balls and Coffin Multiball begins.

During the multiball, shots to the Coffin Ramp award letters in the word DRACULA. Completing the word collects the jackpot, and any letters earned carry over between multiballs. This means progress can be built gradually throughout the game, making Coffin Multiball an ideal companion to the game's larger stacking strategies.

Mist Multiball

Mist Multiball is the game's signature feature and one of the coolest mechs in pinball history.

To qualify it, players must shoot the Castle Ramp five times and then make the upper-left tunnel shot. This releases the famous mist ball, which slowly glides across the playfield on a magnet below the game.

The challenge is to knock the mist ball off its path using your active ball. Only then does Mist Multiball officially begin. It sounds straightforward, but your ball can become trapped by the magnets, or even take the mist ball's place on the track, forcing you to watch helplessly as the opportunity slips away.

If the mist ball reaches the end of its journey untouched, the multiball is cancelled and more Castle Ramp shots are required to relight it. To prevent players from missing out entirely, Mist Multiball is automatically lit on ball three if it has not yet been started.

Once underway, all shots are worth 10 million points.

The Stack

What makes Bram Stoker's Dracula such an enduring classic is the challenge of running all three multiballs simultaneously.

Progress towards each multiball can always be made, regardless of whether you're playing single-ball or multiball. Nothing prevents you from qualifying one multiball while another is already active.

Starting a second multiball adds additional balls into play (up to a maximum of four), grants a brief ball save, and doubles all scoring. Starting the third multiball does the same again, increasing scoring to triple value.

This creates one of the most satisfying strategic challenges in pinball. Skilled players will often attempt to qualify all three multiballs before starting any of them, then carefully trigger each one in succession to create the legendary Drac Stack.

Take the Challenge

Bram Stoker's Dracula is now on the floor at Ye Olde Pinball Shoppe.

Next time you're in, see if you can conquer the challenge and start the Drac Stack.