Charlie's Angels Pinball Guide

Ashley Burke
2 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Back in 1978, times were changing. Van Halen released their debut album, while Gottlieb released Charlie’s Angels, its sixth pinball machine built using solid-state technology and based on the hit television series.

This game is a real gem, with a ruleset that encourages players to use nearly every part of the playfield.

Charlie's is frequently featured in our tournaments and is a great example of game that is easy to learn, but hard to master.

Progress Does Not Carry Over

Like many games from this era, no progress carries over between balls. Your bonus, Bonus X and completed lanes all reset at the end of each ball.

Ball five starts exactly like ball one - every ball is a fresh start.

Bonus Multiplier

Like many games from this era, building your bonus multiplier is the key to scoring big points.

There are two ways to increase your Bonus X:

Knock down all five red drop targets
Complete the top “CHIC” lanes

Once you reach 2X bonus, the game becomes more interesting. One target will light green, and hitting it will advance your Bonus X again. A different target will then light, giving you another chance to increase it.

Bonus X is capped at 5X.

Building Bonus

Your bonus will build naturally throughout the ball, but the best way to increase it is by shooting the five star rollover targets from the left flipper.

Each rollover is lit when its corresponding red drop target has been knocked down.

Your base bonus is capped at 19,000 points. With a 5X multiplier, that becomes a maximum bonus of 95,000 points.