American Pinball• 2020• P3-ROC• 4 players

Hot Wheels

Race to first place, build tracks, collect cars, defeat creatures, and push the tachometer into Redline Mania. Hot Wheels mixes fast ramps and loops with several different multiball routes, making it easy to understand at first and surprisingly deep once you start stacking features.

Racing Hot Wheels Cars Track Building 6 Multiballs Redline Mania

American Pinball Hot Wheels 2020 pinball machine

Players

2 flippers · 2 ramps

Multiball

6 modes

Track · Victory Lap · Loop Crash & more

Designer

Joe Balcer

Rules/code by Joe Schober & Josh Kugler

Estimated value

$4,620–$5,380

Current Pinside estimate snapshot

The game at a glance

Race. Build tracks. Collect cars. Become a Legend.

Hot Wheels gives you several parallel paths to score. Racing advances you from the back of the field toward Victory Lap Multiball. Track-building leads to Track Multiball. Loop shots lead toward Loop Crash Multiball. Car collecting opens special awards and modes, while tachometer progress eventually starts the frantic four-ball Redline Mania.

Why it works

The machine gives beginners something useful almost everywhere they shoot, but stronger players can deliberately combine racing, track building, car collecting, creature battles, EPIC features, and multiballs for much larger scores.

Signature personality

Fast orange-track styling, a high-speed loop, physical toy-car targets, racing music that intensifies as your position improves, and constant “Challenge Accepted!” energy make the machine feel much more like a toy-box race than a traditional licensed pin.

Main objective For a new player, Track Multiball is the easiest major goal. As you improve, work the race positions toward Victory Lap Multiball, build the tachometer toward Redline Mania, and collect the five Hero Cars on the road to becoming a Hot Wheels Legend.

New player guide

How to play in five steps

Build a track first.
Track-building is one of the quickest ways into a major feature. Complete the required track-building shots and finish the track to start Track Multiball. The first one can be reached with only a handful of successful shots.

Advance your race position.
Four main race shots move you from the back of the pack toward first place. Their values increase as you continue making them, and reaching first place starts Victory Lap Multiball.

Make loops for Loop Crash Multiball.
Repeated loop shots qualify Loop Crash Multiball. Its signature Super Jackpot uses the magnet to hold a ball briefly so you can crash another ball into it.

Collect cars and fight creatures.
Flashing car targets award cars and special case awards such as Car Chaos. Creature Battles and EPIC features can run alongside multiballs, making feature stacking especially valuable.

Push the tachometer into Redline Mania.
Build RPM / tachometer progress until Redline Mania is ready. It is a timed 4-ball multiball with unlimited ball save during the timer. Complete all lit mode shots before time expires to shift into a higher gear and improve future tach scoring.

Rules & scoring

What actually matters

Game manual ↗

Multiballs & racing

Track Multiball: build increasingly complex tracks; completing the active track starts Multiball.
Victory Lap Multiball: advance from 13th position to 1st through the four main race shots.
Victory Lap scoring: the four race shots increase in value as you hit them and build the Super Jackpot.
Super Jackpot multiplier: based on how deeply you have advanced all four main race shots.
Loop Crash Multiball: qualify it with repeated loop shots, then physically crash a moving ball into the magnet-held ball for the Super Jackpot.
Stacking: Loop Crash and Victory Lap can be stacked when started together, and multiballs can overlap Creature Battles and EPIC features.

Cars, creatures & Redline

Car collecting: flashing car targets award cars and feed special case awards and modes.
Car Chaos: collect loop and ramp Jackpots, then cash the Super Jackpot at the high-speed kicker.
Hero Cars: collect all five Hero Cars as part of the progression toward becoming a Hot Wheels Legend.
Creature Battles: battle Draven and the creatures of Hot Wheels City; these can overlap other major features.
EPIC features: EPIC Ramps, EPIC Loops, EPIC Cars, and EPIC Pops create additional scoring layers.
Redline Mania: a timed 4-ball multiball with unlimited ball save; complete all lit shots before time expires to shift gears and increase tach scoring for the rest of the game.

→

Victory Lap Super Jackpot is built, not merely lit The four main race shots both score and improve the eventual Super Jackpot. Balanced progress across all four shots raises its multiplier, so repeatedly pounding only one race shot leaves value on the table.

Competitive play

Tournament tips

Take the easy multiball first

Track Multiball is the accessible opener. The first track requires relatively little work compared with the deeper race objectives.
Use it as protection. Creature Battles and EPIC features can overlap multiball, so time dangerous progress while multiple balls are active.
Do not ignore loop progress. Loop Crash becomes another valuable multiball route as the game develops.

Build before you cash

Victory Lap rewards balanced race progress. Improve all four major shots to build a stronger Super Jackpot multiplier.
Delay the Super if control allows. In Victory Lap, continuing to build the Super Jackpot before collecting it can create the biggest scoring swing.
Redline Mania is unusually safe. The timed 4-ball mode carries unlimited ball save during the timer, so attack the required lit shots aggressively.
Stack when it is intentional. A well-timed multiball plus Creature Battle or EPIC feature can be much stronger than starting either alone.

★

Simple tournament plan Get Track Multiball running early, use the extra balls to advance other objectives, keep working race position and loop progress, then turn a later Victory Lap or Redline Mania into your high-value scoring window.

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