Stern• 2007• SAM System• 4 players

Wheel of Fortune

Spin the wheel, reveal letters, solve puzzles, build prize banks, and turn MULTIBALL and BONUS spellouts into major scoring. Dennis Nordman's unusual layout plays like part pinball machine, part game show — complete with Pat Sajak callouts and three bobbling contestants.

Game Show Mechanical Wheel Puzzle Solving 3-Ball Multiball Free Spins

Stern Wheel of Fortune 2007 pinball machine

Players

2 flippers · 3 ramps · 3 pop bumpers

Main Multiball

3-ball

Spell MULTIBALL, then shoot the scoop

Production

1,000

Approximate units produced

Estimated value

$4,720–$5,480

Current Pinside estimate snapshot

The game at a glance

Spin the wheel. Reveal letters. Cash the big round.

Wheel of Fortune turns the television show's core ideas into pinball: hit the three contestant targets to guess consonants, use the scoop to buy vowels and solve puzzles, build each contestant's prize bank, spell MULTIBALL for the game's main 3-ball mode, and spell BONUS across the major shots to enter Bonus Wheel modes.

Why it works

It does not play like a conventional Stern. The unusual outlanes, contestant targets, mechanical wheel, center ramp, puzzle logic, and prize banks give it a distinct rhythm that rewards understanding the rules rather than simply looping one safe shot.

Signature personality

The large mechanical wheel physically spins during play, three Stern employees appear as bobblehead contestants, and original speech from Pat Sajak helps make the machine feel like an actual game-show round.

Main objective Keep revealing puzzle letters and collecting prize-bank value while working toward MULTIBALL and BONUS. The best scoring comes from combining those features with the game's temporary 2X and 4X next-shot ramp multipliers.

New player guide

How to play in five steps

Take the Toss-Up skill shot.
Soft-plunge around the Toss-Up loop for a skill-shot award starting at 1M and increasing on later successful attempts. Afterward, the scoop can light for a related hurry-up.

Hit the contestants to reveal letters.
The three center contestant targets guess consonants in the current puzzle. The flashing contestant receives the associated points and prize-bank value, so pay attention to which contestant is active.

Use the scoop for vowels and puzzle solving.
Once enough progress is made, the scoop handles Buy a Vowel and Solve Puzzle. Solving collects the prize bank of the currently flashing contestant.

Spell MULTIBALL.
Hit the nine green MULTIBALL standups spread around the playfield. When the spellout is complete, shoot the scoop to start Wheel of Fortune Multiball.

Use ramp multipliers before the big collect.
A left or right ramp makes the next shot 2X. Combo both ramps and the next shot can be 4X. Use that window on a valuable jackpot, mode shot, or other major collect whenever you can.

Rules & scoring

What actually matters

Full rulesheet ↗

Puzzles & Bonus Wheel

Contestants: hits reveal consonants and add the current wheel value to that contestant's bank.
Flashing contestant: determines which contestant receives letter value and which prize bank is collected when a puzzle is solved.
Vowels: become available at the scoop after sufficient puzzle progress.
Prize banks: can contain points plus items such as Extra Ball, Special, and Trip.
BONUS: spell B-O-N-U-S across the five major shots to light the scoop for one of seven Bonus Wheel modes.
Center ramp: physically spins the Wheel and can change the three contestant values during play.

Multiball & big scoring

Wheel of Fortune Multiball: spell MULTIBALL, then shoot the scoop to start 3-ball play.
Jackpot ladder: collect lit jackpots in sequence — Jackpot, Double Jackpot, Triple Jackpot, then a 5X Super Jackpot.
Trip Multiball: solving a Prize Puzzle or solving with a Trip in the active contestant's bank can start another 3-ball multiball.
Trip jackpots: the four major shots progress through Jackpot, Double, Triple, and 5X Super Jackpot.
Ramp multipliers: either outside ramp makes the next shot 2X; a successful two-ramp combo can make it 4X.
Free Spin: the unusual outlane rollovers can relaunch a drained ball if a lit Free Spin lane is hit.

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Important software note Official software ended at V5.00 and contains known unfinished features and bugs. An unofficial 6.02 tournament ROM also exists. Exact behavior can therefore differ depending on which software your machine is running.

Competitive play

Tournament tips

Build repeatable value

Work MULTIBALL deliberately. The standups are everywhere, so controlled progress adds up quickly without abandoning safer shots.
Use a 2X or 4X setup before a major collect. The ramp multiplier is one of the cleanest ways to turn an ordinary jackpot into serious points.
Spell BONUS when convenient. Starting a Bonus Wheel mode before Multiball lets the mode run alongside the Multiball.

Know the weird parts

Free Spin outlanes reward nudging. A drain can still be saved if the ball reaches a lit Free Spin lane.
Right-ramp drops matter. They control Free Spin, Big Money, and Wild Card qualification.
Trip Multiball can be software-sensitive. Official V5.00 has a known jackpot-value reset bug, so tournament setup matters.
Do not assume the Wizard Bonus exists. Four rounds are shown as progression on the playfield, but the intended wizard feature was never implemented in official software.

★

Simple tournament plan Build MULTIBALL while revealing puzzle letters, take a useful puzzle/Trip opportunity when it appears, then use the outside ramps to create a 2X or 4X next-shot multiplier immediately before your most valuable jackpot or mode collect.

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