FunHouse (pinball)

FunHouse is a pinball machine designed by Pat Lawlor and released in November 1990 by Williams Electronics. Starring a talking ventriloquist dummy named Rudy, the game is themed after the concept of an amusement park funhouse. FunHouse is one of the last Williams games to use an alphanumeric display; the company switched to dot matrix the following year.

Description


FunHouse's primary feature is the talking head of a ventriloquist dummy, named Rudy, located in the top right corner of the playfield. Rudy responds to events in the game, including informing the player of special bonuses, taunting and heckling the player, and appearing to follow the ball with its eyes when certain targets are hit. Rudy is voiced by Ed Boon, and the technology behind Rudy's facial movements was dubbed "Pin-Mation" by Williams.

Gameplay
The game's overall theme is that of a funhouse, with the player taking on the role of a visitor to see its attractions. The overall goal of the game is to advance the "game time" to midnight and cause the FunHouse to close, allowing the player to start multiball mode. A secondary goal of the game is to complete the "Mystery Mirror" by lighting all of its modes, starting "Super Frenzy" mode. The game is over when the player has lost all balls, including any extra balls earned.

Every target and ramp has a name and function following the funhouse theme. Aside from Rudy himself, the game's main feature is a virtual clock in the center of the playfield, which advances by various increments with each successful shot or target hit. When the clock reaches 11:30, it stops advancing and the game announces that the FunHouse will close in 30 minutes. Making a successful shot to the "Hidden Hallway" locks the current ball and advances the clock to 11:45. Making this shot again locks the second ball, advances the clock to midnight, and causes Rudy to fall asleep with his mouth open. The player must then shoot a ball into Rudy's mouth to start multiball. While at least two balls are in play, the player can score a Jackpot by shooting the Trap Door next to Rudy while it is open. When multiball mode ends, the time resets to an earlier "opening" time, and single-ball mode continues as before.

As with most pinball machines, once a player has earned a total of five extra balls, each subsequent one awards a score bonus instead.

Legacy
The 1993 Williams pinball table Twilight Zone includes music and quotes from the game as part of its "Fast Lock" mode, and a different quote as a hidden surprise in its "Clock Chaos" mode.

The 1994 Williams pinball table Red & Ted's Road Show includes two animating heads which work similarly to Rudy.

FunHouse was available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade until June 30th 2018 when the license with WMS expired. The table is also included in Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection and the arcade game UltraPin. With the license for digital recreations of WMS Industries tables being passed to Zen Studios, the company announced in 2020 that FunHouse will be among a forthcoming sixth wave of tables to be included in its own curation of Williams pinball tables as downloadable content for Pinball FX 3.