(Thanks Jersey Jack for the flow chart)
Don’t let the flow chart fool you. There is really only one main goal in Dialed In. Get SIM cards!
Each SIM card is worth 100K, which is huge points compared to almost anything in the game. But more importantly, every SIM card you have is a multiplier for all modes you play during the rest of the game. When the mode expires or your ball drains, the total points you earned for the mode is multiplied by the number of SIM cards you have. You can collect up to eight SIM cards, and a completed mode with seven or eight SIM cards can be worth up to 1 million points!
To get SIM cards you need to complete modes. When you finish all the shots needed for a mode, the SIM card will be lit at the scoop between the light Big Bang target and the side ramp. You must collect the SIM card on the same ball that you completed the mode. It disappears when your ball drains.
So how do you start a mode? The different Disaster Modes are the orange part of the flow chart. You have to hit the QED guy (the electrician looking guy) enough times to light the cell phone border green. When the cell phone is green, the scoop below it will start a mode. At the beginning of the game, you need to hit QED once to light your mode, but this increases the more modes you have played.
So how do you complete a mode? You complete a mode by making the required number of shots in the given amount of time. The cell phone will show how many shots you need and how much time you have left. The main screen will tell you what you have to hit, and the shots will be lit on the playfield. After making a lit shot, hitting the mode start scoop will add a little time. Complete the mode in the time allotted and you light your SIM card!
That seems really hard. Is there an easy way to complete a mode? Yes! You can use a Big Bang (light blue on the flow chart). During a mode, hitting a lit Big Bang target will automatically complete the mode and light the SIM card! The Big Bang target is tucked underneath the ramps just to the left of the theatre and above the SIM card scoop. Only aim for a lit Big Bang target when you have a mode running. The other options on the flow chart aren’t worth it.
How do I light Big Bang? The light Big Bang target is across from the upper flipper and changes color based on how far you are from completing it. When you have hit it enough times, the Big Bang target will be lit (and the light Big Bang target light will go out).
Other stuff that matters:
Extra ball lit (orange BOB left orbit light) after 3 modes have been played
Completing the B-O-B targets on the lower left relights your kickback and lights the left orbit for the Crazy Bobs awards (purple on the flow chart). A yellow BOB light means a crazy mode or bonus multiplier, orange is extra ball, and red is a random multiball.
Under Attack multiball (red on flow chart) is fun to play when it happens, but isn’t worth huge points.
Playing modes advances you towards the three wizard modes (orangy red in the flow chart).
Strategy:
Every shot from the upper flipper is either at a lit SIM card or at the light Big Bang target. Only if neither are lit will I go for the side ramp or a quick flip at lit mode start.
You can choose your modes! The phone shows what mode will start when the scoop is made. With the ball cradled, use the other flipper button to move the selected mode one past the mode you want to play. Then with a single flip (that moves it to the one you want) hit the mode start. The mode start can be backhanded from the right flipper
Learn which modes you are comfortable completing (and their symbols) and which are hard for you. When Big Bang is lit, start modes that are hard for you. When Big Bang is not lit, start modes that are easy for you (for me Meteor Storm, Flash Fires, and EMP with a kind theatre magnet).
The SIM card shot is tough and super important. I use multiballs not for points, but for hopeful random SIM card collects. When the theatre is not lit, a theatre shot will feed to the upper flipper for a direct shot at the SIM card. Indirect shots off the left meteor standup (just to the left of the theatre) and off the Big Bang target (if a ruber is not on a post between them) are possible.
The Big Bang shot is very narrow when QED is at rest on the left. You may have to move him out of the way to make the shot.
My plunge choices: If Big Bang is not lit, short plunge trying to get the skill shot that then feeds the upper flipper for a shot at the light Big Bang target. If Big Bang is already lit but my mode start is not, full plunge to the right flipper and directly hit QED while ball save is on. If both are already lit, I full plunge to the right flipper, hit the left ramp, then go for mode start from the left flipper.
