# Episode 7 - Mystic Lines

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2015-03-18  
**Duration:** 10m 30s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-7-mystic-lines

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## Analysis

Nicholas Backbone discusses the mechanics, features, and technical specifications of 20-hole bingo pinball machines, particularly Mystic Line games. He focuses on his own machine, Double Up, explaining the unique scoring system involving colored sections, the wagering mechanic that allows double or quadruple odds, and technical innovations like the secondary coin box for quarter acceptance. The episode covers the evolution from Magic Ring and Big Wheel (circular layouts) to standard Mystic Line configurations, and explores maintenance challenges specific to these machines.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Double Up and Hawaii forced Bally to move to four-digit replay meters due to potential winnings of up to 2,400 replays from a single game with stacked odds and double-double scoring — _Nicholas Backbone speculation about Bally's decision-making_
- [HIGH] Mystic Lines replaced Magic Screens and work by swapping columns of numbers rather than rotating the entire layout — _Nicholas Backbone describing technical mechanics of Mystic Line feature_
- [HIGH] Magic Ring and Big Wheel used circular playfield layouts requiring consecutive numbers in a ring pattern to win, unlike later Mystic Line games — _Nicholas Backbone describing early exception machines_
- [HIGH] In Double Up with wagering enabled, landing in the wagered color provides double replays while landing in other colors provides half the normal replays — _Nicholas Backbone explaining Double Up mechanics_
- [HIGH] Some 20-hole Mystic Line games did not include the extra ball feature, unlike Magic Screen games which standardized it — _Nicholas Backbone noting Magic Ring lacked extra balls while Double Up had them_
- [HIGH] Bally changed the OK/red letter game to be tied to red odds instead of green odds for more logical design — _Nicholas Backbone describing Bally's design decision_
- [HIGH] Double Up's cabinet contains multiple steppers controlling scoring features, secondary coin boxes with diverters for quarter revenue-sharing, and densely packed mechanical components — _Nicholas Backbone describing technical cabinet contents_
- [HIGH] The Comeback Key feature allows bar owners to restore replays for patrons, but requires exact lock cam pressure or the machine tilts or malfunctions — _Nicholas Backbone describing Comeback Key operation and maintenance concerns_

### Notable Quotes

> "So, say, for example, I have the blue section, and I land all of my balls in the blue section except for two. Now, one of my balls in the blue section happens to be in the star zone, and the other two land in the green section. Well, I can't collect my blue replays because that star zone counts for nothing."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, ~6:30
> _Clear explanation of the star zone mechanic that makes 20-hole Mystic Line scoring counterintuitive and challenging_

> "It's rumored that these games, Double Up and Hawaii, which is its sister game, forced Bally to move to four-digit replay meters, because if you have your odds stacked all the way up to 600 and you have double-double set, you can win up to 2,400 replays off of a single game."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, ~10:45
> _Speculation about industry-wide mechanical evolution driven by specific game design_

> "But what's a wager without a little risk? So the risk is that in every other colored section, you'll only receive one half of what you normally receive."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, ~8:00
> _Summarizes the risk-reward mechanic of Double Up's wagering system_

> "The trouble with the 20-hole Mystic Line games is that that fifth hole, the star hole, is only usable if you get the other four in that particular section."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, ~5:30
> _Core constraint defining 20-hole Mystic Line difficulty and strategy_

> "So, if I rack up 2,400 replays, the bar owner's probably not going to be super happy with me leaving with all that."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, ~18:30
> _Illustrates operator economics and the motivation behind the Comeback Key feature_

> "When they started accepting quarters, they also started doing a special revenue-sharing feature where there's a diverter installed right underneath the coin mechanism."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, ~16:00
> _Details technical innovation supporting split-revenue business models in bingo bars_

> "You have to be fairly diligent about cleaning them because they tend to get dirty again."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, ~20:30
> _Describes ongoing maintenance burden for relay-heavy Mystic Line machines_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nicholas Backbone | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast, owner of Double Up machine, expert on bingo pinball mechanics |
| Bally | company | Historical pinball manufacturer that produced Mystic Line games, Magic Ring, Big Wheel, Double Up, Hawaii, and implemented technical innovations like four-digit replay meters and revenue-sharing coin mechanisms |
| Double Up | game | 20-hole Mystic Line bingo game with wagering mechanic and double/quadruple odds scoring, owned by Nicholas Backbone |
| Hawaii | game | Sister game to Double Up, also a 20-hole Mystic Line game with similar technical specifications |
| Magic Ring | game | Early exception Mystic Line game with circular playfield layout requiring consecutive ring-pattern numbers to win, lacked extra ball feature |
| Big Wheel | game | Sister game to Magic Ring with circular playfield layout and ring-pattern scoring requirement |
| Magic Screen | product | Earlier bingo game feature that Mystic Lines replaced; featured rotating numbers and changing scoring characteristics on backbox |
| Mystic Lines | product | Bingo game feature that swaps columns of numbers; replaces Magic Screens with different scoring mechanics |
| Comeback Key | product | Bally feature allowing bar owners to restore replays for patrons; requires exact lock cam pressure or causes tilt/malfunction |
| For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast hosted by Nicholas Backbone |

### Topics

- **Primary:** 20-hole Mystic Line game mechanics and scoring, Double Up machine features and wagering system, Bingo pinball technical innovations and mechanical design
- **Secondary:** Operator and bar owner economics in bingo machines, Machine maintenance and restoration challenges, Evolution from Magic Screens to Mystic Lines, Quarter acceptance and revenue-sharing mechanisms
- **Mentioned:** Bingo game cabinet complexity and component density

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.75) — Nicholas Backbone speaks with clear enthusiasm and appreciation for the engineering sophistication of Mystic Line machines. Tone is educational and celebratory of design innovation, though he acknowledges operational challenges (maintenance burden, tilt risk with Comeback Key). No negativity toward manufacturers or games.

### Signals

- **[design_innovation]** Mystic Line column-swapping mechanism as evolution from Magic Screen rotating numbers (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone explains: 'Mystic Lines did it a different way. So instead of rotating numbers or actually changing the scoring characteristics on the backbox, what it does is swap columns of numbers.'
- **[design_innovation]** Double Up's colored section wagering system allowing double or half odds based on landing zone prediction (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone details: 'So, if you have a particular feature lit, it will allow you to wager that you're going to land in that color. And if you do, you'll receive double the normal amount of replays'
- **[product_strategy]** Quarter acceptance with secondary coin box diverter enabling bar owner revenue-sharing without operator intermediation (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone describes: 'When the coil is not powered, it allows a special little chute to appear. And the chute funnels that quarter into a separate secondary coin box. That coin box can be collected by the bar owner.'
- **[design_innovation]** Four-digit replay meters introduced (allegedly) by Bally to handle potential 2,400+ replay wins from Double Up's stacked odds mechanics (confidence: medium) — Nicholas Backbone speculates: 'It's rumored that these games, Double Up and Hawaii, which is its sister game, forced Bally to move to four-digit replay meters, because if you have your odds stacked all the way up to 600 and you have double-double set, you can win up to 2,400 replays'
- **[operational_signal]** Double Up cabinets require frequent relay cleaning due to dirt accumulation from shutter mechanism and densely packed components (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone notes: 'You have to be fairly diligent about cleaning them because they tend to get dirty again... all the balls drop rather violently onto a special diverter that's made out of fiberboard as well. And that shakes crud loose.'
- **[operational_signal]** Comeback Key feature prone to malfunction if lock cam pressure is not exactly calibrated, risking tilt and machine failure (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone explains: 'The problem with this is that the lock cam pressure has to be exact, or the game throws itself into tilt, it won't reset, it'll do all kinds of odd things when you try to start it.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Star zones in 20-hole Mystic Line games create strategic depth by requiring completion of four non-star numbers before the fifth can be utilized (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone explains the design: 'The trouble with the 20-hole Mystic Line games is that that fifth hole, the star hole, is only usable if you get the other four in that particular section.'
- **[historical_signal]** Magic Ring and Big Wheel represented experimental circular playfield layout that was abandoned in favor of standard colored-section Mystic Line design (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone states: 'They only did that for these two games, and then they switched to kind of the standard mode. Now, they had experimented with this with a couple of games before Big Wheel and Magic Ring, but they completely dropped the ring idea after those two.'
- **[product_concern]** Nicholas Backbone's Double Up arrived missing the secondary coin box chute during initial purchase (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone mentions: 'When I first bought my game, it was missing the coin box for the secondary chute, and the secondary chute didn't work at all. I was able to repair it'
- **[restoration_signal]** Secondary coin box chute is repairable and can be restored to working condition by owner (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone notes: 'I was able to repair it, and I find that pretty amusing today because I can take out the quarters from the side, and it's like a special hidden area that no one would really know about or think to look for.'

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## Transcript

 what's that sound it's for amusement only the em and bingo pinball podcast welcome back to for amusement only this is Nicholas Baldridge i wanted to talk today about 20 hole bingos also known as mystic lines bingos there were a few exceptions especially in the beginning there were two machines that were made that were sister machines one was called magic ring and the other was called Big Wheel. Now what made these interesting is instead of having a typical bingo card layout, they had all the numbers laid out in a circle. And depending on the features lit, you could rotate the sections that each of the numbers appeared in. Now the difficulty with this machine is that you had to get all the numbers beside each other. So it's like almost a reversion back to single line scoring, where you had to have everything in a row, and that was the only way to win. Except that This was oriented in a circle, and so it's just different. They only did that for these two games, and then they switched to kind of the standard mode. Now, they had experimented with this with a couple of games before Big Wheel and Magic Ring, but they completely dropped the ring idea after those two. So a typical 20-hole Mystic Line game is characterized by the colored sections. They did away with inline scoring where you have a typical bingo card layout of 25 numbers that are oriented in horizontal, vertical, and diagonal scoring potentials, and switched to this colored sections setup where there are four numbers in each colored section, and then a fifth number that is characterized by a colored star in a white section. There are only five opportunities to land in a particular section. And the trouble with the 20-hole Mystic Lion games is that that fifth hole, the star hole, is only usable if you get the other four in that particular section. So say, for example, I have the blue section, and I land all of my balls in the blue section except for two. Now, one of my balls in the blue section happens to be in the star zone, and the other two land in the green section. Well, I can't collect my blue replays because that star zone counts for nothing. Now, if I had landed all five of my balls in the blue section, then I would have scored as if there were five. That's the only way to score five on these Mystic Line games. Now, the machine that I own in particular is called Double Up, and what makes that interesting is the ability to wager where you going to land and increase your replays accordingly So if you have a particular feature lit it will allow you to wager that you going to land in that color And if you do, you'll receive double the normal amount of replays, the stated amount of replays that are shown in the odds section on the back last. But what's a wager without a little risk? So the risk is that in every other colored section, you'll only receive one half of what you normally receive. So for example, if the normal three in the colored section score gives you four replays and I set red to be double, then I'll receive eight replays if I land in the red. But if I land three in the blue instead or three in the green or three in the yellow, then I'll only receive two replays. And that's kind of disheartening when that happens. Although the machine makes a nice extra bit of noise when you get half a replay. Well, it's not really half a replay, but you only get half of the normal amount of replay. So on Double Up in particular, you can also randomly be awarded double odds in a particular color. And that's pretty neat because if you get the score changing feature, you can set that particular score where you have double already lit to be double double or quadruple. Instead of receiving four, you receive 16. Pretty neat. Now, it's rumored that these games, Double Up and Hawaii, which is its sister game, forced Bally to move to four digit replay meters. because if you have your odds stacked all the way up to 600 and you have double-double set, you can win up to 2,400 replays off of a single game. That's 2,400 nickels. Pretty cool. So what makes a mystic line, anyway? Mystic lines are the feature that replaced magic screens. Magic screens were very popular because you could change the normal layout, same way that you could change the normal layout with magic squares or magic curtains, which I haven't discussed before. Well, Mystic Lions did it a different way. So instead of rotating numbers or actually changing the scoring characteristics on the backbox, what it does is swap columns of numbers. There are five columns of numbers, and it will take two columns and swap them on the left. The middle one moves up and down, and the one on the far right swaps with its neighbor. You end up being able to move all the numbers, but you can only move them in limited ways. Again, you've got the familiar time tree, so the game will lock you out either before 4th, after 4th, or after 5th. And yet again, the most desirable is after 5th. At this point, extra balls had been a staple of the Magic screen games for some time, but these Mystic Line games, not all of them had the extra ball feature. For example the Magic Ring that I mentioned earlier Double Up by the time that came out also had the extra balls So if you think about your odds normally of winning you got essentially eight chances to land in 25 holes and some portion of those are going to be actually winners. On a 20-hole game, you have eight chances in 20, so right off the bat, your odds are better, but you have to discount four of those because they're in the star zones, and you don't even care about those unless you have the other four non-star zone numbers in that color lit. Additionally, at this time, Bally switched the way that the OK game worked. Previously, your OK game, also known as the red letter game, was tied to the green odds. Bally ended up renaming the unit that controls it the stepper and changed the game so that it's tied to the red odds instead. This makes more logical sense. Beyond Double Up, Bally started experimenting with different ways to double your odds. you could wager by pushing a white button similar to Bounty, but instead of for a skill shot, it would wager to score triple the normal amount of odds. At this point, some operators were switching their nickel bingos to take quarters, and it would give you automatically one play when you deposited your quarter and increase the replay counter up to four. So then you had four additional button presses before you had to put in more money. As far as I can tell, and especially on mine, they came from the factory accepting quarters. Now, for our technical segment, I want to take a little diversion here into the land of 20-hole bingos and talk about how they differ from the earlier Magic Screen games as far as what's contained in the cabinet. So I mentioned earlier that the cabinet is pretty empty. You've got the trough, you've got Shooter Rod, you've got a couple other things like meters and Coin Box, but that's pretty much it. Inside the cabinet of Double Up specifically, and most Magic Screen games, there are additional steppers. These steppers control things such as the changing odds features that allow for double or double-double scoring. That's through the use of a continuous stepper, so there's one exception to the continuous stepper rule. Another continuous stepper would be the coin unit, which they didn't really need before. When they started accepting quarters, they also started doing a special revenue sharing feature where there's a diverter installed right underneath the coin mechanism. And when a coil is powered, it will drop the quarter into the coin box as normal for the operator. And when the coil is not powered, it allows a special little chute to appear. And the chute funnels that quarter into a separate secondary coin box That coin box can be collected by the bar owner So the bar owner gets to take their earnings directly without having to wait for the operator and with that perhaps they can pay off or they just hold on to it as their share of the earnings. So that's a pretty fascinating little feature, and when I first bought my game, it was missing the coin box for the secondary chute, and the secondary chute didn't work at all. I was able to repair it, and I find that pretty amusing today because I can take out the quarters from the side, and it's like a special hidden area that no one would really know about or think to look for. Beyond that, Bally introduced a feature called Comeback Key, and the Comeback Key is a feature that's used by the bar owner where they can put replays back on the machine after a patron has left. So if I rack up 2,400 replays, bar owner's probably not going to be super happy with me leaving with all that money. So instead, maybe they would say, hey, come back next time, see what you can do, I'll put your replays back on the game, and then you start where you left off. So they had a special key, and when you take the key and turn it, it would start racking up replays on the meter. Now the problem with this is that the lock cam pressure has to be exact, or the game throws itself into tilt, it won't reset, it'll do all kinds of odd things when you try to start it. It may also affect the extra ball feature. On Double Up in Hawaii, the cabinet is pretty much jam-packed full of stuff. So the head is jam-packed full of stuff and the cabinet. So the whole thing is pretty heavy. And there's a lot of potential for dirt and wax and all kinds of junk to fall into all the relays that are stored under there. Those relays on Double Up in particular control the double scoring, as I mentioned. So you have to be fairly diligent about cleaning them because they tend to get dirty again. Also, under the playfield, when the shutter opens up, all the balls drop rather violently onto a special diverter that's made out of fiberboard as well. And that shakes crud loose. You know, you have to make sure that that's pretty clean as well. So that's all for our inaugural episode about Mystic Lion games. We'll be talking more about those. I'm sure I'll have on my special guest or perhaps another special guest to discuss it. And we will see what the future brings. For now, that's all for For Amusement Only. Thanks for listening. Thank you again for joining us. You can reach me at foramusementonlypodcast at gmail.com. You can find us online at foramusementonly.libsyn.com or via Stitcher if streaming's your thing, Pocket Casts, iTunes. See you next time.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 2bb9ad0a-43f1-41bd-a277-5b04672ce8f5*