Found 8 ratings (with comment) on this game

What a shame this is so rare as it's a banger! Really fun, varied gameplay with a little bit of everything -- two banks of drops with standups behind them, a pop down by the flippers, two long, satisfying spinner shots, one with a lock hole on the opposite side, 3 flippers, 2 ball multiball, a captive ball shot that you might not even notice until game 3, etc. It feels almost like a widebody there's so much going on, yet it plays faster than one.

Excellent rules, too, simple but challenging to knock down both drops, then hit all the standups behind them to qualify a roving extra ball and also jack your bonus up. Or advance E-Y-E-S with the captive ball. Or qualify the lock shot, rip the left spinner up and around, and feast on points during the 2 ball multiball.

The artwork is pretty wild, ranging from an excellent haunted castle styled playfield to a godawful cabinet, with the really strange, amateurish, but fun backglass featuring our titular monsters.

This and Game Plan's Andromeda are two of the most underrated pins ever, partly due to their rarity of course, but Game Plans can also be an absolute beast to keep running with obscure parts and knowledge needed.

Amazing game! I would put this game up against any early solid state game from the 80’s for the best game play. It’s a shame more of them where not made due to Game Plan going under.

Roger Sharpe did a great job with the layout and rules: Hitting the drops and standups behind the drops are essential to big scores in this game. Completing one bank (or 2 depending on settings) lights the lock and advances regular bonus. The drop bank stays down until you complete the standups behind. When both banks are complete, the center standup lights to add to your “monster bonus”; which is an extra bonus that can only be advanced one increment when both banks of drops and standups are complete.

Completing drops and standups also lights a roaming extra ball, that moves around 6 different targets.

Multiball is achieved by a clean left spinner shot up to the top right kickout hole; which is not an easy shot when you need to hit it. During the 2 ball multiball, everything is 2X scoring, so staying alive and bashing drops is a good strategy here. If you have spinners lit for more points, that can also be a good strategy.

The captive ball advances the “eyes” inserts and is separate thing used for more points. It’s a tough long shot to aim for; usually advanced with help from the pops or by staying alive in multiball. Can be worth a lot if you advance far enough.

The pop bumper in place of the left slingshot really keeps you on your toes. Sometimes it can help by hitting drops, but mostly it adds to drains. Best strategy here is to hold the left flipper up when the ball is in that area.

The art is kinda campy, featuring 2 (plural) Cyclopes on the backglass that just destroyed a medieval village and kidnapped Roger Sharpe’s wife. You can see him riding to save her on a horse behind them. The playfield looks like their cave or lair where they imprison a collection of captured women.

Very rare game, so if you see one at a show, be sure to give it a few plays.

This game is one of the best early Solid State games I have played. It's a shame more of these were not made. The layout is so unique. The rule depth for the time is great! Drop targets infront of stand ups and a captive ball! The pop bumper that is in place of the left slingshot is great! The game forced me to become better at dead flipping.

Very interesting layout, love the single pop in the lower left. One of my favorite games from the era. Great theme. Weird but fun art package.

What a game! The design of this game is just brilliant and the rules compliment it well. The big scores come from the monster bonus, which I swear is IMPOSSIBLE to max out! Once you finally get the monster bonus lit by getting both banks of drops down and then back up again (not the easiest thing I might add), you HAVE to hit the center death target, there is no other place to add it. Absolutely insane amount of risk/reward factor here. Mulitball is brutal, with most not lasing long at all. Sounds are great with the exception of the heartbeat in the background. It's much too quiet and I almost never notice it. LOVE the school bell. Backglass art is pretty bad, but I really like the rest of the art. Spinners are a blast especially when during multiball and they are lit for 2x. Overall a great game, a sort of swan song for Game Plan.

I have only seen this at papa in Pittsburgh and one day I was there I felt compelled to play about ten games on it. Horrible art, looks like an 8th grade art project...

Odd table layout hat keeps it fresh. Pop bumpers in areas you don't see on other games. Not my favorite Gameplan, but it is so odd it made me want to keep playing it.

Cyclopes is a great playing game. Between this deck and Andromeda, I have learned to have a great deal of respect for Game Plan tables.

The Pros:
Drop targets that expose standups... A shooters delight. This game has a simple but different layout that will test your skills. This game is super bouncy near the flippers with a pop bumper and rubber by the left flipper. The unusually angled outlane keeps you on your toes. The captive ball is a very narrow shot all the way up the pf. The upper flipper gives you direct shots at the upper drop bank BETWEEN the bumpers. The spinners are a blast to hit solidly. The lock shot was stolen from from Firepower (steal from the best!) and feels satisfying when hit. Multiball is only 2 balls, but with the action this game has... it will remind you of playing CFTBL's multiball. Flipper catch techniques are a must or this game is going to make you look silly.

The Cons:
The art package is not up to snuff, by a longshot. Seamus and Roger must has a thing for coppertone babies dropping their diapers. The ladies must be tasty to the Cyclopes though...

The Takeaway:
Keep your eyes on the ball and you will enjoy a very challenging game of pinball. Siezure-vision tm flashers attract insects and pinball players alike with bright blinking lights! Yes I gave this game all 6's for play rating... it's fantastic. This game would be rated MUCH higher overall if I didn't have to deal with the high school airbrush project that is the BG for this game. Seamus, I loved your work on Time Fantasy... what's up? With only 400 made, if you can find it... you gotta play it!

Update:
Learning how to work the drops and the standups behind them to access the Monster Bonus X 1000 will get you to the leaderboard. Also, ripping the spinners during 2x PF during multiball for up to 4k a spin... most righteous. The lock up and across the PF is incredibly satisfying and the pops are all placed for maximum frustrative effect. How does that eeety-beety lane on the left snag so many balls from play? It's like Paragon's Beast's Lair, but even sneaker! Roger Sharpe designed a creative layout with the never ending gob-stopper of rulesets. This game is a true player and if anyone has one for sale? I am VERY interested.

If I can give you ONE single tip on how to get better scores on this deck it is as follows: DO NOT TILT DURING OR AFTER HAVING PLAYED MULTIBALL!

Great example of a Roger Sharpe designed game. The number of shots to complete the different modes keeps you wanting to play again and again. Gamepla wasn't too high on innovating new hardware, but this game (and Andromeda) does sport the msu3 sound board, allowing for simultaneous sounds to occur. Best digital sound for a game shot is when you hit the top right saucer shot to lock a ball without the lock being lit. It makes the sound of a monster spitting put the ball. Other unique item is the physical bell alarm in the game that goes off when you get multiball. When playing multiple players, there is also a monster mode, which gives the winner x amount of seconds of unlimited balls to get to more points. Very fun game, and highly recommend.