The Lord of the Rings (pinball)
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| Manufacturer | Stern Pinball |
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| Release date | October 2003 |
| System | Stern WhiteStar II |
| Design | George Gomez, Keith P. Johnson, Chris Granner |
| Programming | Keith P. Johnson, Dwight Sullivan |
| Artwork | Jerry Vanderstelt, Kevin O'Connor, Margaret Hudson |
| Music | Chris Granner |
| Sound | Chris Granner |
| Voices |
Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins) John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) |
| Production run | ~5817+ units |
The Lord of the Rings is a 2003 pinball game designed by George Gomez and distributed by Stern Pinball. It is based on the The Lord of the Rings (film series), which was first released in 2001. It features the highest possible score multiplier in pinball to date: During a combined "Two Towers" and "Gollum" Multiball it is possible to achieve a 84x Jackpot (when scoring seven subsequent combo Jackpot shots, having the 2x scoring Elf gift and the Sméagol phase of Gollum Multiball running at once).
This game was re-released in December 2009 as The Lord of the Rings: Limited Edition, which adds a shaker motor and updated software.
The main objective of the game is to light and start three multiballs, each of them coupled to one of the movies of the trilogy, and to finally "Destroy the Ring":
Note: Multiball features are more difficult to start based on settings and subsequent triggers. For example, Fellowship multiball on Hard may only be triggered via Barad-Dûr while on easy all three shots are open to initiate the feature. Another example is during Two Towers, a player may score and stack cumulative sword locks during the initial trigger. During the second trigger, K-E-E-P remain lit until the sword lock has been awarded. During the third trigger, K-E-E-P letters turn on AND off when toggled while trying to lock the third ball.
Another objective are the modes that can be started by shooting the Ring when lit:
Completing all modes enables the bonus mode "There and Back Again..." (Elf rings still need to be collected to start the mode). Also, a mode cannot be started when Destroy the Ring is lit. Modes cannot be starting while a multiball is in play either, however, modes can be triggered before a multiball, thus becoming "Stacked".
The wizard mode, Valinor Multiball, is said to be one of the hardest to reach to date (only being topped by The Simpsons Pinball Party) as it needs all multiballs to be fully completed, reaching and playing "There and Back Again...", collecting all the "Gifts of the Elves", and finishing "Destroy the Ring".
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