Northstar Pinball Collective · Savage, MN · 71 games · first seen Jan 4, 2025 · last seen Mar 22, 2026
Strategy notes, tutorial videos, and outside resources.
Grand Lizard pinball machine has 71 recorded tournament games in Savage, MN. A game runs about 16m, the median of 71 timed games, so budget for that in a round with a clock on it. The better-ranked player loses here 43.5% of the time, which puts it at 28/100 for difficulty. That is a low-variance machine: scores hold up and the stronger player usually wins, so it rewards the favorite.
Light the spinner and advance bonus multiplier by spelling LIZARD on the standup targets on the lower playfield. Bonus has a max of 10x!
Lock stealing game.
Scoring is multiplied by the number of balls in play, which means that two-ball multiball is 2x scoring, and three-ball is 3x.
Locks are just to the right of the left ramp. To start multiball, lock three balls or hit the right standing target on the upper playfield.
The upper playfield left orbit is called the Cave. Value is advanced by knocking down the leftmost drop targets. Four caves lights an EB.
A combo that goes through the cave and hits the upper right standup awards 50K points.
Always check to see what is lit before plunging. Locked balls and other features may have been held over from a previous ball or player.
All 3 upper left targets and the cave shot can be hit with the upper left flipper.
Multiball has no ball save, so starting it by hitting the upper right spot target is preferable. Also, this can start 2-ball or 3-ball play.
Flashing the magnets can save your ball and your magna-save time. The magnets swirl and shouldn't be trusted completely.
Both ramp shots can come right back down through the spinner. Not completing the right ramp will send the ball toward the center drain.
Don't stress about completing the 4-bank; scoring it is gravy. Also, you can shoot the cave to delay the timer and advance the 4-bank value.
Max bonus is 39K, so hitting 6 risky targets for Bonus X is usually worth 1 lit spinner, 1 lit cave, 1 SPEED50 shot, or 1 lock.
You might be able to bounce the ball off of the "I" target into the lock shot! Best is backhanding from the left flipper, though.
Spell ARD on the lower playfield to add time to the magna save.
Avoid collecting the special from the upper left drop targets. Collecting the special resets the cave value to 3K.
To get back to the upper playfield, just lock a ball.
Lighting bonus holdover in the center earns you two bonus countdowns on ball 3. This can make shooting LIZARD during multiball worthwhile.
