UK Machine Record
Stern · 2023 · at 11 UK venues.
Venom is one of Stern's more visually distinctive modern machines, largely because of Jeremy Packer's Zombie Yeti artwork. Rather than trying to make Venom look like a conventional movie licence, the game leans heavily into comic-book artwork, with Mark Tremonti supplying a substantial musical contribution.
The game revolves around Venom and his various hosts, with the player working through an anti-hero story that eventually builds towards the final wizard mode. The physical game has plenty going on, including the Lil' Venom-style action, drop targets and the Premium/LE mechanical additions.
It is one of those Sterns where the artwork can initially distract you from the fact that there is a serious rules game underneath it. Learn what your current host wants you to shoot before you start chasing the big points.
Written by Silverball
Silverball guide · Venom
The grid above the flippers is where Venom keeps its power-ups, and completing a square of four gives you one for the rest of the game. Failing a battle resets the inserts that earned them, and there is a safer way to beat a boss than fighting it.
Played Venom enough to have an opinion? Write it up.
The panel down the right-hand edge: Eddie Brock, Flash Thompson, Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker. You pick one, and the game is not the same afterwards.
Riot, Agony, Phage and Lasher named on four inserts across the middle of the playfield, each with its own face above it.
The figure climbing the right-hand side of the playfield, above the ramp.
The band of names across the middle is where you shoot: Rykers Prison, Alchemax, the Police Station, the Life Foundation, Argo-Lab and the Vault.
Written by Silverball
Strategy tips written by players on PinTips , not by Silverball. Best-voted first.
Eddie to start. Set skill shot to left of scoop and hit on plunge to combo. Lock 3 from right flip for MB and 2x, start carnage in MB.
Cross your arms when flippers are reversed fighting Grendel. Left hand on right flipper Right hand on left flipper
Start mayhem before carnage to stack
If you get the ball stuck and it does a ball search that drops it through the life foundation building… get ready to shake
Once you've unlocked Hulk, use him for Mayhem MB. When Quick Jackpot phase ends, action button to Hulk Smash for 7x JP + light Super JP.
Both the Alchemax ramp and the Daily Bugle can be backhanded.
Tips belong to the players who wrote them. Read them all, vote, or add your own on PinTips, a Match Play project.
Close-ups of the Venom playfield, with our note on what each one is showing you.
The THWIP disc, under the clear ramp.
Steel ramp rails running down the right of the playfield.
The plastic listing the modes: Scream, Carnage, Mayhem, Doppelganger.
The bell tower, with its bell hanging in the arch.
Photographs via the Internet Pinball Database. The captions are ours.
How Venom was sold to operators — Stern, 2023. The back is the feature list the manufacturer led with, which is a fair record of what the machine was meant to be famous for.
Flyer scan via the Internet Pinball Database. The artwork is Stern’s.
One reviewer's opinion, not a Silverball verdict, and not a guide to playing.
Videos from YouTube, curated from channels we rate. They belong to their creators, who aren’t affiliated with Silverball; links open on YouTube so the view counts for them. A creator who’d rather not be listed can get in touch and we’ll remove it.
Where a machine sits is Pinball Map’s work, not ours, find Venom near you on their map. Ratings, tips and tournament results here are ours.
