What really made the game for me was reading up on feeder modes. Some of the early modes increase your mode bonus in later modes, so I plan which modes I want to play and in what order. Also make sure to hit plenty of orbit shots since advancing the map also increases your mode bonuses.

As far as there being too many multi balls, I increased the difficulty on beast hurryups by one, so they’re not all lit at the start of the game, which I feel really makes a big difference.

You are missing a bunch of stuff that was supposed to be on the playfield, but never made it into the game.

Cant help you much since I sold mine pretty quickly (for no reason other than space), but here's the Tilt Forum rule sheet:

http://tiltforums.com/t/hobbit-pinball-rulesheet/1360

I recommend that you try to find one to play for a while before you buy it. I bought a Smaug SE and I forced myself to keep it far longer than I wanted to hoping it would grow on me. The playfield layout is pretty lame and hitting that Fish Tales like ramp in the center doesn't feel very satisfying at all. It was a constant multiball fest and not much more. I enjoy my MMR, BSD, and even Cyclone a lot more than TH. It could've been so much more! I waited over a year for it after I ordered it and I lost a ton of money when I sold it. It's no mystery to me why there are so many of them on the secondary market so cheap.

Modes start at the right ramp when it’s lit red. Hitting it will start the mode displayed on the book LCD. You can change modes by hitting the left ramp when it’s lit, then hitting the flipper buttons to cycle the mode while the ball is still on the wire form.

Shots that qualify modes are the elf targets, dwarf targets, both ramps, the Radagast hole and the man targets.

The game really didn’t click for me until about 200 or so games.

There is a lot haters on TH and I have held onto mine now for over a year waiting for an update on the code. Keith delivered on the 2.0 and it has taken me a while to really figure it out but I understand now what is going on now. TH takes you on an adventure once you understand the rules you really get immersed in the game. Glad I held out and didn’t bail on it because it was too hard for me at first - the game will only get better as Keith finalizes the code for JJP

The game tells you what to do. Just need to pay attention once you learn what to look for. I find I need to be looking up higher on the play field to figure out what to do like reading the book.
I removed the center post between the flippers. Set the beast multi ball to extra hard. You can also set to critics choice in the settings. Not a better game out there for sounds and linkage to the movies

Oh yeah? Like what?

Oh it was just a joke. I don't need to explain it to you, do I?

We love our Hobbit. Once you understand what you're looking for on the big screen it's easy to understand. Plenty of very different modes, great sounds and awesome wizard modes. It starts out slow, like the movies, and suddenly takes off. Not everyone will like every game and that's fine. I'm not a huge tron fan, but many are. You really just need more time and a better understanding of the machine before deciding to spend the kind of money on any new game. Our Hobbit is going nowhere.

It's funny. Sunday night I made 45 min trip to the pinball bar closest to me. I was playing Batman 66 SLE (yeah, on location) and next to me this lady was playing TH Smaug SE. After our games were done we started chatting about BM 66 and then TH. Turns out her husband and her were fellow Pinsiders. She said she loved the lights, LCD, and music to TH but had no clue how to play it. In five minutes I had the basics explained to her and she was off and running. She had a blast and thanked me. I really enjoyed meeting her and her husband. Shout out to Zanzibar in Louisville who have BM66 SLE, TH Smaug SE, WOZ ruby red, SW LE, TWD LE, GOT premium, Ghostbusters Premium and ST Premium all on location. These games are sitting in a row along with original AFM, TAF, SW data east, Pabst Can Crusher, Dolly Parton, and 6 million dollar man.

If you really want a master tutorial on the game, feeders, kickback rules, and multiballs.

Hobbit is a different beast for sure. Slower, then can get crazy with multiball. Helps to know how to use the Ring button also.

I'm a fan, but probably would not purchase for a 1 or 2 pin house.

I love my Hobbit, but have to agree. Need to have at least one other pin with lower ball times to sit next to it. At first your ball times on Hobbit will be short, but once you get the hang of it, you can have some pretty epic, long games. Don't get me wrong, those long games are phenomenal and epic, but afterwords its nice to have a faster, shorter game to play. I actually find myself playing TH and my EM back to back. They are so opposite but make me hungry for what the other lacks.

Until Pirates arrives.....

Agree on also needing a machine with short game times. I have trouble setting aside the 45 minutes or so a good game lasts. I’m planning to add a Ghostbusters or AC/DC since the hobbit is currently my only game.

Congrats!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-hobbit-rulesheet

I find pages 2, and 4 with the mode qualifiers and feeder mode map most useful.