Beware the sorcerer’s hand — Williams’ 1982 Warlok is a fantasy four-player designed by Mike Kubin, and it’s a genuine rarity, with a confirmed run of just 412 making it one of the scarcer Williams solid-states a collector can chase. The layout is lean and aggressive: two flippers, three pops, three banks of drop targets, three spinning targets, and a standup, all wrapped in Seamus McLaughlin’s moody sword-and-sorcery art. For a machine this uncommon, it plays with surprising directness.
The strategy is refreshingly clear-cut. Shoot the three number-one drop targets, then settle into the left spinner and orbit “Big Shot” all day — a clean, repeatable groove that forms the backbone of every strong game. That kind of straightforward, find-the-money-shot design is the soul of so many early-’80s machines, and Warlok wears it well: learn the sequence, find the rhythm, and ride that spinner-and-orbit combination for steady, mounting points. With three spinners on the playfield, there’s plenty of opportunity for the kind of high-value spinning action that rewards a player who keeps the ball moving and the orbits flowing.
Warlok’s real allure, beyond its tidy gameplay, is its scarcity — fewer than five hundred built means most players will never see one in the wild, which makes every encounter a small event. For the Williams completist or the fan of early-’80s fantasy themes, it’s a coveted deep cut, and beneath the rarity is an honest, fun, fast little machine that rewards shot discipline. Drop the number ones, work the Big Shot, and let the spinners sing. The sorcerer guards his points jealously, but a patient player can claim them.