Williams’ Tales of the Arabian Nights, released in 1996 and designed by John Popadiuk, is one of the most enchanting machines ever built — a shimmering storybook of genies, jewels, and magic carpets rendered with Popadiuk’s signature sense of wonder. Three electromagnets, spinning posts, twin captive balls, and a ring of metal “spikes” that rise to encircle the ball and block the outlane give the table genuinely magical mechanics, all in service of a wish-granting adventure.

The scoring revolves around gems and wishes. You start modes with the Genie when the Princess is lit, completing them to earn jewels via the ramp when the Carpet is lit, and collecting wishes — always choosing jewels, the veteran advice goes. Gathering enough jewels lights an extra ball, while spelling HAREM at the left orbit launches a multiball where every target scores jackpots. The deepest play is a thing of beauty: spell HAREM during the Rocs mode as your last mode, then wish for your final gem, stacking Harem Multiball with the Genie Battle for unlimited multiball — and defeating the genie by slaying eight skeletons pays a fat twenty million.

There’s clever risk management baked in, from the Tiger Loops (lit by the inlanes) that build toward an extra ball, to the rising outlane spikes that can save a doomed ball. And because the Genie Battle and Harem multiball can be stacked, a player who lines them up correctly can chain into a genuinely game-defining unlimited multiball — the holy grail of any Arabian Nights session, and proof of how deep Popadiuk’s ruleset runs. Beautiful, deep, and dripping with atmosphere, Tales of the Arabian Nights is Popadiuk weaving pure magic — a machine whose genie, glowing jewels, and storybook charm have made it a beloved treasure for collectors and players alike. Your wish is granted.