There are a couple of rules, items and mechanics to understand when it comes to pinball:
Plunger: The device that flicks the ball onto the table at the start. You might need to use this function during minigames, and this is the way you can start a new ball if the previous one was lost or locked. Some tables ask you to swipe on the right lower side to use it, while others have a button you can press.
Flippers: The arms that you use to interact with the ball. There are always two at the bottom of the table, and there may be more on the playfield.
Outlanes: Lanes that can be on either side of the lower half of the field - usually on both! If the ball rolls into the outlanes, it cannot be touched with the flippers, so it is usually lost. This is not the case if the player has some sort of save activated, or does an advanced nudging trick!
Nudging: A slight push to the table by swiping on or touching the upper side of the screen. This influences where the ball rolls. But be careful, if you nudge too frequently, the table tilts, which means you will lose your current ball, since you can no longer use the flippers.
Saves: Safety nets the player can earn. These automatically save the ball if it would be lost.
Extra balls: Additional balls a player can earn. This means that they get an extra try after the current ball is lost.
Multiball: A gamemode where multiple balls are released onto the field. This does not automatically give an extra ball, so if the player loses all of the balls during multiball, it usually counts as losing the ball that they started the multiball with.
Modes: Gameplay variants that players can start if they hit the correct targets in the correct order, sometimes within a time limit. This can mean multiball, or extra points, Wizard Mode or even a minigame.
Goals: There are different goals for different tables, and the table guides can help with them! But usually, the ultimate goal is to set up the Wizard mode as best as one can, and to finish it for the big score.
Wizard Mode: The table’s biggest challenge. It usually has a lot of requirements, and it is difficult to start - but it means a lot of points for the players who can pull it off!