Launching Springtime
Slot-makers reserve new game launches for Indian Gaming Show
By Frank Legato
Those familiar with this column know that I give a subjective view of my favorite new slot games launched every fall at the Global Gaming Expo trade show. But that expo isn’t the only annual forum for new game launches.
Every spring, the Native American tribal gaming industry gathers for the Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention. Tribal casinos are a vibrant market for new slots, so most of the major slot manufacturers reserve a few new game launches for the Indian Gaming show, which was held the first week of April in San Diego.
Here are a few samples of the games launched that week, which—if you’re in California, Florida or any other tribal gaming market—you’ll see soon at a casino near you.
These are my own subjective favorites from the show, in no particular order.
Konami launched a unique game called Money in the Bank. The main feature in this game is a “banked amount” of credits determined by the wager—the higher the bet, the larger the bank. Randomly during a free-spin round, a “Share the Bank” feature occurs, in which credits are “drawn” from the player’s bank to increase cash-on-reels awards. A random “Break the Bank” feature draws all of the credits from the bank and adds them to all cash-on-reels awards, after which the bank resets to the original level. Great idea.
Base games in the new family are “Pay Out West” and “Bacon Blvd.” In the latter, a pig character randomly appears when coins land in a hold-and-spin feature to increase the value of the player’s bank.
I’m an aficionado of mechanical reel-spinning slots, and AGS unveiled a couple of great ones in its new Revel reel-spinning cabinet. Diamond Nudge and Straight Cash Triple Double Spin both take the traditional three-reel format and add a few neat twists.
Diamond Nudge is a three-reel, nine-line traditional mechanical reel-spinner with nudge arrows on several symbols. When the nudge symbols land on a payline, they nudge up or down to form new reel results. Each spin can yield up to 11 nudges, with the opportunity for multiple wins on a single wager.
Straight Cash Triple Double Spin is a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” game, in which numbers landing on the payline form the award. In addition to the number symbols, “respin” symbols can yield additional wins, and multiplying wild symbols increase the pay in winning combinations. The wild multipliers work together when two land—two “3X” symbols increase a payline win by nine.
Aristocrat launched a follow-up game to its popular “Mo Mummy” franchise called Spooky Link. Featured on the new Baron Portrait cabinet, it includes pots resembling iconic Asian statues that add enhancements to a free-spin round. “Mo Symbols” yields additional cash-on-reels coins, and “Mo Spins” adds free games to the bonus. The familiar “Mo Mummy” mummy character—or “Yo Yeti” in the other version of the game—stands above the reels during the feature and occasionally throws additional coin values and multipliers to the screen.
IGT didn’t disappoint at this year’s Indian Gaming show, unveiling a towering new cabinet called Rise55, featuring a 55-inch, 8K monitor in a larger-than-life presentation. A backing screen provides an LED display that changes colors along with edge lighting in an interactive light show.
There are two launch titles, both packed with bonus features. Magic Treasure Gold features three “Money Bank” pots, each containing “Money Balls” that become cash-on-reels symbols or low-level jackpots when falling to the reels in a one-time bonus. Other bonus events include a “Cash Spins” event awarding a random number of spins, a free-spin event, and a jackpot bonus that includes multipliers up to 9X.
Tribal gaming markets also will see Stinkin’ Rich Tail Wins. This latest release in the popular IGT game family features seven different bonuses and treasure chests that serve as collection pots. In the main Lock & Respin bonus, the skunk character lobs bombs down to the reels that become cash-on-reels symbols that rise in value with every spin. The feature resets at six spins with every cash symbol, instead of the normal three. A “Collect” symbol lands several times during the feature, for instant payments of all cash symbols on the screen. There also is a “Jackpot Wheel” that can result in the top progressive prize.
Light & Wonder launched a new Monopoly game at the show.
Monopoly Express Platinum Edition is a new wide-area progressive game that features three collection pots, with a fourth pot added when a silver train symbol lands on the screen. When this occurs, a train travels across the screen and drops coin awards as it goes, as well as occasional “postcards.” Collecting five postcards awards the top wide-area progressive.
Zitro launched Devil’s Link, a dual-screen hold-and-spin game in which a devil character throws multipliers down to the screen during the feature. The multipliers stay where they land, framing the spot until a cash-on-reels or jackpot symbol locks in place. The character continues to throw multipliers to the screen during the feature, adding multipliers to other reel spots and increasing the multipliers on the spots already displaying multipliers. The multipliers not only apply to cash-on-reels coins, but can multiply the lower-level jackpots several times over.
Finally, moving to the realm of electronic table games, Interblock revealed a new ETG called Blackjack x2. It is a blackjack game with a total of nine side bets—various pairs on the first two cards, three 7s, etc.—on which the player can wager independently. For instance, the player can wager $5 on the blackjack game and 50 cents on each side bet to have maximum action on every hand.
But what really makes the game interesting is the option to double the screen to display two independent blackjack hands. The game is equipped with a love bench to accommodate a couple that wants to play together, or a single player can double his or her action on every hand. Very cool.
