IN THE ZONE
Incredible Technologies powers the “win zone” with Treasure Burst Lamp of Luxury and unleashes dragons in Combo Craze
By Frank Legato
These days, there are many variations of what’s known as the “hold-and-spin” bonus, but slot supplier Incredible Technologies has added a new twist to this style of feature with the “win zone” bonus in the game Treasure Burst Lamp of Luxury.
More innovative game features can be found in the game Combo Craze Five Pillars. Between the two games, the releases spark a new round of creativity from IT, the supplier based just outside Chicago that specializes in popular games from arcades and taverns to casino floors.
Featured on the tall Prism Skybox cabinet, Treasure Burst Lamp of Luxury revolves around a lucrative bonus event. The base game is a five-reel, 25-line video slot, and players look out for six coins to trigger the Treasure Burst Bonus.
The wild card here is the classic female genie character, who pops up at random to help the player out in several ways—not the least of which is to help trigger the bonus. Randomly, when the player lands one or more coins, the genie may throw the remaining coins needed to trigger the bonus down to the reels.
The bonus also can be triggered at random—each coin landing during the primary game travels to a pile of gold coins above the five-by-three reel array. The coin pile is a metamorphic collection pot; the bonus can trigger any time a coin travels to the pile.
When the bonus is triggered, the magic lamp appears, and the player is prompted to rub the lamp to start the bonus event. (It’s a genie game. You have to rub the lamp.) The ensuing bonus is structured similar to a hold-and-spin event, but what’s different about this from the standard hold-and-spin bonus is that all coin scatters must land in the designated zone to be won, and enhancements to the bonus can be collected during the feature itself. The player is awarded three spins at the outset, with a “win zone” continually moving throughout the event.
Only coins, gem symbols and blanks spin by during the feature, and instead of locking in place, the coins disappear with each spin and their value is added to an accumulating bonus award above the reels. Any gem that lands on the reels resets the spin meter to three.
There are five enhancements—represented by different-colored gems—that prompt the win zone to move and add features within the bonus. An “Upgrade” gem boosts the value of any coins in the zone. Another gem expands the win zone, up to the entire eight-by-five reel set. The “+1 spin” gem sets the spin meter at four for the remainder of the feature.
There is a random credit award gem that offers the chance at jackpots and progressives. When the icon lands in the win zone, it expands into a mini-reel, spinning to cash awards and all four jackpots, including the top SyperSync Progressive.
Another gem expands the bonus reel set by one row. The bonus screen begins as a five-by-five grid, with three locked rows above. “Unlock” symbols in the win zone unlock a row, up to a maximum eight-by-five grid.
At any time during the feature, the genie can reappear to help the player out with credit awards, extra spins and any of the other enhancements.
“Our win zone bonus has a unique twist on the mechanic,” says Kelsey Reish, senior product marketing manager at Incredible Technologies. “The genie being able to help out means there’s always a chance that your bonus can keep going, or your prize will get a little bit bigger.”
THE NEXT COMBO
Another new IT game with a unique collection-style bonus is Combo Craze, on the new Prism Spark cabinet, the company’s first single-screen curved cabinet. The cabinet features a 43-inch ultra-high-definition monitor and a 27-inch topper screen, in an eye- catching presentation.
The presentation of the game itself is just as eye-catching. Combo Craze Five Pillars features five colorful dragons that double as collection pots toward an enhanced free-spin bonus event. They hover just above the five-by-three reel array and move upward toward the top of the display— a different-colored bonus pillar for each reel.
The primary game is a 243-ways-to-win format, with cash-on-reels scatters paying off when landing on adjacent reels.
The dragons are marked “Multipliers,” “Extra Coins,” “Extra Spins,” “Jackpot Coins” and “Credit Upgrades.” Colored wild coin symbols travel up to their respective dragon to push them toward the top of the pillar, and any or all can trigger the bonus—a free-spin round that begins with eight spins but can be extended by four spins at a time by the “Extra Spins” green dragon coin.
The red dragon adds multipliers to any awarded coin scatters, up to 10X. The orange Extra Coins dragon selects a reel to add mounds of coins to help increase the chances of making a cash-on-reels connection. The blue Jackpot Coins dragon selects a reel to add more jackpot coins for a better chance of winning Mini, Minor, Major or SuperSync Progressive awards. The purple Upgrade dragon randomly boosts coin scatters, adding additional money for better wins.
Extra dragon enhancements can be won during the feature.
“The chase is to get all five dragons at once,” says Reish. “You can see some really great combinations of two and three, but if you can get all five to pop, you’re in for a pretty epic bonus event.”
Reish says Combo Craze is only the beginning for the new Prism Spark cabinet. “We’ve got a lot of content coming on the Prism Spark; that’s going to be our focus,” she says. “We’ve got a really great mix of higher volatility with some pretty intense math paired with some actual fun in the game, so we’re finding that good mashup of math models that have some big wins that everyone wants to see—not necessarily even jackpots, just some solid line wins and bonus events mixed with the entertainment value and fun.”
Treasure Burst Lamp of Luxury and Combo Craze Five Pillars are both available now in casinos across the country.
“This is representative of our pipeline going forward,” Reish says. “We’re really proud of these strong math models, and we’re going to keep building on those.
“And our entertainment value and big win potential are definitely going up.”
SLOT TYPE
Five-reel, 25-line video slot; “win zone” pays; pot-collection feature; enhanced free-spin bonus event; .01, .02, .05, .10, .50 and 1.00 denominations
PAYBACK % RANGE
86.12%-94.14%
AVERAGE HIT FREQUENCY
Approximately 30%
TOP JACKPOT
SuperSync Progressive; 4,000-$100,000 reset
SLOT TYPE
Five-reel, 243-ways-to-win video slot; five-pot collection feature; enhanced free-spin bonus event; .01, .02, .05, .10, .50, 1.00, 2.00 and 5.00 denominations
PAYBACK % RANGE
86.14%-94.08%
AVERAGE HIT FREQUENCY
Approximately 30%
TOP JACKPOT
SuperSync Progressive; $4,000-$100,000 reset
