Creativity, artistry, math and science come together in designing slot machines. Manufacturers come together every autumn at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas to show off their latest brainchildren.
Games are designed to shout "Play me!" at players and "Buy me!" to casino operators. There's intense competition to carve out floor space in live casinos and display prominence in online casinos.
Most of the hundreds of new games shown at G2E will make their first appearance in live casinos, though in recent years there has been a growing focus on catering to online providers.
Let's look at a few of the latest and greatest you'll be seeing first in live casinos in the coming months.
Dracula (Light and Wonder)
There's eerie excitement in classic horror movies, and Light and Wonder is there for the chills and thrills with its Classic Monster series of slot machines. Frankenstein was a big hit a couple of years ago, and now Dracula is back from the undead.
Featuring the image of Bela Lugosi, the star of the 1931 "Dracula" movie and then a mainstay in horror films until his death in 1956, L&W's Dracula slot evokes the film atmosphere with symbol such as hearts and coffins, sound effects including thunder and Lugosi intoning, "I am Dracula!" and video including animation of Lugosi flamboyantly waving his cape to start a free spins round.
The base game has five video reels and is available with either five, 15 or 30-payline versions. The five-payline configuration is designed for high-denomination games such as $1 and $2 slots, with penny players will see 30 lines and those in the middle, such as 5- and 10-cent games, are likely to see the 15-line version.
Dracula features five progressive jackpots, with a wide-area pot at the top. That means multiple casinos feed into the top jackpot and a player at any participating casino can with a huge prize. In demo versions, the top jackpot started at $400,000.
That top jackpot is rare, but just above the five video reels is a prize wheel, and that's where some of the biggest wins will come. When a heart lands on the first reel of the base game, players will be hoping Count Dracula's face will appear on the other reels. Coupled with the heart, each Dracula symbol gives you one spin of the prize wheel.
The wheel is marked into segments with credit awards, power-ups and four progressives. If your spin lands on a power up, it increases the credit awards on the other segments. The more Draculas, the better, because not only do you have more chances to accumulate bonus credits, the power ups and increased awards apply to all subsequent spins until the round ends.
It's even better if you launch the bonus wheel during free spins. Then the power ups remain active once a wheel round ends. If you get to the bonus wheel on another free spin, you're working with higher free spins from the start.
It's a fun take on what can be done with wheel spins. Dracula could be in line to follow Frankenstein as a monster hit.
Wheel of Fortune Cash Link (International Game Technology)
Wheel of Fortune has been an important part of the IGT slot empire since 1996. That's when IGT debuted its first three-reel slot based Wheel of Fortune, complete with sounds and graphics based on the ever-popular TV game show.
Nearly all slot players have at least heard a recorded crowd chant "Wheel! Of! Fortune!!!" before the click of a spinning wheel.
At G2E 2024, IGT proudly displayed eight new Wheel of Fortune games. It even moved to extend the brand into video poker with Wheel of Fortune Poker, in which winning hands on the initial deal bring letters toward solving a word puzzle for bonus credits.
Wheel of Fortune Cash Link is a showpiece game. In live casinos, it'll make its debut on the Wheel of Fortune Trio cabinet, which features three slot machines under a giant wheel display that extends the width of the three games.
The game extends the Cash Link Line. In the base game, a five-reel video slot, coins showing credit values will sometimes appear on the first four reels. Those are valuable if a treasure chest symbol lands on the fifth reel. When that happens, you collect the credit values of all coins on the screen.
There are a couple of bonus event. One is called Big Money. If one of the coins that lands on the screen is a special Big Money coin, it gives you a chance to activate the Big Money bonus. The Big Money symbol then is duplicated on all other coins on the screen, a treasure chest falls into place and you collect the big bucks.
One bonus that will be familiar to slot players happens whenever a segmented wheel symbol lands on the screen. Then Vanna White strolls onto the screen and you get a spin of the prize wheel. There are five pointers for the wheel. Depending on the size of your bet, you can get anywhere from one pointer to all five. The wheel spins, and you get the prizes indicated by your pointers. Most are credit awards, but some segments are multipliers to increase your winnings, and with others you can win one of the three progressive jackpots.
Wheel of Fortune Cash Link has a familiar feel, but still packs plenty of excitement for slot players.
Powerball Power Play (Everi)
Hold-and-respin bonuses have become player favorites and casino staples in recent years. Everi puts a twist on the format with Powerball Power Play, with roots in the iconic lottery game.
It's a five-reel, 20-line video slot with luxury-item symbols such as new cars, diamond rings, jet planes and cruise ships – the kinds of things that might attract a Powerball winner to spend newfound riches.
As with most hold-and-respin games, the bonus event is launched when you land six orbs on the screen. Here, the orbs are designed to look like lottery balls. Balls on the first four reels are white with a credit amount in black. On the fifth reel, the balls are red. Those are the Powerballs.
You keep spinning until you go three spins in a row without collecting another ball. If you're lucky enough to land three red balls in the fifth column, you unlock another screen of reels above the first. And if you unlock the second screen and land three Powerballs, you unlock a third screen.
There's no guarantee of unlocking the extra bonuses. but when you do, the potential is there for three times the fun and credits.
Bingo Frenzy Stampede (Konami Gaming)
Konami also puts a new twist on hold-and-respin bonuses with Bingo Frenzy Stampede, available in two themes – Tiger and Shark. This time, the bonus symbols are bingo balls and there's an animated bingo dauber character to add hype through the game.
The base game is a five-reel video slot with each reel three symbols deep. At first, the yellow bingo balls are not emblazoned with credit amounts. They just say "BONUS." But when you land six on the screen, they transform to display credits, progressive jackpots or multipliers, and the fun begins.
Not only do you start a collection bonus, you get extra space and more opportunities for balls to drop in. The reel set grows to a 5x5 grid instead of the standard 5x3, so there are 25 spaces instead of 15.
When five balls fill any row, you can cry "Bingo!" The row collapses to the center. All the awards on the row are added to the center ball and the other four spaces are left blank free for more balls to fill in. With a lot of luck and cleared spaces, the bonus event can go on and on.
If you fill rows 15 times, you win the top progressive level, the Grand jackpot. There are four other jackpots – Mini, Minor, Major and Mega. Any one of them could appear on a bingo ball as the bonus event progresses.
Bingo Frenzy Stampede also includes a free spins bonus that differs according to game theme. In Bingo Frenzy Stampede Shark!, three scatter symbols launch free spins with low-paying symbols removed. Only the high-paying ocean life symbols remain. You can re-launch free spins during the round. It takes only two scatters on any free spin to add more spins.
In Bingo Frenzy Stampede Tiger, three lotus symbols launch the free spins. On each freebie, some symbols are hidden. When revealed, the might show all wild tiger symbols. They're potential big winner if they line up on paylines.
If not tigers, then the hidden symbols are bonus symbols, enhancing your chance of getting to the frenzy during the free spins. Free spins are always fun, but in Bingo Frenzy Stampede, that frenzy is really the round that can make your day.
