Every autumn, game manufacturers and other casino suppliers show off their wares at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.
Included are hundreds of slot machines and other electronic games that will vie for space on casino floors in the coming years. You'll see the new slots first in live casinos, still a larger market than online casinos in the United States. But many will be adapted as online slots, so keep your eyes open a little down the road.
Journey to the Planet Moolah (Light & Wonder)
Invaders from the Planet Moolah has been a big hit game, first for WMS Gaming and now for Light & Wonder, which has brought WMS, Bally, & Scientific Games under the same corporate umbrella.
Journey to the Planet Moolah extends the brand with some special new features. Like the original, it is a cascading reels game. If you land a winning combination on the five video reels, spaceships hovering above the playing field beam up the winning symbols, leaving blank spaces.
Blank spaces then are filled by remaining symbols dropping toward the bottom of the reel and new symbols dropping in from the top. If new winners are formed, the process repeats with more symbols beamed up and more dropping in.
If the cascade brings four or more wins on a single bet, you win a free spins bonus, with more wins bringing more spins.
Journey to the Planet Moolah extends the bonus fun in several ways. The free spins maximum is progressive, with 400 or more spins possible. A special "baby unicow" symbol adds to the progressive meter, taking free spins to 450, 500, or even more.
In the bonus, the entire playing field goes on a space journey, with rocket engines to each side of the bottom reels propelling reels and all to the Planet Moolah in the constellation of Cowtopia. During the journey, you may get a blast bonus where you touch symbols zooming through space to reveal credit awards.
As you land, a wheel of different cow breeds rotates above the reels with the potential to bring extras such as multipliers and credit awards. In a Cowcano Eruption, wild symbols levitate above the reels, ready to drop down and add extra wilds and extra winners.
It all adds fun and interest to a game family that already has built a loyal following.
Mystery of the Lamp (International Game Technology)
In a world of genies, magic lamps and prize-packed bottles, Mystery of the Lamp comes in two game themes: Treasure Oasis and Jackpot Palace.
They share five-level progressive jackpots and have five video reels each three symbols deep. Above the reel grid amid a pile of gems sit three bottles, one green, one blue, and one white. On Treasure Oasis, bottles are labeled Boost, Jackpot and Collect, while on Jackpot Palace they're Ignite, Jackpot and Double.
The bottles are key to what's called a “persistence bonus.” As you play, look for gem symbols on the reels. When one appears, it's added to the bottle of the same color. In Treasure Oasis, for example, green gems go into Boost, blue into Collect, and white into Jackpot.
The persistence part is that if enough gems are collected, a bottle could open and launch you into a hold-and-respin bonus. Alternatively, a genie can fill the screen at random times and instantly award you a bonus – or bonuses. It is possible to launch one, two, or all three bonuses at the same time.
Let's use Treasure Oasis as an example. In the hold-and-respin bonus, you get a playing grid of empty spaces. During spins, you're hoping coin-shaped symbols showing credit awards drop into the spaces. As long as coin symbols keep filling spaces, the round continues. If you go three spins in a row without adding any coins, the round ends and you win the credit awards earned to that point.
If the green Boost feature is active, a green gem symbol is included along with the coins. If the gem drops into a space, it displays a credit boost. If it displays 100, for example, all coins already collected are boosted by 100 credits each. That makes the bonus extra lucrative.
If blue is active a blue Collect gem allows you to collect all credits earned that point. The coins do not disappear from the screen. They stay locked in place and you collect again, along with any additional credits won, at the end of the round.
And if white is active, a white gem earns you a jackpot.
Hold-and-respin games are among the most popular in casinos today, and the genie, bottles, gems and jackpots at extra levels of intrigue and anticipation.
Power Stacks Poker (International Game Technology)
By far the dominant company in video poker as well as being the world's largest slot manufacturer, IGT brings extra opportunity to players with Power Stacks Poker.
IGT has long partnered with Action Poker on multiple-hand games, and has done so again. On Power Stacks, a pair of Jacks or better or three of a kind on the initial deal brings up to 16 free hands. The cards you hold on your paid hands will be duplicated on the freebies.
Requirements of the game can force some interesting strategy decisions. A trial run on a Triple Play (three-hand) version of Jacks or Better brought a dealt full house with three Queens and two 8s. Nine free hands were offered – but only if you held the three of a kind and discarded the other two cards to satisfy the high pair or three of a kind requirement for extra hands.
Normal strategy would be to hold the full house, but the opportunity for nine extra hands meant it was better to discard the 8s.
Video poker is interactive with strategy decisions that matter to your outcome. The extra hands add a layer to the fun.
Super Bowl Jackpots (Aristocrat Technologies)
Already available in live casinos, Super Bowl Jackpots has created a great deal of buzz among players and casino operators alike.
Such a game system wasn't possible until the legalization of sports betting spread through the United States in recent years. Full-scale sports betting was legal only in Nevada, with limited sports wagering in three other states, until 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for other states to legalize.
Once that hurdle was past, sports leagues started forming partnerships with wagering entities.
The National Football League was first to partner with a slot manufacturer, and the result is Super Bowl Jackpots, themed after the league's annual Super Bowl championship game that annually is the most-watched U.S. sports event.
Slot players can touch an icon to choose their favorite team, and that team is featured in game video while you play.
Super Bowl Jackpots is a big-money, wide-area progressive game with a top jackpot that starts building at $1 million. It features a hold-and-respin bonus and a collection pot bonus.
A wide array of NFL-themed games is in the works, with Overtime Cash the next in the series. It's a three-reel, nine-line game with a 10-credit maximum bet. The extra bet above one per line activates an “interception” feature that can intercept a losing spin and give you an extra chance to turn it into a winner.
Treasure Lock Emperor's Gift (Incredible Technologies)
Incredible Technologies puts its own creative touch on hold and respin games with Emperor's Gift. A five-reel video slot with Asian-themed symbols such as dragons and lucky 8s, Treasure Lock Emperor's Gift incorporates four progressive jackpots and a bonus wheel.
Three golden ingots sit above the reels, one on a red background, one on green, and one on blue. They're important to the hold-and-respin bonus.
The bonus is triggered by special scatter symbols, with some corresponding to the ingots. A red scatter can add a multiplier feature to three spins. Winnings can be multiplied up to five times.
The green ingot holds a bonus saver feature. As is normal for hold-and-respin bonuses, three consecutive spins without adding a winning symbol ends the round. However, if the green ingot is activated, it sends a green flash to the screen and resets the spin count to three and play continues to pursue bigger bonuses.
The blue ingot is the jackpot trigger. It gives you a chance to spin a bonus wheel for a chance to win thousands of dollars on the Grand jackpot or any of three smaller jackpots.
