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NEW GAME REVIEW by Frank Legato
Hai Long AGS
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his is one of the two launch titles in the AGS “Bubble Mania” game family, designed for the Orion Portrait and Orion Curve cabinets. (The other title is a sister game, the witch-themed Potion Pays.) The base game is a five-reel, 50-line video slot in an operator-selectable denomination. It is available with stand-alone or linked progressives. The dragon-themed Hai Long includes a persistent-state feature in which bubbles with cash-on-reels values appear from the bottom of the reel array and float upward with each spin. Randomly, the game’s subaquatic dragon swoops through while bubbles appear with credits or jackpots, moving up one reel position for each game played. Oversized bubbles may be awarded in multiple positions. In addition to credits, the bubbles can award one of two progressive jackpots. If they land on a pearl trigger symbol, they pay the indicated credit amount. The bubbles can randomly grow to cover more reel spots—even the entire reel array, virtually guaranteeing a payoff. But the bonus features are the center of the game. In the primary game, randomly, bubbles appear over reel symbols to award a credit amount or one of the progressives. In the free-spin round, the reels expand up to seven rows—meaning the bubbles have much more real estate on which to rise upward across the
Pinwheel Prizes Incredible Technologies
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his is one of the first games on IT’s groundbreaking Prizm VXP cabinet. The VXP stands for “vertical expansion.” The cabinet presents three screens to the player—the main 27-inch 4K touchscreen landscape monitor is augmented by the 18.5-inch button deck, the largest in the business, which doubles as an extra touchscreen monitor for use in various bonuses and game play. But sitting behind the main game screen is a giant 55-inch flat-screen 4K monitor. The 55-inch monitor physically rises, using a commercial-grade motor to smoothly move into position for game mechanics on the entire grand display. The Pinwheel Prizes series features two inaugural games, Pinwheel Prizes Cat & Tiger and Pinwheel Prizes Majestic Oasis. Both are 40-line games with five pinwheels on the top monitor displaying credit prizes. 58
Global Gaming Business JANUARY 2022
reel array, and more chances at awards. Then, there is a fun feature called the Bubble Pick Bonus. This is an interactive touch-screen event in which a fast-paced succession of bubbles—large and small, bearing credit amounts and the occasional jackpot—fly up the screen, and the player touches as many as possible to accumulate awards. Free games, triggered with three or more scattered dragon head symbols, initiate with 10 spins, and the reel array expands to eight rows. Free games can be retriggered.
Manufacturer: AGS Platform: Orion Format: Five-reel, 50-line video slot Denomination: .01, .02, .05, .10, .25, .50, 1.00, 2.00, 5.00, 10.00 (operator-selectable) Max Bet: 750 Top Award: Progressive; Reset at 500,000 times denomination Hit Frequency: 28.63% Theoretical Hold: 4.38%-14.8%
Manufacturer: Incredible Technologies Platform: Prism Format: Five-reel, 40-line video slot Denomination: .01, .02, .05, .10 Max Bet: 300 Top Award: 20,000 times bet Hit Frequency: Approximately 40% Theoretical Hold: 5.84%-14.85%
Scatters increase the value of the pinwheel wedges, which remain until three scatter symbols trigger a spin. The free-spin round in each game triggers the VXP feature. The 55-inch monitor rises as the reels expand into a double set with 40 additional pay lines, for eight free spins. In Majestic Oasis, the free-spin round features a lock-and-spin mechanic on the top reel set. Pinwheel scatters lock in place and stay until three fill a reel to trigger a spin of the corresponding pinwheel. Five pinwheels feature wedges of credit awards and free spins. Free spins can be awarded by the scatters or by landing on a Gold wedge during a Pinwheel spin. Eight free spins take place on the dual set of reels, with 40 paylines each.
