NEW GAME REVIEW
BY FRANK LEGATO
Big Fat Dragon
Gaming Arts
This new game centered around a comical rotund dragon character brings fun animation to Gaming Arts ’ new large-format cabinet , the 49-inch portrait VertX Grand .
The base game is a five-reel , 243-ways-to-win video slot , with the dragon character hosting several “ Village Features ” in the primary game . Villager and Animal symbols on reels 2-5 trigger bonuses based on the type of villager or animal . Villagers wearing a hat , helmet or crown reveal a credit prize awarded to the player . Villagers without hat are attacked by the Big Fat Dragon , who chases them around the reels adding wild symbols .
A “ Gheep ” symbol — it ’ s a combination of a goat and a sheep — on the reels awards a multiplier applied to any win . A Villager and Gheep will ride around the reels adding multiplying wild symbols that increase any win .
Three or more scatter symbols trigger the “ Feeding Frenzy Free Spins .” The reels will move to the upper part of the screen . For each spin , a blank reel position will display either food or armor . Armor locks in place , and the food is eaten by the Big Fat Dragon , revealing cash-on-reels symbols , or one of three progressive jackpots , resetting at
$ 5 times the denomination ( Mini ), $ 100 ( Major ) and $ 500 ( Mega ). The player continues the free-spin feature until all 15 positions are filled with armor .
Manufacturer : Gaming Arts Platform : VertX Grand Format : Five-reel , 10-line , 15-line or 30-line video slot Max Bet : 25 , 50 , 100 , 250 , 500 , 1,000 Denomination : . 01 , . 02 , . 05 , . 10 ,. . 25 , . 50 . 1.00 , 5.00 , 10.00 , 25.00 , 50.00 Top Award : Progressive ; resets at 500 times denomination Hit Frequency : Approximately 30 % Theoretical Hold : 4 % -15 %
Firestarter
AGS
This is a new AGS game family on the Orion Curve cabinet . The inaugural games in the series are Dragon Moon and Egyptian Diamond . Both base games are five-reel , 243-ways-towin setups .
Each of the base games has a unique primarygame bonus feature . On Dragon Moon , any base game win involving one or more wild symbols may turn into a wild multiplier up to 5X . Egyptian Diamond has an expanding wild feature — when a scarab symbol lands on any of the middle three reels , the scarab will move to the reel to the right and place wild symbols on the entire reel . Both games feature the main Firestarter Bonus , triggered by four to six Firestarter symbols . Eight ascending rows of credit awards appear above the reels , each award in line with one of the five reels . The player receives eight free spins on the three-by-five reel array . “ Win ” symbols on the reels award a prize and move the highlight up one space in the row .
A “ Boost ” symbol can eliminate up to three lower awards in that row . A “ Boost All ” symbol moves all reels up one award . There also are random multipliers of up to 5X on the reels , as well as extra free spins . The goal is to get enough “ Win ” symbols on a reel to raise the prize close to the top within the free spins . The top row awards are 2,000 , 3,000 , 5,000 , 10,000 and the Grand progressive jackpot , resetting at $ 8,000 .
There also is a wheel bonus on each game . When triggered by three or more Jackpot Wheel symbols , the game character appears behind a convex horizontal wheel with slices that include all six progressive jackpots , from the Mini resetting at $ 10 to the Grand resetting at $ 8,000 . The character spins the wheel and the player wins a credit prize or one of the jackpots .
Manufacturer : AGS Platform : Orion Curve Format : Five-reel , 243-ways-to-win video slot Max Bet : 50 , 100 , 150 , 200 , 300 , 400 Denomination : . 01 , . 02 , . 05 , . 10 , . 25 , 1.00 Top Award : Progressive ; $ 8,000 reset Hit Frequency : 27.58 % -30.51% Theoretical Hold : 6 % -15%
40 Global Gaming Business AUGUST 2023