Worst slots? (2023 Update)

[dave1888]

Any of those fricking stupid "Slice" games...

KK

These paid me handsomely a few weeks back. Very start of October. If you grind it at low stakes then raise when it hits a few in a row often its streaky have to time it well..

 

[toms596]

What the

 

[Reelsoffun]

What the

Not that uncommon with only 50 game rounds on a high variance slot.

 

[toms596]

Well it definitely won't be getting any more spins on it

 

[jasonuk]

Not that uncommon with only 50 game rounds on a high variance slot.

I was thinking the same - I've seen 50 dead spins on ultra-high variance slots as well.

I guess people have to appreciate what the slot is intended for, if it's heavily focused on bonus buys then the base game is essentially window dressing as a pre-gamble... I doubt we'd have an answer but I wonder what the worst slot for that is... e.g. 10% RTP in the base, 85% in the bonus.

The problem is they can't follow the FOBTs with the pre-gamble (premium play) because it makes it far too obvious how bad the game really is - those can munch £300 or more for one trigger (worth £50, and more than capable of paying close to nothing) and seeing "bonus: 1 in 1000 spins" would rightly make people run a mile...

 

[toms596]

My surprise is from it only paying 7p out of £10 worth of spins.

I guess part of the issue is the dream drop which they seem intent on merging into their older games it contributes 8% of the RTP.

While this game is 94% -8% I'm playing a 86% game with a terrible base so I probably deserved it haha.

 

[jasonuk]

Mega Moolah - despite the hefty 8% contributions - got it right because the base games were medium to high variance (the now retired The Dark Knight probably the spiciest of the lot, and that was more than capable of rinsing a balance). When they nerfed it, they left the base games alone and dropped the JP from 8% to 5% instead (so now 88+5%).

Very high and extreme volatility games will happily give you a kicking at 96%, so it's scary to think what they'll be like at 84-86%... given how the jackpots are designed you're playing essentially a 90% game most of the time unless you are somewhere near the must-drop for either of the big jackpots... which makes it prime value hunting for the monopoly money streamers and genuine high rollers.

I don't think they publish the RTP distribution of the Dream Drop (although it has been quoted as high as 12% for newer games), so unfortunately we don't have those details to hand.

 

[bamberfishcake]

Not often do I feel compelled to tarnish the forum with my game complaints nowadays but this one had me less than impressed in so many ways.

Besides the classic film being one of my favourites, along with Gene Wilder, this abomination from Light & Wonder feels cheap and uncheerful. Has anyone else suffered it yet?

The game is not fluid, the reel motion is clunky, and the animated Oompah Loompas seem strangely out of proportion to the background (yes, I know they are small ).

For such a legendary conversion, the game doesn't feel polished or well-executed. The base game features are bland and the paytable is weak unless you get a completely full screen of premium symbols across its kazillion reels.

 

[jasonuk]

The game is not fluid, the reel motion is clunky, and the animated Oompah Loompas seem strangely out of proportion to the background (yes, I know they are small ).

For such a legendary conversion, the game doesn't feel polished or well-executed. The base game features are bland and the paytable is weak unless you get a completely full screen of premium symbols across its kazillion reels.

This was a slot I was genuinely interested to see launch, given it's a highly-regarded Vegas slot.

Sadly that enthusiasm quickly vanished as LnW have blundered it once again - the ongoing problems with clunky spins (remembering how well WMS slots flowed back in the day... it's incredible how they continue to get this so wrong), some of the poorly integrated graphics, and then the biggest problems are that the features from the Vegas version are missing, or completely trashed:

• The chocolate river is entirely pre-determined (as mentioned in the rules), there is no notion of "volatility" or picking.
• The expanded reels is disgusting because it actually tricks you - in the Vegas version if the game expands to 10 reels it'll give you 3 arrays of 6 (spanning 1-6, 3-8 and 4-10), however in this version the arrays shrink and they don't overlap at all (so you get 2 arrays of 5, or 3 arrays of 4). Additionally it offers a fixed multiplier of 2x rather than 1-10x.
  • So a mythical full screen of wilds on all 3 arrays, you would be expecting 3 arrays x 25 lines x 2 multiplier x Six Wilds (2x) - a respectable 300x for a modest variance slot, however you'll be somewhat confused when you only see 75x credited (Four Wilds paying 0.5x instead).
• The golden ticket seems underwhelming - I don't expect it to be a significant amount of RTP, but 500x seems like another blunder when the Vegas version is $5000 flat.

I don't actually mind lower pays on the reels (the best 6OAK is only 2x though - which is extremely low; on the Vegas version I think it's even lower?) because the features are supposed to be frequent and wild-heavy - sadly something else that seems to have been lost in this conversion.

[edit: correction to payouts - mistakenly claimed Six Wilds pays 8x, when it pays 2x]

 

[bamberfishcake]

This was a slot I was genuinely interested to see launch, given it's a highly-regarded Vegas slot.

Sadly that enthusiasm quickly vanished as LnW have blundered it once again - the ongoing problems with clunky spins (remembering how well WMS slots flowed back in the day... it's incredible how they continue to get this so wrong), some of the poorly integrated graphics, and then the biggest problems are that the features from the Vegas version are missing, or completely trashed:

• The chocolate river is entirely pre-determined (as mentioned in the rules), there is no notion of "volatility" or picking.
• The expanded reels is disgusting because it actually tricks you - in the Vegas version if the game expands to 10 reels it'll give you 3 arrays of 6 (spanning 1-6, 3-8 and 4-10), however in this version the arrays shrink and they don't overlap at all (so you get 2 arrays of 5, or 3 arrays of 4). Additionally it offers a fixed multiplier of 2x rather than 1-10x.
  • So a mythical full screen of wilds on all 3 arrays, you would be expecting 3 arrays x 25 lines x 2 multiplier x Six Wilds (2x) - a respectable 300x for a modest variance slot, however you'll be somewhat confused when you only see 75x credited (Four Wilds paying 0.5x instead).
• The golden ticket seems underwhelming - I don't expect it to be a significant amount of RTP, but 500x seems like another blunder when the Vegas version is $5000 flat.

I don't actually mind lower pays on the reels (the best 6OAK is only 2x though - which is extremely low; on the Vegas version I think it's even lower?) because the features are supposed to be frequent and wild-heavy - sadly something else that seems to have been lost in this conversion.

[edit: correction to payouts - mistakenly claimed Six Wilds pays 8x, when it pays 2x]

Didn't know there was a machine version. Sounds better. Interesting comparison. Needless to say, I won't be touching it again.

 

[jasonuk]

It's a real shame because the Vegas version did so well they've made at least one sequel.

Handily I found a video that shows the World of Wonka WMS help (over many many pages) and that suggests that the best result would be 4 arrays x 6 high (35 lines?) x 10x multiplier x 6 Wonkas (2.0x) for 2800x...

So you can imagine people will be pissed when they get that dream scenario (3 arrays rather than 4, and doesn't expand vertically), and it's not even 280x, but 75x...

I wonder if it is hard-capped at 500x (from the Golden Ticket) - basically a Wonder Blunder 500 slot but without the name tag.

 

[slot_zombie]

I too was interested in Wonka because it's quite a long time (to my knowledge) that L&W have attempted a conversion of one of their Vegas slots.

God forbid they would ever design to convert any of the remaining (extensive) classic WMS back catalogue.. gripe gripe.

They really need to scrap their game engine and start again from scratch, even the low tier providers are mostly hitting the bar of smooth gameplay and animation in 2023. Take a leaf out of Pragmatic's book perhaps.

The game data states the max win possible is 1030.5x so it's completely pointless even dissecting the gameplay any further. A complete waste of bandwidth. They haven't got a clue.

 

[jasonuk]

They really need to scrap their game engine and start again from scratch, even the low tier providers are mostly hitting the bar of smooth gameplay and animation in 2023. Take a leaf out of Pragmatic's book perhaps.

Well, Pragmatic got autoplay banned... so perhaps not that book It is bizarre how many headline providers struggled with the conversion though - SG/LnW continue to have extensive problems, Microgaming required multiple shots at it, NetEnt abandoned half of their catalogue instead - Playtech or IGT is the closest I can think of to a smooth experience, with some caveats.

The game data states the max win possible is 1030.5x so it's completely pointless even dissecting the gameplay any further. A complete waste of bandwidth. They haven't got a clue.

Thanks for that... so the maximum pay is a fraction of the land-based version, which is already modest variance given the target audience. It makes no sense to tone it down even further? Even worse is having looked at the pay table I think 100x wins are going to be unusually rare... I respect SG/LnW haven't followed everyone else pushing insane variance, but making Starburst look volatile is equally bad!

 

[winner2021]

Eye of Horus-only played it because of free spins on William Hill. Chased the bonus with my own money like an idiot-and lost about £300 total on £1 spins, VERY quickly.

Just went and had another go and actually got a bonus round super quick on a £2 stake, it paid out wait for it...£7 Don't even understand how the bonus works tbh, doesn't seem to pay out much over the base game?

 

[jasonuk]

Eye of Horus is basically a clone of Pharaoh's Tomb (from Novomatic).

In the bonus, the objective is to get expanding wilds - which will upgrade the symbols (left to right, one per wild) and award extra spins (1 spin for one, 3 spins for two and 5 spins for three). Additionally you can retrigger with 3 scatters for a further 12 spins.

It can get spicy if you get to the top level with a number of spins remaining (pays 50x per full line, 500x for the full screen; and enjoyable with the Novomatic music) - but of course if the wilds aren't landing, you could end up with peanuts or even zero because you are relying on the base mathematics of the game with few or no upgrades.

Or you can be me a few years ago... 9 spins for the top level and paid nothing on those spins - but that is the nature of the game, can't argue with the mathematics.

 

[L&L-Jan]

Eye of Horus is basically a clone of Pharaoh's Tomb (from Novomatic).

Or vica versa? Never really managed to find out but my gut feeling says that pharaoh's tomb is a copy of eye of horus.

 

[jasonuk]

Or vica versa? Never really managed to find out but my gut feeling says that pharaoh's tomb is a copy of eye of horus.

Admittedly it's easy to get confused when so many reviews get it wrong - including the one on CM which refers to Eye of Horus as "one of the pioneers of the genre" which it isn't.

Pharaoh's Tomb (Novomatic) predates the original Eye of Horus by more than six years - June 2010 vs September 2016. The paytable is identical but the RTP of the clone can be slightly higher - 95.08% for the original, up to 96.31% for the clone.

Similar to Book of Ra, other providers (PlayNGo in that case, Blueprint in this case) made more of the opportunity by pushing it in territories that Novomatic didn't operate in. While Aristocrat is likely the most cloned provider out there, I reckon Novomatic is second.

 

[L&L-Jan]

Pharaoh's Tomb (Novomatic) predates the original Eye of Horus by more than six years - June 2010 vs September 2016. The paytable is identical but the RTP of the clone can be slightly higher - 95.08% for the original, up to 96.31% for the clone.

That's cabinets right or interactive?

 

[jasonuk]

That's cabinets right or interactive?

The dates were for online release.

We were still seeing the transition from AWPs to Randoms so it's unlikely that Blueprint would have had a big enough cabinet footprint to justify a physical-only release six years prior. Similarly Novomatic had a substantial cabinet footprint so it's possible the game was released there prior to 2010 (but can't find any information to confirm or deny)

 

[L&L-Jan]

Blueprint would have had a big enough cabinet footprint to justify

Think we need to have a look at merkur in that case, pretty sure merkur rolled out this game WAY before Blueprint was even in the picture. But im not on topic atm I know the creative director for landbased at Novo, going to ask him if he knows and will PM you later.

 

[dunover]

Think we need to have a look at merkur in that case, pretty sure merkur rolled out this game WAY before Blueprint was even in the picture. But im not on topic atm I know the creative director for landbased at Novo, going to ask him if he knows and will PM you later.

Yeah, but Blueprint and Merkur are both Gauselmann group companies so there will be overlap with games.

 

[incrediblestuff]

Not often do I feel compelled to tarnish the forum with my game complaints nowadays but this one had me less than impressed in so many ways.

Besides the classic film being one of my favourites, along with Gene Wilder, this abomination from Light & Wonder feels cheap and uncheerful. Has anyone else suffered it yet?

The game is not fluid, the reel motion is clunky, and the animated Oompah Loompas seem strangely out of proportion to the background (yes, I know they are small ).

For such a legendary conversion, the game doesn't feel polished or well-executed. The base game features are bland and the paytable is weak unless you get a completely full screen of premium symbols across its kazillion reels.

View attachment 190324

I played this and was like 'yeah, ok - this is low variance drizzle just for nostalgia sake with maybe one or two good hits on the paytable..probably never see it, but decided to go for this wild feature in your screenshot..played it for hours, and finally got a decent one (or so i thought) which honestly had the first 5 reels filled with all wilds... barely breached 100x

Theres a lot of drizzle on the market these days, for sure, but that is nothing new, of course: my biggest pet peeve it with all the extra bet BS and also the ones where you have to basically gamble the bonus to upgrade to full potential...

Not all of them, but some feel like there's no chance of max win without using those options? Which i dont like.

 

[winner2021]

Eye of Horus is basically a clone of Pharaoh's Tomb (from Novomatic).

In the bonus, the objective is to get expanding wilds - which will upgrade the symbols (left to right, one per wild) and award extra spins (1 spin for one, 3 spins for two and 5 spins for three). Additionally you can retrigger with 3 scatters for a further 12 spins.

It can get spicy if you get to the top level with a number of spins remaining (pays 50x per full line, 500x for the full screen; and enjoyable with the Novomatic music) - but of course if the wilds aren't landing, you could end up with peanuts or even zero because you are relying on the base mathematics of the game with few or no upgrades.

Or you can be me a few years ago... 9 spins for the top level and paid nothing on those spins - but that is the nature of the game, can't argue with the mathematics.

Ahh ok, I think I did get it I just haven't hit a good bonus round yet so I'm just like "is that it?" every time. Gonna have another go on it again, but only on the demo version cos I do tend to chase bonuses and it looks like they're not that often in this game. I should give it a chance, but it was eating my balance quicker than anything the other night lol.

 

[Sprocket]

Anything by Elk the most scripted bonuses of any provider, the same 99.9% of the time,10 spins the first 5 or 6 dead spins 1 average hit that pays something then another 3 dead spins, the last spin is always a dead one, 5 spin bonus Pirots etc 3 or 4 dead spins in a row 1 hit and done.

Pirots is the most scripted bonus of any of the slots I’ve ever played. Elk bonuses are pretty much all the same, but that one takes the piss