By Melissa Cook

Check out what it's really like to play Little Green Men, Reel 'em In: Cast for Cash, Monopoly's Chairman of the Board, and Easy Street.

We at Strictly Slots always try to bring you the latest information on the newest slots, just as quickly as we can. Often, at press-time, when Slots Editor Frank Legato is working on the "Slot Spotlights," the machines haven't even hit the casino floors. Either that, or they haven't yet been approved in Atlantic City, his home base. In these cases, he goes directly to the manufacturers, who give him demonstrations of the slots you read about. And, by the time the magazine reaches your hands, the machines are more often than not in place in the casinos, ready to be played.

This system of evaluating the new slots works great. Except for one thing: the machines may function the same way as they do in the manufacturers' showrooms-they may have the same pay schedules and the same features-but they don't always play the same in a real casino environment. In the showrooms, the machines are set to hit frequent jackpots and to go into the bonus screens almost every other spin. This makes sense; the purpose is to demonstrate what the machine can do to a potential client, and you certainly don't want to stand for 30 minutes in a showroom hoping to get to one of the bonus features. Obviously, once the machines are shipped to the casinos, they are set at normal payout percentages. The result can be a very different playing experience. In the showroom, you know what the machine can do…once it hits the floor, you find out what it will do.

With that in mind, I decided to test out some of the newest slots to see just how well they made the transition from the showroom to the casino. I visited several places, hunting down the latest offerings from IGT, Williams, Mikohn, CDS and Silicon. I always activated all the paylines, and, unless I was winning, I played one coin per line. True, this isn't the most scientific experiment. Just because I may have had a dry spell on a machine doesn't mean you will. But I did invest enough time and money on each game to get a pretty good feel for their average play. Over the next three months, I'll share my experiences with each of them. They yielded some interesting results. In some cases, it's amazing what a difference real money can make!

Little Green Men,
IGT

This nine-line video slot is part of IGT's "I-Game Plus" series. The graphics are fantastic, with cute little aliens, colorful cosmic fruit and comic details that add to the fun. Much of the animation reminded me of the Animaniacs cartoon series.

There's a wild symbol-a sort of "man in the moon" character-that substitutes for the fruit. Any time you hit with one of these symbols, he laughs in celebration. Two or more "Keep Out" signs act as scatter pays, paying from two to 200 coins, times the coins you bet.

If you line up three of the three-eyed aliens, you are taken to the "Zap 'Em" bonus round. Nine hovering saucers appear. You pick spaceships until you hit one that says "collect." For those you didn't choose, you receive twice your line bet. It makes for a nice little addition to the credit meter.

The real fun is in the "Alien Abduction" bonus. Line up three "Abducted" symbols, and you're whisked to a bus stop, where several Earthlings, including a little girl, a cowboy and a dog, are waiting. You choose one of the characters. A spaceship appears and beams your victim up. The screen then swirls into a newspaper with headlines such as "Dog bitten by alien, wins huge lawsuit," which reveals your bonus.

According to IGT, the payback percentage range is between 85% and 98%, with an average hit frequency of every other spin when all nine lines are activated. It did seem like something was constantly happening, which kept the game highly entertaining. The bonus rounds paid enough to make it interesting, but, more importantly, I hit quite a few healthy line pays, so I was able to stay in the game between bonuses.

Unfortunately, some of the sound capabilities were lost on me…the volume wasn't loud enough to drown out the rest of the casino, so I missed out on that feature. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. It's one I'll definitely go back to. Make sure you're playing one where the casino has enough common sense to keep the machine volume high-it greatly adds to the fun of play. In fact, if you're playing some other slots and hear a dog howling in the next aisle, you'll know you've found a bank with the volume set correctly.

Reel 'em In Cast for Cash,
Williams/WMS Gaming, Inc.

The instant popularity of Reel 'em In quickly spawned a sequel. Cast for Cash expands on the fishing theme, adding some new characters and a second video screen-along with a bevy of bonus opportunities.

As in the original game, when you land three of the same lures on adjacent reels, you go to the bonus round. Here, you pick a fisherman. But in the new two-screen version, the bottom screen shows what's going on underwater. You see the fish go into a feeding frenzy, and watch as the fisherman reels him in. If the lure that triggered the bonus event has a ruler on it, you have the option of throwing that fish back for a shot at a bigger bonus. Of course, the risk here is that it could result in a smaller catch.

You may reel in a bottle containing a message. Sometimes, the message will state, "Congratulations! You have just won a fishing vacation." You're given the choice of your destination, and the screens transform again. Go to either Alaska, Scotland, Paris, Lake Mead, or Canada-and the fish will be dressed accordingly. Fish the foreign waters, and an additional bonus amount is revealed.

The message can also invite you to take part in a fishing contest. You choose your character, and everyone begins pulling fish-each bearing a bonus amount-into their boats. You collect the amount your guy fishes out.

These bonuses can yield some huge results. On one vacation, I pulled out an enormous fish worth 50x my total bet. The entire round resulted in 900 credits.

The problem is, all the action happens in the bonus rounds, and getting to them can be frustrating. Unlike the original game, where the line pays in the primary game were frequently high enough to get the adrenaline pumping, Cast for Cash saves the majority of the bang for the bonuses. While you still routinely hit something in the primary game, the hits rarely pay enough to keep it exciting. Frankly, between bonus events, I got bored. And again, for all the great sound effects in the bonus rounds, I couldn't hear a thing. Thus, many of the humorous aspects of Cast for Cash were wasted on me.

Chairman of the Board,
Williams/WMS Gaming, Inc.

Here's another of the wildly popular "Monopoly" games from Williams. As with the other slots in this series, there are a ton of things going on. The game includes two bonus events. Two or more scattered dice trigger the "Dice Bonus." Depending on how many line up, two or three animated dice appear (in the one, three and five reels) and roll around. The total on the dice once they land is multiplied by your total bet. At max coin, this can be a big chunk of change if you roll a high number. Three symbols showing Rich Uncle Pennybags (yes, the little Monopoly character) strolling the Boardwalk on an active payline triggers the bonus round. Forty tiles are shown, each concealing a property (with a corresponding bonus amount ranging from 3X to 50X for Boardwalk), a "Go to Jail" symbol, "Jail," "Luxury Tax," or "Income Tax." You pick tiles and accumulate credits until you hit one of the four penalty tiles. You can also hit a "Get Out of Jail Free" card; if you have one of these and hit a penalty tile, you automatically turn it in and keep selecting tiles. If you manage to pick a "Monopoly"-all the properties in a color group-you receive an extra Monopoly bonus. Likewise, bonuses increase as you collect the four railroads. Okay, all that, along with the fact that lines pay left to right and right to left with an average hit frequency of something like every one to two spins, make this game sound like an absolute winner. But hold up a minute. It's not enough to hit something every spin or every other spin. You have to hit more than you bet. And all too often, the line pays on this game don't return your wager. The ones that do don't hit with much frequency. If you can get to the bonus round, you have the potential for a huge reward‚ in fact, if you "clear the board" of all the good tiles, you'll win an outrageous bonus. But if it takes you a while to get there, chances are your credits are going to dwindle fast. I went through $40 bucks and never saw the scattered dice bonus. I think I would have blown the entire budget for this story to get there. In fact, I went through my second twenty in roughly six minutes. If you don't mind the volatility of this game, then by all means, enjoy. The bonus round, which employs the "Jackpot Party" method of choosing bonuses until hitting a penalty, is a hell of a lot of fun. But if you're looking for something that will keep you playing between bonus rounds, you may want to look elsewhere.

Easy Street,
CDS Gaming

This game is worth playing, if only to experience the incredible 3-D graphics. It's part of CDS' "Bandit Series" of slots, which runs on a Pentium PC processor. Thus, the animation and colors are just brilliant.

Luckily, the game offers more than just a pretty face.

The key character is "Chance the Dog." It's a nine-line video slot, themed with all the things a puppy would love. Reel symbols include fire hydrants, a doghouse, and, instead of bars, bones. Get three wild bones, and you win a scatter pay. Plus, the wild bone substitutes for any bone symbol in a jackpot. Hit three "Spin" symbols, and you are taken to the first bonus screen.

A colorful winding road leads from Chance's doghouse to "Easy Street." Each space towards Easy Street contains a bonus amount. You spin a wheel, and the pudgy pup waddles to the designated space. You collect bonus amounts until either Chance lands on a space marked "Go Home" or he makes it to Easy Street. Should he reach the end, the screen switches again, showing Chance driving down Easy Street. The road is lined with various storefronts, including the Spiked Collar lounge, the Top Dog clothing store, a motel, a bank, a diner, a convenience store, shoe store and butcher shop. You select a place for Chance to pull into, and a bonus amount is revealed. This is added to your previous bonus.
You can also take a cruise down Easy Street by lining up three "Easy Street" symbols on a payline. This skips you past the preliminary path and puts you right into the action.

This is another case where, in the primary game, the line pays are typically small. But unlike some of the other games I played, I hit the bonus round fairly frequently. And it wasn't just me-I noticed the players around me were regularly in bonus mode, too. With the potential for quite a large bonus, I was able to play on only $20 for quite a while. In fact, I even cashed out with a win.

Which brings me to my final comment on this game. While most of the video slots require a hand-pay on any amount over 1,000 credits, Easy Street will pay out the 1,000 in nickels. So be forewarned-if you get lucky, you'll be shoveling nickels into a bucket. And, because the machine is set to pay out so many coins on its own, chances are good you're going to need a hopper fill.

But hey, that's a problem I can live with!

Fortune Cookie,
IGT

Another of IGT's "i-Game Plus" slots, Fortune Cookie is a clever take on the art of ordering Chinese food.

The nine-line slot features such reel symbols as bowls of rice, fortune cookies, exotic cocktails and Chinese firecrackers. Win with a firecracker, and they all "pop"-it's part of the attention to detail invested in this game.

If you get a dragon on the first reel, it doubles any of the wins on those lines. This is a great feature, and you'd be surprised at how often it occurs. The line pays are frequent, and usually return more than your original bet.

If you get two fortune cookies in the pay window, you receive a scatter pay of twice your wager. Three or more cookies get you the "Fortune Cookie Bonus." You pick one of the cookies; it cracks open and reveals not only a bonus amount, but an uplifting Chinese proverb. Both times I hit this bonus round, I received 180 credits. Not bad.

The main bonus event, however, is triggered by lining up three or more carryout containers. You are shown a Chinese menu with images of various appetizers, soups, and three entrees. A "phone" rings, and Mr. Lucky asks to take your order. You select one item from each section, which initiates a wisecrack of some sort from the chef. After choosing each item, Mr. Lucky reads your order back to you. Each item reveals a bonus amount, and the total is added to your credits as Mr. Lucky thanks you for choosing his restaurant.

In theory, it sounds like this game has it all. But here was my experience:

I hit the second-screen bonus a few times while playing, and each time, after going through all the steps of choosing dishes, my bonus added up to a pretty small number. Granted, I wasn't playing at max coin, but even betting two coins per line, I was getting between 180 to 200 credits. That's not a lot, compared to some of the other games out there, and after such a build-up, I found it to be sort of anti-climatic. And while that dragon feature is fun, I found myself getting bored. Once you see the bonus screen once, the novelty wears off. And without the really large bonuses (though they are there to be hit-I just never saw them), even the popping firecrackers weren't enough to keep me around for long.

Well, that's it for this month. Next month, I'll take on five more new slots-including one that actually requires a strategy!

Got an opinion or good story about any of these games? Email me at mcook@casinocenter.com!