Everi has been pushing the envelope in terms of trying some new things and breaking the mold of what to expect on the casino floor. I spent some time with the Everi team at G2E, and there were a few running themes throughout their booth.
For one, they are leveraging some of their time tested mechanics that are popular on certain games, and incorporating them into some of their new games. This is not just outright sequels or brand extensions, but also all new games.
Things you’ve seen from them like wheel upgrades on Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel are present, as is the Frenzy Mode (their term), which incorporates countdown timers on game series such as Shark Week and The Vault.
There are of course the expected brand extensions and sequels, but there are also more mold-breaking games in the vein of Lightning Zap and Crush, and like Crush and The Vault have been credited to Everi game designer Juan Mariscal, who I interviewed earlier this year.
Everi’s historically had success in the mechanical reel market, but with games like the Wicked Wheel series and The Vault, they’ve been making steady inroads on the video reels side too, and a lot of their new games being showcased are in that arena.
So all that said, let’s look at what Everi was showing off this year at G2E, with thanks to Coty Goodwin, Lee Higgins and Michael Conway at Everi for their time during the conference!
Money Line
One of the new games that’s playing with the convention of a slot machine is called Money Line. Here there’s effectively three reels with up to five lines. The setup is simple. Get a box in the first and second reels, and whatever you land in the third reel is yours.
You can wager on one, three or five lines, and depending on the denomination you also have a line multiplier. It’s a lower volatility play when playing all five lines.
Arrows are 1x, but multipliers can appear as well on those first two reels. And if you get a wheel symbol on the third reel, you get to spin the wheel for a prize.
There is also a free spins feature, which is initiated by scatter symbols on reels 1 and 2. During the free spins, there’s no blanks on reel 3, so if you get a box on reels 1 and 2, you’ll get something guaranteed.
This is another example of a game that largely is a straightforward, win what you see sort of model that Zap, Crush and Cash Machine have underscored, and should attract fans of games like those.
Money Line Videos
RandomSlots got to chat with Lead Producer Coty Goodwin, and Michael Conway, VP of Communications and Media, about the new game:
Cha-Ching!
Perhaps even more straightforward on the surface is Cha-Ching!, which has a set of presents on the screen, each showing how much the wager will be to open them. You open them to a prize, coins that fly up to the bonus bags (which may or may not trigger a bonus), or nothing. A new present pops up at the same wager to replace the one you had.
This is very much like Zap and Crush in that there’s no reels, and that it’s instant outcomes when you make a wager, win or lose. So fans of standard slots will definitely need to adjust what their expectations will be on a game like this, but those who love those other games will find a lot to like here. And with three bonuses, you have some chances for some second screen fun, which advances the format a bit.
There’s different bet levels with presents, and then four giant wager Red Box Bets presents at the top; the first time you buy a Red Box Bets present at the top, the game will even confirm that’s what you wanted before awarding it, just to avoid any oops moments.
The three second screen bonuses are varied and fun.
- The Whoosh bonus is a wheel spin, straightforward.
- The Blast bonus shows a grid full of numbers. Then many of them fly away, and what’s left is awarded. Longer strings pay more, since they’re more credits.
- The Pop bonus loads a 5×5 grid and awards a series of plays. You hit the stop button and land on credits, a more plays space or arrows, which can spin and award a full row or column (which can include another arrow, awarding another row or column, and so on).
Cha-Ching! Videos
Here’s a video from RandomSlots on the game:
Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel Fire & Ice
One of the most direct sequels, and an expansion of the Wicked Wheel series (which has been a strong success for the company), the game adds a second character to increase the mischief, but also the potential.
With the addition of the Freezy character, upgrades and enhancements can come from one or both of them. This means when the wheel is upgraded, Ice can add a second progressive to the progressive wedges, as well as do further wedge upgrades. When the wheel is nudged to upgrade, such upgrades can now happen twice, once by each character.
If you launch the progressive pick with Freeze, you can potentially win two or even three progressives instead of one, if the right symbol (an ice cube) ends up being revealed (in what remains a predetermined bonus, if you were wondering), you automatically win a progressive, and the picking continues until you match three. Revealing both ice cubes yields two automatic progressives, plus the one you match.
The original pick bonus with the pitchforks remain and can be triggered, so there’s now two types of progressive pick bonuses.
This game is one with a Frenzy Mode, in this case ; when the countdown is rolling, if you trigger that progressive pick, you’ll get a Fired Up Jackpots progressive feature. In that, once you match three, you will get an upgraded to the next progressive up.
The upgraded game is 60 credit increments up to 600 credits, keeping the lower end accessible while boosting the overall credit ranges, in line with many sequels.
Fans of the original will most likely enjoy this one as well, given the main concept is still quite stable and the additional upgrades and opportunities will open up some potential, although the game is likely a bit tougher for it to make room for those pays.
Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel Fire & Ice Video
Here’s Everi’s promotional video for the new game:
Here is RandomSlots’ video shot with the Everi team; Coty Goodwin was the producer of this one:
Ultra Cascades
Ultra Cascades is Everi’s first cascading reels game, and it’s got a lot going on. First off, the cascading reels feature means whenever a line hit occurs (and this is an all ways pays game), those symbols will disappear and new ones will take their place.
However, there is also a set of arrows that appear on the reels, and if they land, either on the initial spin or after a cascade, at the top edge of a given reel, they will expand that reel for the remainder of that spin, no matter how many cascades that follow. The reels then reset at the time of the next wager.
Once you get to the free spins, the cascades and arrows work the same, but the reels stay expanded throughout the bonus, so you don’t have to reset after each spin. With the ways to win growing throughout the bonus, things can get pretty exciting.
The game reminds me of a game like Quick Hit Ultra Pays blended with a cascading reels game, and for a first effort in that arena looks pretty fun. It takes great advantage of a portrait style cabinet that’s becoming standard on casino floors nowadays, which is also a nice bonus, as many games just use the bottom portion of the screen for most of the effort.
Ultra Cascades Video
Coty Goodwin and Michael Conway spoke to RandomSlots about this one too:
Gold Hills
Gold Hills comes in two flavors, Prospector Pete and Lucky Mule, but the general gist is the same, with a number of features and bonuses. It’s a five jackpot format with two flat jackpots and three progressives. I reviewed the Lucky Mule version.
If a plunger is revealed on reel 1, not only does it serve as a wild (and can carry a multiplier), any nuggets that appear on the other reels (which have your money/progressive values on them) are awarded, as long as they’re in successive reels, sort of like winning prizes on the Wild Wild series.
The highest chances for nuggets are on higher bets, so betting mid to high will give you more chances at those prizes.
Three dynamite free spin symbols, which appear on reels 1, 3 and 5, will trigger the free spins bonus. You’re awarded 10 free spins and the reels morph to focus on the plunger on reel 1 and the nuggets on reels 2 through 5, which are now expanded. Retriggers are possible as well.
Gold Run symbols on reels 1 and 5 launches the Gold Run feature, which is another example of a Frenzy Mode feature with a timer. In this case, it’s not a community format, but a single machine format, and is triggered not randomly but by the specific outcome of a reel spin.
During the Gold Run, nuggets now appear on top of the reels and a 2:00 countdown runs. As you’re spinning, the nuggets above the reels change each spin. If a gold cart appears, the nuggets fall down into the cart. You still need the plunger and it still needs to land on a consecutive reel, but it does enhance the ability to win gold nugget prizes.
Gold Hills Video
Here’s Everi’s promotional video for the series:
And here’s RandomSlots’ video with the Everi team:
Jackpot Falls
A spiritual successor to The Vault in many ways is Jackpot Falls, which features a community-based Frenzy Mode and three themes, just like its predecessor. This time, all three base themes are all ways pays format, with 243 ways to win.
A feature available on all three base games is a symbol falls feature, where one specific symbol falls down from above and eventually comes to a stop on the reels, hopefully with a big payout to match. This particular feature is designed to be one seen frequently to keep game play fresh.
Each game has its own bonus – two have a free spins bonus, and one has a pick bonus, so you can get a bit of diversity between the themes.
Something new for this series is Power Pick, which lets you pick objects; each time you successfully pick an object without ending the bonus (which they call the stopper), you win the values of all the objects picked so far. So you can keep winning prizes previously picked as long as you pick a new prize and don’t end the bonus.
The wheel that has been showing up on more Everi games is present in the community bonus, another Frenzy Mode feature that for this game is called Lightning Mode. One big thing about the wheel is the wedge spun gets upgraded after each spin, for the duration of the community Lightning Mode.
You can also get a chance to spin a special wheel, in which prizes are multiplied, picking up a setup seen on the Wicked Wheel series.
There’s a lot going on here, which should keep players engaged, especially with a new setup for the Frenzy Mode.
Jackpot Falls Video
Here is RandomSlots’ walkthrough with the Everi team:
Cashnado
Yet another new game with a Frenzy Mode is Cashnado. This is yet another game with a Frenzy Mode attached to it. It also picks up some similar mechanics to some of the other games written up here. This game is another all ways pays game.
For instance, there’s Key Pays, where if you get a key, you can unlock the prizes on the reels. The keys in this case appear on reels 1 or 5. The prizes in this case don’t have to be touching – get a key, get the prize. Get both keys, and the credit prizes are doubled (the jackpots do not appear to double). So this does differ from Gold Hills in execution, even if the basic concept is similar.
The Frenzy Mode is called Cash Grab, and works as a community bonus as well. During that mode, which lasts 2:30, the Cash Grab Bonus icon can appear on reel 5. When you land it, you get at least 10 picks, which can contain prizes (including progressives) or extra picks. You can get it multiple times during the bonus, and proves to be an addition to the key pays.
There’s a free spin bonus when you get Flash Fire on reels 1, 3 and 5. More keys are added to the reels to help improve the chances of key pays.
The way this one’s animated and amped up should definitely draw the attention of players walking the casino floor, and Frenzy Mode should only amp that up further.
Cashnado Videos
Here’s Everi’s promotional video for the series:
Here is RandomSlots’ walkthrough with Everi:
Press Your Luck
Finally, I couldn’t help but notice they were showcasing a mechanical reel version of Press Your Luck. And this version features the revival of the standard big board format fans of the show will love. When you trigger the bonus, you keep spinning until you stop at a Whammy, just like the original show.
Otherwise it’s a pretty traditional three-reel mechanical reel format, following in a very lengthy tradition Everi has established for itself. Its mechanical reel games have been top performers for a very long time, so it’s nice to see some additional creativity coming into it, and from a licensed property at that.
For fans of the video reel Press Your luck, or for those who have yet to be able to enjoy that game, Everi’s going to be making that more widely available as well, so there’ll be more chances to see it on casino floors.
Other Everi G2E 2021 Videos
The Slot Cats took a walk through the booth:
Slot500Club filmed an overview of some games from the Everi booth at G2E. Here is one part:
Here is a round-up from Fantini Research at Everi’s 2021 booth, which includes non-slot tech like cashless gaming:
