"Slots," "skill" and "knowledge" are not usually words that go together.
Slot machines traditionally are games of pure chance. You win if you're
in the right place at the right time, and lose if you're not.
That's even true on the bonus rounds of most modern multiline video
slots. Your choices make a difference, but there's no way of knowing
whether the kung pao chicken is hiding a bigger bonus than the General's
chicken on Fortune Cookie, or which package is hiding the Pooper that
will stop the round on Jackpot Party. Video slots from Mikohn Gaming are
different. In games that include "Battleship," "Yahtzee," "Clue" and
"Ripley's Believe It or Not," Mikohn has offered players a chance to
test skill and knowledge.
Skill isn't going to put you over the top on these games--the math is
worked out so the house will retain an edge even against the biggest
trivia experts--but they add a little interest for players who want more
than spinning reels and bonus rounds played out by animated characters.
That is not the largest share of the slot market. Most players are more
than willing to trust their luck. Fun concepts and characters drive the
bonus rounds on video slots. But as it happens, I like Mikohn's trivia
rounds and little tests of skill, so I was looking forward to its
display at September's Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.
I was no sooner seated at the new Yahtzee Looking for Love game, than I
was greeted by Olaf Vancura, Mikohn's director of game development and a
fellow gaming author whose books include Smart Casino Gambling
and, with Ken Fuchs, Knockout Blackjack. Vancura gave me a guided
tour through Mikohn's latest and greatest--Wink's Survey of America,
Trivial Pursuit and Ripley's Treasures of the World in addition to the
new Yahtzee game.
Yahtzee Looking for Love includes a small element of skill in its a Fair
Maiden bonus round, which features a die dressed as a maiden in a
medieval tower. Another die rolls to establish a base number on the
outside. The player then must guess whether the next roll will be higher
or lower. If the guess is correct, the second die jumps atop the first,
and another die comes out ready to roll.
Now the player must guess whether this die will roll higher or lower
than the second one, with a bigger bonus on the line. Making it all the
way through the round by stacking six dice high enough to rescue the
damsel from the tower not only brings the full bonus, it qualifies the
player for a bonus-within-a-bonus. The tower scene is replaced by a
choice of honeymoon destinations. The player touches the screen to
choose a destination, which then reveals one final bonus award.
As in many Mikohn games, strategy makes a difference but the strategy is
simple. To maximize chances, pick "higher" if the previous die shows 1,
2 or 3, but if 4, 5 or 6 are shown, pick "lower."
Wink's Survey of America, featuring animation of longtime game show host
Wink Martindale, asks players to guess responses from a survey of 100
people. In the Wink-O-Meter round, the player might be asked how many
people surveyed said they can whistle. The closer you come to the
correct number, the higher the bonus.
There's also a survey bonus in which you're asked to choose the top
responses from the survey. I was asked, "Name a place in which you
should lower your voice," and asked to choose the top four from along
the movies, library, restaurant, hospital, church and funeral home. The
more you get before a miss, the bigger the bonus.
The survey bonus is reminiscent of the TV show "Family Feud," and it
strikes me as an opportunity that was missed in Family Feud slot
machines. In the Family Feud slots, players don't get to answer the
questions. In Wink Martindale, they do, leaving a round that is more fun
to play.
"People who think like average Americans will do very well on this
game," Vancura said.
My favorite was Trivial Pursuit, in which you are asked trivia questions
in categories from the board game Trivial Pursuit. You can choose a
category to be a reel symbol as you play. Choose wisely. One of the
bonus rounds asks a trivia question from your chosen category. I
sometimes set my category as sports and leisure, sometimes as science.
This was a bonus round right up my alley. It might not appeal to
everyone, but for slot players who like a little test, Trivial Pursuit
will become a favorite game.
One final tip on Mikohn games: The designers love to put in little
hidden features--"Easter eggs," as computer game enthusiasts call them.
Whether you're on the reel-spinning portions of the games, or on the
bonus screens, don't be afraid to touch characters or symbols just to
see what you can find.
