Let's Make a Deal Pokie Machine
With an impressive array of bonus rounds and the recognition that comes from being themed around a popular game show, Let’s Make A Deal is one of the best-known pokies on the casino floor and comes from the Aristocrat game developer.
The Let’s Make A Deal TV show has been running in the USA since 1963, with an Australian version coming on air in 1968, but international players will find the pokie is based on the American game, with host Wayne Brady overseeing the action and popping up on the reels or the screen above them pretty much constantly.
It’s a 5 reel, 30 line game with symbols arranged over 4 rows and players win by landing 3 or more of the same symbol across a line on adjacent reels running from the left side to the right. All of the playing card symbols that make up the lesser payouts have been designed to fit in to the theme, with cheerleaders dancing next to each one, while bigger wins come from symbols such as the purple piggy-bank, an envelope stuffed with cash, the host and the audience.
Players will find this game in bright and colourful cabinets that have a rumbling iChair feature, surround sound and wide screen, while up to 6 games can be placed together to make this a pretty noisy part of the casino as well.
There’s lots of clips from the show, lots of noise and (over)reaction from the hyped-up audience, along with a soundtrack that leaves players in no doubt that there’s an American game show going on, which may or may not be a good thing depending on their point of view.
Let's Make a Deal
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Playing Let’s Make a Deal
Regular symbols pay out some steady wins during the base game, but this pokie is all about the seemingly endless range of bonus features. A couple of them can turn up in the normal run of play, with the Wild Wayne bonus seeing the host handing out extra prize and a Wild Box bonus of multiplier wins.
The main bonus rounds however, start when 3 or more Let’s Make A Deal logo symbols appear in any positions on the reels, which takes players to a screen with 3 red doors on it, that will be familiar to fans of the show.
There’s a bonus feature behind each door, and players simply tap one of them to start the round. These could be one of several free spins games, each of which has their own unique qualities, with some multiplier payouts, or extra wild symbols in effect throughout each one. There’s a free spins round that features a car, one that sees a banana boat and another that covers the important topic of nachos and hot tubs. Random, but fun all the same.
A feature from the show that makes a frequent appearance on the pokie game is the ‘Zonk’, which occurs when players choose to gamble their wins for a mystery prize that can be substantially more, or pretty much worthless.
The pokie isn’t as harsh as the TV show, with just half the gambled prizes being lost if a wrong pick is made, but it certainly adds a level of tension to proceedings. An example of the Zonk is during the Smash For Cash bonus round where players need to break open piggy banks for bigger and better prizes until a pig reveals the Zonk and the round ends.
Another highlight of Let’s Make A Deal is the series of progressive jackpots that can be worth up to $250,000. Players will see a big wheel spinning against 4 pointers, each representing a progressive prize, and anyone lucky enough to hit a jackpot will be given another spin to try and land a further one.
Worth a Deal?
This game is always going to be a popular choice, as it’s a branded pokie based on a hit TV show that’s being running for well over 50 years, so has a fanbase of all ages.
While the main game is entertaining enough, with plenty of clips to keep people happy and lots of opportunities to line symbols up across the 30 lines, there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s all about the bonus features.
Most of the bonus games in this pokie are relatively short rounds, with even the free spins games being over and done with in 10 spins or so, but the sheer number and variety of extra features is quite unusual, so even people who are not fans of the show may want to give Let’s Make A Deal a few spins.
They may get a bit fed up with the endlessly Whooping audience and annoying soundtrack though.