Crazy Chameleons Pokie
While Chameleons are a fascinating creature that has the ability to adapt to their surrounds by changing colours, the Crazy Chameleons pokie from Microgaming is a feature-free game that may be colourful, but the only adapting that’s possible is choosing a bet size.
Some people like this sort of game however, so let’s not be too harsh on it, but if you are wanting bonus rounds like free spins and so on, look elsewhere because this ain’t the game for you.
Themed around the unlikely scenario of surfing lizards, Crazy Chameleons is set in and around a beach scene, and while much of the reels will tend to be taken up with the standard playing card symbols, there are a few sunny images to go along with them.
Crazy Chameleons
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Reptilian Reels
This is a 5-reel Poker machine that has a fairly sparse 5 paylines to wager on. It’s been around for a while and it really shows in the whole design, which does away with any type of background image or sophisticated symbols. Everything is in a very basic cartoon style and a bit flat-looking, although at least it makes the symbols clear and easy to understand.
A control panel below the reels will allow players to set the number of lines activated and the amount wagered on each. Remember though, that if anything but all 5 lines are active, there will be winning combinations that won’t count when they land on any others, so players on a budget should bet just a small amount per line, but if possible, activate them all.
The least amount that can be staked on a spin is 0.25, which is quite steep considering that many other pokies let players just try them out for 0.01. By using the control buttons, the amount bet on each line can be increased to 20.00, so with all 5 lines in play, that’s a total maximum of 100.00 per spin.
Players will understand more when they check out the paytable which details what combinations of symbols wins what amounts.
It’s a shame the paytable looks better than the actual game, as here is where we see the lizards on their surfboards hanging err… six or so.
All of the symbols are laid out on this page, and starting from the lowest-value 10 icon, we see that just 2 of them on adjacent reels across a line will be worth 1x the bet per line, and if a full line of 5 stop in the right places, the reward is 100x. Unlike many games, players will win if the line of symbols starts from the left side or the right of the reels, which should result in a greater frequency of successful spins.
Moving up the pay scale, we see the K is worth from 5 to 500x the line bet and picture symbols are even more valuable.
These consist of a couple of surfboards in the sand that are worth 6x, 60x, or 600x the line bet when 3, 4, or 5 appear, some brightly coloured swimming trunks that pay 7x, 70x or 700x, a seagull that has a value of 20x, 200x, or 2000x the line bet for 3, 4 or 5 of them and a smiling cartoon Sun that will pay 30x, 300x or 3000x.
The most valuable symbol is a friendly-looking chameleon, who is worth 50x, 500x or even 5000x the amount staked per line when he lands across an activated line in 3, 4 or 5 positions.
Finally, we have the wild symbol, which is helpfully labelled ‘Wild’ in big letters that are running up the front of a wave. Although it’s the only special symbol here, it doesn’t do much more than substitute for any other, helping to complete lines of symbols for extra wins. There’s no value in getting a row of wilds across a payline and no multiplier payouts or anything else that many pokies would feature.
If you were expecting a scatter symbol, then sorry to disappoint you, as there isn’t one. Or anything else really, and even the soundtrack is just a weird combination of ocean noises and annoying beeps and bells.
Is Crazy Chameleons a Total Wipeout?
This isn’t the most exciting game in history, but as lots of people just like to spin the reels and collect whatever comes their way, it wouldn’t be right to condemn it for that reason.
It’s got bright, clear graphics, the fact that symbols can line up from the left and right of the reels is a bonus, and the potential payouts can get quite high. Having a bet range that starts at 0.25 per line however, is a little too much.