Fruit Bingo Pokie Machine
There are hundreds of online pokies that feature 3 reels and a single payline, but Fruit Bingo, from Microgaming, manages to be a bit different by having a bonus game. Strangely though, it’s not really a Bingo game at all, but never mind, it can still pay out some decent prizes.
Microgaming are experts at 3 reeler games and have managed to bring out yet another title that is featured at the many online casinos which use their range, and like everything they produce, Fruit Bingo is independently certified as fair and reliable.
Unpeeling the Fruit
Unsurprisingly, the game is filled with different types of the classic fruit symbols that have been a feature of Poker machines for decades. Fruit Bingo is made to look like one of those machines, even down to having a slightly out of focus background image of a casino, and the control buttons angled towards the players for extra realism.
Getting started is suitably old-fashioned as well, with players simply clicking + and – buttons to choose their stake, with anything from 0.10 to 10.00 available. That maximum wager is fairly low by the standards of todays’ online pokies and could deter some people from trying it out, but there’s a generous 500x jackpot to win, so perhaps they shouldn’t dismiss it straight away.
Once a bet has been chosen, it’s just a matter of clicking to spin the reels and seeing what combinations of symbols stop across the single win line. Details of how much each fruit will award can be found above the reels, starting with a line of 3 cherries paying out 2x the amount staked per spin.
Next up, a full line of 3 plums is worth 5x the bet, then it’s the oranges that have a value of 10x and the watermelons are worth 25x when 3 of them come to a stop across the line. All of that’s dwarfed by the star symbol however, as landing a line of these will result in a big win of 500x the bet.
Fruit Bingo
Unable to connect to MySQL: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] No such file or directory
Bingo Bonus
The Fruit Bingo logo is the only other symbol here, and while it doesn’t have any value of its’ own, it triggers the Bingo bonus game when landing across the line. Players are awarded free spins of the reel, and each time any fruit symbol lands on the line, it will fill up a space above them. Once enough of the same type have been collected, players will win the amount indicated.
A random number of spins are given, so a win isn’t guaranteed, but there are a number of other features that have been seen on similar Microgaming pokies that are sure to give players a payout.
The easiest to get are the Mystery Wins, which are exactly what they sound like and occur at random. The reels spin, and a guaranteed winning combination will stop on the line.
Holds and Nudges are classic pokie features that make a welcome appearance on this game. Holds can be used to keep 1 or 2 reels in place and re-spin any remaining ones for a chance of completing a winning line, while Nudges move a reel up or down. Between 1 and 4 Nudges will be randomly awarded, and players can have the option to gamble the Nudge for a bigger win or sometime hang on to them for another spin.
Usefully, if there’s a potentially winning symbol hidden out of sight on the reels, the relevant type of fruit on the payout table will flash, giving players an indication of what reels to nudge.
Let ‘em Spin can be randomly awarded when 2 identical symbols land after nudges have been used. Players just click to spin the remaining reel and it will line up a third one for them.
If the Shifta feature is triggered after a single symbol stops on the win line, players just need to sit back and watch the other 2 reels spin to match up and pay out a guaranteed prize.
A Peach or a Bad Apple?
Fruit Bingo is a step above the average 3-reel pokie. It may look pretty simple at first glance, but there are loads of extra features that pop up quite frequently. Unlike many games, there’s an element of skill involved here, with Nudges and Holds in particular rewarding players who know how to use them to the best advantage.
It’s fairly easy to learn these skills though, so even those people who tend not to go for this type of game could come away with some nice wins.