The Red Queen Slot Machine
One of the latest slot machine trends has been the introduction of some skill-based games. These new machines are designed to attract players (mainly younger ones) who don’t seem to have the interest in slot machines that older generations have. The thought being that more arcade-style elements might be more appealing to the newer generation.
This trend is catching on since more game developers have been including limited ways for players to influence their results for some time now. The Red Queen by Aristocrat is an excellent example of this, as it takes traditional slot gameplay and throws in a few video poker style gameplay elements. It’s a unique twist that might just give you a reason not to play your next session on autopilot.
A Royal Offering
The Red Queen video slot is a sharp-looking video slot machine powered by Aristocrat. As the name suggests, players will be presented with a very red theme, and various shades of the color make up the backdrop and much of the cabinet as well. Combine that with some royal theming, and you have a simple but effective package.
As is typical in most machines, the object is to match identical symbols from left to right across the game’s five reels. This uses an all-ways format, and four positions per reel, that means you’ll have 1024 potential ways to win on every single spin. For smaller prizes, players can put together lines of the common card ranks (jacks through aces), while larger payouts can be earned by matching black knights, royal seals, chess pieces, and the red queen herself.
Take a Bite
The key symbol in the Red Queen video slot is the golden apple. Hit three of these icons anywhere on the reels, and you’ll enter into a free spins round. However, this is a very special version of this common bonus feature, in that it offers a level of interaction we’ve rarely seen in classic slots.
Here’s how it works. Players get seven free spins, each of which is guaranteed to come with at least one respin. After the reels initially come to rest, no prizes are awarded. However, players can then hold as many or as few reels as they like before their reel re-spin. The machine will offer a suggested set of holds, but this can be manually overridden, allowing players to influence their odds of winning. Payouts, if any, are awarded only after the re-spin.
In some cases, the player might get the benefit of additional re-spins on a given round, in which they can again choose what they want to hold. Once the final re-spin is taken, the next spin begins, starting from scratch with no holds. The free spins round is even more potentially lucrative than the normal game screen thanks to the addition of stacked wild symbols, which can potentially be held just like anything else.
Fit for a Queen
We’ve found that when we play The Red Queen, it feels a bit like a video poker machine in the bonus game. The nice thing about this is that it keeps players more engaged, since you’ll have to think about what you want to achieve with all of your holds before you allow the paying re-spin to take place. Of course, some players are going to be turned off by this: even though you can just take the computer’s suggestions (which, we imagine, are probably optimal or close to it). Those who are uncomfortable with this format are probably going to feel like they’re missing out on something if they don’t make the right decisions themselves.
With that in mind, we’re happy to give this title a conditional recommendation. If the ability to make some choices that might actually impact how well you do sounds fun and interesting, absolutely give this machine a try! On the other hand, if you want to play without having to worry about which option is best for you, you might want to stick with classic slots that don’t offer this sort of decision-making component.
