Candy Land Slot
To say that as soon as the screen loads up on this 3-reel game you will feel like a kid in a sweet shop is probably an understatement. The whole thing has more sugar coating than your average well-meaning friend after you try out a new haircut, and we say all the better for it.
So, as you would expect, Candyland is a bright, colourful, and incredibly fun casino game from the folk at PariPlay, who seem to have a habit of not quite playing by the same rules as most other developers. You’ll no-doubt be used to standard five reel games, this clearly has two missing, and as such it would seem more limited. Nothing could be further from the truth, though, but let’s come to that later.
Beforehand, sticking with the first impressions, all you really need to know is that this is all about bold pinks, baby blues, and gingerbread men frantically trying to get your attention in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Sadly for the tasty chap, you’ve got more important things to contend with, like walking away with a load more money than you started out with. Let’s begin then.
Candy Canes, Everywhere
Well, OK, not quite everywhere. In fact, candy canes actually account for the minority of sweets in Candyland. On the reels when the game opens up, you’ll see three different types of treats, one on each of the reels. The idea is to get three of a kind, which is harder than it sounds but incredibly fun to try and do, and unbelievably satisfying when it finally happens (obviously).
The other candies on offer include cherries, lollipops, swirlies, boiled green sweets, and, perhaps our favourite, the BAR of chocolate- a nice reference to the classic BAR you see on all traditional gamblers. Each of these corresponds to a different value of win, the top being three lollipop pictures, land those and you get the jackpot. Helpfully, rather than having to click through to another screen, the paytable detailing all this is constantly displayed in the top right hand corner of the screen, just in case you forget all this in some kind of sugar high.
Half a Pound of Treacle
As this is only a three-reel gambler, there’s not much that needs to be explained about setting your bet up. You can adjust the bet level in the bottom right of the screen- logically hitting - takes money out of your bet, tapping + adds.
There’s also a max bet button that will automatically place a maximum bet, which is €1.20. There are no paylines that can be added, nor are there any additional reels to be brought into play. Amazingly, though, you don’t feel there needs to be- with such urgency to skip to the chase and start winning some cash money.
Sugar Crash
So what else is there to say then? On the whole Candyland plays really nicely, and like we said just before, there doesn’t feel like there is anything missing from the game itself. It feels complete, rather than half finished.
It’s addictive as anything as a result, too. You can get at least three or four bets in on this in the same time as some of the more complicated models on the market would let you place one bet, so depending on how good you are at these kind of games that’s going to be either a good thing or a bad thing.
Speed Can be a Drawback
It’s a funny one really. We really, really like so much about Candyland, from the look of the graphics – which calls into mind a level on the old Mickey Mouse Castle of Illusion game on SEGA consoles in the early 90s – to how easy it is to play, PariPlay are definitely onto a winner with this one.
However, how much longevity it offers is a very different question altogether. Because it’s so fast and so simple, it’s easy to rinse through your little pot of gold in double quick time, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Similarly, thanks to the complete lack of anything other than the goal of matching the ‘standard’ icons – i.e. no bonuses, scatters, or wilds – there’s not a lot to keep you occupied once the music starts to grate a little. And let’s face it, music on these things always starts to grate after a while.
