Blockbusters Slot
Blockbusters was a UK daytime TV show aimed at a young audience. College age contestants guessed clues to words, with letters on a board made of hexagons showing the first letter of the correct answer. This peaked during the 1980’s, though was hugely successful for many years. Host Bob Holnes may no longer be with us, though the game survives in the form of this online slot game from Fremantle. Notable features include a ‘gold run’ bonus game, and expanding wild symbols which can fill up several complete reels at the same time.
When you first see the reels, you might wonder how this games works. There is a 5 reel 3 line grid of sorts, though this is made up of hexagons and the symbols do not line up smoothly at all. This has been solved by using 15 win-lines that trace the ‘kinks’ where the hexagons meet.
Instead of a mix of letters, most of the hexagons have the playing card symbol letters on them. There are also wilds, boards (mini representations of the entire slot), blockbusters logos and 2 different coloured symbols which say ‘BB’ on them. When you spin the familiar theme tune blares out at you. This works fine in regular play, though I did notice that the (fast) auto-play means you get a jarring situation where the first couple of notes play repeatedly when you do not get a win. This is a minor gripe, and did not spoil my enjoyment of the slot.
The gold-run bonus is a pick-em game which uses a different board view with more letters on it. In the original game questions were asked to move from left to right. In the slot the questions are skipped and you just click each symbol with your mouse.
Setup and Play for Blockbusters.
You can choose how many of the 15 win lines to play. With expanding wilds as a feature I do recommend sticking to the full amount. Your stakes per line can be anything from 2p (this slot is in British Pounds) to 50p – giving a betting range between 30p and £7.50p. Auto spin lets you select up to 50 games automatically; this is very fast compared to other slot maker’s auto-spin options.
There are multiple smaller wins available, rather than fewer very big ones. The biggest prize comes from the blockbusters logo. You’ll get 250 coins for 5, 100 for 4 and 50 for 3. Next comes the board symbol (150 for 5) followed by the white background ‘BB’ (100) and the blue one (55). The playing card symbols – made to look like the letters from the original gameshow – make up the small wins for this game.
Wild symbols can appear on reels 2, 3, 4 or 5. These will substitute for any regular symbol (though not the gold-run one). If a wild is involved in a winning combination, which they often will be, then the expanding wild feature is triggered. This sees the wild cover all 3 symbols in the row it is in, which will often trigger extra wins. You can have wilds in rows 2 through 5 all expand at once, which guarantees you 15x 5 of a kind wins.
The last symbol says ‘Gold Run’ and has a green edge that contrasts with the blues and yellows of the rest of the game. 3 of these get you a prize of your total stake for that spin, and also takes you to the gold-run bonus game.
Blockbusters Slot – Bonus Game
The gold-run is a second screen, though the layout of hexagons is the same as the main game. Each symbol is replaced with 2 or 3 letters. In the main game these would have given clues to the answer of more difficult questions. The idea is to get from right to left on the board. You choose a left hand symbol with your mouse, which will reveal a prize. The symbols which you can pick next are then highlighted, and you keep on picking. The game ends either when you make it across to the right, or when you hit a ‘collect bonus’ prize behind a symbol. If you do make it all the way to the right, then your prize is doubled.
Blockbusters Slot - Can you Go on a Gold Run?
This game is more than just a nostalgic diversion, the game-play is solid and there is the potential for some bigger wins too. The expanding wild comes up reasonably often, adding some wins each time. While the gold-run is infrequent, there is the potential for some good prizes during this game. The dramatic music will remind you even more of the TV show while you play. I recommend this game for everyone old enough to remember the show, and if not then why not check out this solid slot game anyway.
