Pachinko 3
Pachinko machines are similar to pinball games and originally came from Japan where they remain very popular to the present day. Here, the name ‘Pachinko’ is used to add a flavour of Japan and bring the excitement of the phenomenon to online bingo with nJoy Interactives Pachinko 3. It looks oriental with the design that relies on the Japanese Maneki-neko lucky cat to feature on each card, and also as the free ball.
A bingo ball cage is placed at the top of the screen with the ball check area below. Knowing where you are with credits, bet and amounts won is taken care by the meters at top left so at any time the values are in view. At top right, the possible jackpot is shown when punters play with the full 4 bingo cards and bet 3 credits or more on each card. This is rewarded if making bingo within the 44 standard balls the game picks. Just underneath is an info pane that shows messages such as ‘good luck’ in addition to wins made. It will also display the cost of the extra balls, although this can also be clearly seen on the ball waiting to release.
Spelling for a Bonus
To place a wager for this game, it is a matter of initially setting the credit value. This is done by clicking on the spinning coin to change the value from 0.25, 0.50, 1 or 2. Once that is completed, the stake can be placed between figures of 1 to 40 for the number of cards in play. Clicking on the play button, the balls can be set to release slow to savour the moment. However, as the cards are marked off automatically by turning from white to black, normal or fast speeds can be used to speed things up. This is adjusted by clicking on the help icon.
For faster speed at any time, the turbo button will takes care of the ball drop in super quick time too. The cards are in a 5 row with 5 column format so that they are square shaped with the lucky cat taking the centre ground on each card. 10 winning patterns are needed for payouts or to make bingo and these appear under the ball check area for players to view at any time.
Lucky Cat for Free Balls
There is a neat bonus prize that is available that isn’t readily obvious but nonetheless a welcome bonus when it happens. The word Pachinko appears under the ball cage. On each round it is possible to move up to the next letter of the word as it appears as one of the pattern shapes. Spell out the full word by securing letter by letter, and the bonus of 1000x the bet will be paid. When the full 44 balls for the game have dropped, as in most bingo video games, extra balls become available for a price when close to a winning prize pattern. There are up to 10 of these extras which can also include free balls.
The freebies are represented by lucky cats, so you’ll know it’s time to get all superstitious and keep fingers crossed and hope they will be lucky for you. For those wishing to activate the auto button, it will play with the current bet and will do so extremely fast, but will only do so until extra balls are offered. To avoid having to play the extra balls manually, a visit to the settings will allow players to tailor the feature even further to purchase them automatically from 1 to the full 10 extra balls.
Who Let the Cats Out?
The free AlPachinko has a gangster lucky cat in another oriental based bingo video game from nJoy Interactive. It has so many similar of features to Pachinko 3, although betting is set a lot higher with the max bet in this case being 120, and 1 being the low limit to start getting the balls released. The design is a little more colourful and the overall layout is a little different.
Nonetheless, if features the same Pachinko word bonus for 1000 x the current bet in play, and adopts the same use of 44 balls released. Also the style of the bingo tickets being in a 5 by 5 format with a cat at each centre is very similar. To add a bit of humour, the lucky cat is placed in the white suit, Al Pacino ‘Scarface’ style as a play on words with the Pachinko game name. We’re not entirely sure this works, but the game is good to play.
Retro Style for a Bingo Game
The auto play is for Pachinko 3 is great for any high rollers looking to sit back and watch play with minimal interaction. Many of the bingo for fun games cater for purchasing the extra balls; however a word of caution to those that aren’t as well versed with online bingo as some of the extra balls can be expensive to buy. This is especially true when playing at the higher stakes as this can eat into payrolls very quickly.
Taking advantage of play for free games is great to see how they work, determine the best strategies for playing and generally weigh up if it is the game for you. Pachinko 3 may look a little dated for some and neither is it unique, but it is trying to mimic a traditional Japanese game, and however it looks, it’s without doubt very exciting to play.
