Casino Player November 2022

PLAYING THE MACHINES

REEL DEAL

New Slots: My Top 10 Here’s a totally subjective lineup of what I consider the top 10 new slot games revealed in October

➤ by Frank Legato

A s longtime readers of Casino Player know, every fall, the casino industry stages a huge trade show, the Global Gaming Expo (G2E),at which the slot manufacturers roll out the new games that will be released over the subsequent months. It’s like the auto industry’s rollout of the“new model year.” If you subscribe to our sister publication, Strictly Slots, you may

that they will be popular in general.They’re just innovative, fun games to watch out for. Here’s my lineup of slot games to watch for in the coming months:

1. Fruit Ninja Frenzy Everi Holdings

have seen my cover story highlighting the new games for the coming year. However, something else I do every year is publish my own personal “Top 10” among the new games.This is a completely subjective list of what I thought were the best games launched at G2E. Note the word “subjective.”This is completely my opinion,based on the 38 years (whew!) I’ve been writing about slot machines.The fact I thought these games were cool doesn’t mean you will like them as much, or even

While there were a lot of games that caught my eye at G2E, I have to say this one was my favorite. First introduced as one of the base games for the TournEvent tournament system, Fruit Ninja Frenzy has at its heart a“frenzy”of player interac tion in a fast-paced bonus event, as various pieces of fruit fly across the screen and the player physically swipes and slashes the touch-screen to obliterate as many pieces of fruit as pos sible within a short time, revealing bonus awards each time. This game is a blast. 2. The Wizard of Oz: Follow the Yellow Brick Road Light &Wonder This latest iteration of the Light &Wonder series (first launched by L&W legacy company WMS Gaming), based on the leg endary 1939 film, is the most grand version yet, and it could have been No. 1A on my list. It is featured on the giant Mural cabinet,with dual stacked 55-inch 4K curved monitors that re ally make the collection of bonuses based on the film’s char acters jump out at the player.Yes, Glinda the Good Witch is still one of those bonuses (my favorite). My first three choices really could all be No.1 picks.These sis ter games from Everi were among my favorites—probably due as much to my age as to the fact they are great games. These are mechanical reel-spinners with a bonus wheel,but with a soundtrack that is absolutely hilarious to anyone who was a fan of the quirky 1960s cartoon series.The voice-over im pressions of the characters, including the smarmy narrator, are all spot on.What fun! 3. Rocky and Bullwinkle/Boris & Natasha Everi Holdings

2 4 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 2 • w w w . c a s i n o c e n t e r . c o m