Pros at the Game!

Progame Electronic Corp, based out of Taiwan, is going to be a gambling machine manufacturer to look out for in the near future as they are rolling out several excellent machines. What we are going to do for this editorial is review all of the different new machines that are soon to hit the market as well as compare them to others that are currently found in land-based casinos.

Despite the lack of familiarity, some may have with the name, PROGAME has been established since 1982 and manufacturers (and supports) a wide variety of machines. In addition to gambling-related equipment, they also produce various Pinball games, other amusement games (such as claw games) as well as manufacturing spare parts that can be used in their units and potentially units manufactured by different companies.

They are striving to build their own brand that shall consist of uniquely themed slots and other electronic games. Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of what they have to offer.

The first video we are going to look at is something of an overview of their Super Xtramate Vol. 6 gaming cabinet. The video quality leaves a little bit to be desired, but you can get the point of what is on here. This cabinet consists of the following games:

• Royal Treasures
• Book of Ra Deluxe
• Lord of the Ocean (Neptune Themed, Clearly)
• Power Stars
• Gryphon’s Gold Deluxe
• Pharaoh’s Gold II Deluxe
• Dolphin’s Pearl Deluxe
• Sizzling Hot Deluxe
• Diana’s Realm
• Lucky Lady’s Charm

One intriguing feature of this cabinet, unlike most slot games, is that there is a Progressive that can be won while playing any game on the cabinet. Most slot games with multiple Progressives only have one game on the entire cabinet, and others that have multiple games typically only have certain Progressives apply to one game. For example, Spielo Pick N’ Play machines have multiple jackpots for separate Keno games, but they are different progressives for various games.

The cool thing about the Super Xtramate cabinet is the fact that players will be able to play games that they enjoy while contributing to the progressive jackpots regardless of which game(s) they choose to play. Provided the player is making an adequate enough bet (200 credits to win any jackpot and 40 to qualify for the Major or Minor and 10 units for just the Minor) the player will have the same access to the jackpot pool with any game on the cabinet.

The only way that could get better is if they made the jackpots must-hits, but maybe they’ll eventually decide to do that. Let’s take a look at some of the individual games after you watch this video.

The big highlight to take from that video is that Super Xtramate has the capacity to have the jackpot linked across multiple units, which will cause the jackpot amounts to increase quickly. At the casino’s option, the Xtramate units could also carry machine-specific jackpots rather than be linked, so that is just a matter of whatever the casino decides it prefers.

There you have it, the ability to choose from a wide array of games AND machines while still being able to play for the same huge jackpot!

Xtramate also presents a 57 in 1 game board, which enables casinos (and players) to choose from as many as fifty-seven unique games all on one device.

While casinos may be hesitant to implement a game board with that many options, (players would spend just as much time trying to decide what game to play as actually playing) it does showcase the innovation of Progame in enabling casinos to put any number of different selections on an individual unit. It’s unusual to see anymore than perhaps twelve games on an individual unit (think Scientific Games or Game King Multi-Game units) so the ability to have as many as fifty-seven may be advantageous for smaller casinos and parlors who might not have the floor space for a ton of individual cabinets.

One of the games apparently being offered is Super Jackpot Party.

I don’t know if there is something that makes this an entirely original creation, but this game is virtually identical to the WMS slot machine of the title, ‘Jackpot Party,’ or, ‘Jackpot Block Party.’ On this game, players can play various numbers of lines with different line bets to (sometimes) qualify for Progressives as well as a Jackpot Party Bonus Game.

On the bonus game, the player will pick presents that will each correspond to a particular number of credits, however, if the player chooses the wrong box, the party ends immediately unless the player picks a ‘Jackpot Saver.’ After picking a ‘Party Pooper,’ the player may choose a ‘Party Favor,’ and has a one in five chance of picking a ‘Jackpot Saver,’ that will enable the player to continue making picks from the original bonus screen. If the player does not select a ‘Jackpot Saver,’ then the result will also be a fixed number of credits that shall be added to the player’s total.

If the player is very fortunate, one of the presents picked can lead to an additional jackpot or another type of bonus game. I don’t know what the relationship between Progame and WMS is, if any, but these two games are very similar.

The next video is a very simple fifteen line slot game that’s called, “Fifteen Lines.”.

There’s really not too much to say about that game. Stylistically, it seems very similar to games such as Double Diamond 2000, Double Diamond Deluxe or games of that nature. That doesn’t make it an unoriginal game as there are many slot games that are based on fifteen lines. Similarly, there are many slot enthusiasts who enjoy more simple games of that nature with just a simple Free Games feature. I could definitely see where it would be important to appeal to both the high-tech market and the simple games market if you are going to manufacture cabinets with several available games.

Additionally, they have apparently worked with Aristocrat to incorporate touchscreen technology into the old Fifty Lions slot title.

This is something of a guilty pleasure slot game for me that works very simply. On the physical units that I have played, a player may play anywhere from one to fifty lines and may bet anywhere from one credit per line all the way up to ten in varying amounts. Essentially, the player wins by either matching symbols on paying lines (including Lions) or by hitting bonus games by getting flowers on the first three reels. I enjoy the game, but haven’t played it much, so I unfortunately do not recall how many free games one gets for the three flowers.

Most of the Fifty Lions units that still can be found are on older cabinets, so everything from the player’s end is typically operated via physical buttons rather than touchscreen. In addition to the touchscreen update to the game, it appears that Progame has also instituted a, ‘Gamble,’ feature by which a player can risk his/her win (or enhanced win) in order to increase his/her prize by simply picking red or black and being right. Assuming that this is a 50/50 result, which I don’t actually know, the house edge on the increased bet is 0% and the player would do well to do that as often as possible. However, I do not know whether or not the Red/Black result is 100% random, and if not, it may not be advisable to play it.

Double Bingo Mania is deceptive in that it seems simple.

The way that the game works is that the player has four fifteen number (European as American Bingo cards have 25 spots) Bingo cards and the player selects his/her wager amount and then get paid based on completing certain patterns that are all viewable on the top left corner of the screen.

After drawing thirty numbers, the game will give the player the option of purchasing additional balls at a certain cost-per-ball that seems to vary depending on the situation. In general terms, the cost per ball increases with the number of extra balls the player receives. The player is permitted to receive as many as ten extra balls, or may choose to take his/her winnings (or loss) at any time after the initial draw.

In order to accurately determine whether or not an extra ball should be paid for, the player would want to establish how many winning possibilities he has based upon either just the cost of the ball in question, or what his probability of winning is based upon buying all ten balls. Of course, the latter calculation is going to prove difficult because the player doesn’t know how much all of the extra balls will end up costing. The best thing to do is probably just make an initial decision based on the probability of hitting any win (and what that win will be) if the player just hits one or two balls. The extra ball costs can theoretically add up in a serious hurry and not amount to much in terms of win.

The only playing decision that is comparatively, ‘Easy,’ is whether or not the player wants to buy the tenth ball having seen all other balls. The probability of hitting a particular remaining number, at that point, would simply be 1/36. Therefore, the player would need only to determine how many different numbers could he/she win with, what is the average win per number, what is the probability that none of the numbers hit, and then the player can calculate an expected value.

Besides that, it would be a challenging game to play optimally as it would involve delving into some serious combinatorial math for every remaining possibility on every remaining card. The worst part is, a good percentage of the time, the player could theoretically hit the fifteen number cover all if the ten extra balls go right...but that doesn’t necessarily make them worth paying for.

Ultimately, it’s just an extremely tough game to play perfectly and recommendable only for those who are extremely math-inclined, who will then proceed to take ten or more minutes between each individual game given all of the stuff that needs to be figured out. The only exception would be if the game automatically prices the next extra ball such that buying it is always correct or incorrect. In that sense, it would be similar to the game of Extra Ball Keno in which buying the extra ball(s) is (almost) always the correct decision, if offered.

The next video we are going to look at is a three-game cabinet option featuring the Zeus II, Shimmer and Black Knight titles originally by WMS.

Some of you may have seen these games on individual units before, but this cabinet gives the player the choice of playing any of the three games or switching between multiple games.

If you would like more information or a longer video of any of those titles, you should be able to find them by searching Youtube, particularly Zeus II, which has already enjoyed many placements in Land-Based casinos in the United States. In fact, Zeus II was one of the first WMS titles to incorporate a must-hit Progressive in with the games, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with respect to this tri-game cabinet.

The next video that we will take a look at is a game called 7 Mania Bingo.

This game is fairly similar to Double Bingo Mania in that the player is playing multiple cards at one time and has the ability to purchase additional balls as the game offers them. Alternatively, the player may choose simply to take whatever amount has already been won (if any) or to take the loss and stop playing.

Differences between this and Double Bingo Mania consist of the fact that this game is based on 4x5 Bingo grids rather than 3x5 Bingo grids resulting in twenty numbers per card. Furthermore, the player wins additional money by forming the number, ‘7,’ (top left to top right and diagonal to bottom left) on one or more cards. The player begins with a draw of 33 balls and then may purchase up to an additional nine balls. The best possible pay is to get 7’s on all of the cards.

Again, unless purchasing the extra balls is a default correct decision, it would be difficult to analyze each individual situation as it comes up. Unfortunately, neither of the videos have included a rules screen that would explain whether or not purchasing the balls is always correct.

The next game we will take a look at is Da Vinci Bingo:

This game is more similar to Double Bingo Mania as we are back to using four cards each consisting of fifteen numbers. As with Double Bingo Mania, this game begins by drawing thirty numbers and offers the option of paying for additional balls.

An exciting feature of this game is the ability to hit a Bonus Game by hitting all of the, ‘Outside,’ numbers on one or more cards. The outside numbers would consist of the entire top row, bottom row and the middle numbers on each of the first and last columns.

The Bonus Game consists of five rows of six squares with the player starting at the bottom row and advancing with every pick until completing all of the rows and receiving a bonus. Hitting a picture of Da Vinci (which begin with the second row and increase in number on each row until the end) ends the bonus immediately while there is one symbol on each row that automatically awards the player the total of all winning symbols on that row. The exception to this is the top row which consists of four Da Vincis and two otherwise winning symbols. The amount awarded are increased with each successful level, and it appears that the player will always get to at least the second level as there are no Da Vinci symbols on the first level.

Based on the demo, here are the probabilities of at each level:

• Level 1: Award All: 1/6 Award Something: 5/6
• Level 2: Award All: 1/6 Award Something: 4/6 Bonus Ends: 1/6
• Level 3: Award All: 1/6 Award Something: 3/6 Bonus Ends: 2/6
• Level 4: Award All: 1/6 Award Something: 2/6 Bonus Ends: 3/6
• Level 5: Award Something + Bonus 2/6 Bonus Ends: 4/6

Here are the probabilities of advancing to a certain level:

• Level 1: 100%
• Level 2: 100%
• Level 3: 83.333% (16.67% for the game to end at this level)
• Level 4: 55.56% (44.44% for the game to end here or Level 3)
• Level 5: 27.78% (72.22% for the game to end here or Levels 3-4)
• BONUS COMPLETION: 9.259% (90.741% not to complete the Bonus)

The game also features a Progressive jackpot. One such jackpot is won by hitting all four of the Award All symbols during a Bonus game, which will happen roughly 1 in 1296 Bonus Games, but I’ve no idea how frequently the Bonus Games should be expected to hit.

The next game we will take a look at is Fire Bingo.

This is another Bingo game consisting of four 3x5 cards with awards for different winning combinations. It consists of an initial draw of thirty-one balls with the opportunity to purchase as many as ten additional balls. In addition to the Bingo patterns, a cover-all shall also award a top Progressive Jackpot.

Conclusion:

Progame may not be the household name that WMS, Aristocrat, ITG and Scientific Games (as well as a few others) are, but I expect to see some placements of many of their cabinets worldwide in the near future. In addition to a bunch of Bingo and Slot games I have not seen before, it seems that they are also taking old favorites from makers such as Aristocrat and WGS and putting new spins on them and/or incorporating them into multi-game cabinets.

In addition to the multi-game cabinets, Progame cabinets should be unique in the fact that they offer localized linked jackpots on cabinets with as many as twelve games with the option to also localize the jackpots to individual machines. Beyond that, the interesting Bingo games that they are rolling out should be a hit for Bingo enthusiasts. My personal favorite is the Da Vinci Bingo, but that is largely due to the free games. If you see any placements of these cabinets, let me know in the comments!