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The Game Designer behind the new CLUE™ slot adventure, scheduled to hit slot floors nationwide in March 2012, took a moment out of his busy schedule to answer some player questions submitted through Twitter® (@WMSGamingNews #CLUEslots) and Facebook® (www.facebook.com/wmsslots):
How did graphics and game play from the various versions of the CLUE board game influence the final appearance of the slot machine?Image may be NSFW.
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Well, we looked at all the different versions of the game. We liked the 1970 version, which used photographs and felt very sophisticated and complex, while still at the same time quite funny. So we cast our own actors and had our own photo shoots for production. Combining these pictures with the 3D mansion environment was tricky, but we think it paid off. The CLUE slot machine has the appearance of a large, wealthy mansion and still maintains the fun of a board game.
How many bonus rounds are in the CLUE slot game?
Lots. The CLUE slot has six room bonuses plus a WILDs feature, plus the Solve-The-Mystery Progressive game, plus the Lights Out Bonus – it should give any player plenty to see and plenty of chances at winning. Hopefully, every time you play, you’ll leave wanting to come back and see more of them.
Are any of the bonus rounds more volatile than others?
Oh my, yes. People who want smoother experiences should try the Dining Room or the Kitchen [bonuses]. Lovers of volatile bonuses may like the Billiard Room or maybe the Ballroom [bonuses]. Really lucky players can trigger five or more extra bonuses off of the Library bonus, and that can really bring in the rewards. But you can score a Big Win in every one of these bonuses. We made sure of that.
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What’s the top award of the game, and how is it won?
In WAP [Wide Area Progressive] jurisdictions, the biggest award is the Wide Area Progressive – won with 5 progressive symbols at Max Bet across Pay Line 1.
The second biggest award of the game is the Solve-The-Mystery Progressive. After every room bonus is finished, you’ll look in a safe. If there’s a magnifying glass there (and if you’re max betting, there always is) you get to try to solve the mystery. The mystery works just like in the CLUE classic board game: choose a character, weapon and room. The player who solves the mystery wins the Solve-The-Mystery Progressive jackpot. Image may be NSFW.
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The best thing about it is that as players make wrong guesses, one part of each wrong guess [the character, weapon or room] is eliminated as an option to solve the mystery, giving the next player attempting to solve the mystery better odds than the previous player at the jackpot. Everyone can see how close the mystery is to being solved. It can get quite exciting as players race to trigger bonuses and get their chance at solving it.
Whether you’re a Max Bet player or that’s just not in your budget, CLUE slots were designed to have a level of gaming and winning that will be exciting to you.
How do the top screens interact with game play?
The top screens show a big mansion, with the characters moving around it. It shows how many things have been eliminated from the solution to the Solve-The-Mystery Progressive. And during the Lights Out bonus, all the lights in the mansion go out, and one player gets the chance to win credits or even a [room] bonus!
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Image may be NSFW.
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How long, and with how many people, did it take to create the game?
The CLUE slot machine is a huge game! At the end [of development], a lot of different people contributed to the game over the 18 months it was in development. We had:
| 3 designers 3 mathematicians 2 producers A sign designer A sign production engineer A lighting design engineer A photographer A make-up artist |
A costume designer 6 actors A voice-over artist A lead artist 7 2-D artists 3 3-D artists A sound designer 5 live musicians |
A lead programmer 8 programmers The video server team The Player’s Life® Web Services team 11 testers Math testers A partridge in a pear tree |
Now, very few of these people worked on the game for the whole time (except the partridge, who was irreplaceable). But every one of them did great work, and the complete package is the result of everyone’s experience, effort and ability.
Was there anything you couldn’t fit in the game that you wanted to include?
We wanted to let players choose their own reel symbols based on older editions of the CLUE board game. As time went on, though, it became clear that we wouldn’t have time to get in every feature that we wanted. Something had to go. Maybe we’ll offer that in the next CLUE slot theme.
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What was the biggest challenge you faced during the creation of the game?
A game of this size has so many different challenges that came along, in so many areas. I’m very grateful to the skill and patience of the team that worked on the CLUE slot game.
I’d say the biggest challenge was to make a [slot] game that delivered on the widespread love of the board game but was still a fun slot machine. Slot machines play very differently than board games, of course, so it was a tricky thing to know what to take and what to leave. I believe we got enough in to satisfy even the biggest CLUE board game fan. Even Secret Passages show up in the Library bonus, as a way to trigger the other bonus games.
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Do CLUE slots feature Adaptive Gaming® technology (like THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ slot) or Community Gaming® technology (like THE WIZARD OF OZ™ Journey to Oz™ slot)?
This is Adaptive Gaming technology [through Player’s Life Web Services]. The only part that uses Community Gaming technology is that everyone is trying to win the bank-wide Solve-The-Mystery Progressive.
What is the Adaptive Gaming technology or Player’s Life Web Services tie-in for the CLUE slot game?
Mr. Peter Boddy has a large mansion with many rooms. We decided early on that the bonus games should be based on the different rooms: the Ballroom, the Kitchen, the Billiard Room and so forth. So as players accumulate Sleuth Points (one for each bonus they play) they will unlock different [bonus] rooms to play. If you’re lucky, you can play these bonus games without unlocking them through the Lights Out bonus or [secret passages] in the Library Bonus. But you can’t choose them when triggering a bonus without first unlocking them.
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Does the CLUE slot tie into other Player’s Life Web Services games, like THE LORD OF THE RINGS slots or THE PRICE IS RIGHT® THE ULTIMATE SHOW™ slot?
Players who go online [to the casino’s website or PlayersLife.com] will have the chance to win temporary unlocks of room bonuses by playing our CLUE casual web game, called Quick CLUE. And if you play it on TotalRewards.com, you can temporarily unlock room bonuses for longer periods of time, based on your Total Rewards® tier status.
Of what part of the game are you most proud?
I’m very happy with all the different bonus games in the CLUE slot. With so many different bonus games, it was hard to make sure that each one had its own identity… and that each one gave you the chance to win big. I think we did it. You’ll have to be the judge of that, of course… I can’t wait to see what bonus game will be each player’s favorite.
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What part of the game will players most enjoy?
I haven’t mentioned the Time to Add WILDs feature. In this randomly triggered feature, a clock pops up [on the base game screen] at the beginning of a spin. It always adds WILD symbols, but if you pick correctly, you can spin the clock and add up to 15 WILD symbols to your reels. Talk about excitement!
Questions or thoughts on the new game? Let us know in the comments below – must be logged in to comment. We’ll be glad to hear from you, and sure to respond with answers to any questions you may have!
View the CLUE product page on WMS Now for more details on the game.