New Skill-based slot hybrids Line 'em Up

[Awena]

Hello everyone*

 

I just come across this hybrid slot created by students and its skill-based.

 

I think its very funny and brilliant idea but I have no clue if this slot could really work.

 

It will be tested soon and I hope it will go live as soon as possible and we might get online version of it  to give it a try soon.

 

I would appreciate your feedback guys**

 

Let me know what are your thoughts

 

Cheers*

 

As skill gaming prepares to unleash itself on the casino floors of America, two enterprising young University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) undergraduates believe they may have come up with the perfect puzzle-game-slot hybrid.

 

UNLV undergrad and inventor Trot Pettie at the 2016 Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in September, demonstrating “Line ’em Up.” The game has as much in common with Candy Crush Saga as it does with a traditional slot machine. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Review-Journal).

 

At just 20 years old, Troy Pettie and Evan Thomas have co-founded software development company Guru Games, and they hit the floor at G2E last week to showcase their new game, “Line ’em Up.”

 

“It’s inspired by Bejeweled and Candy Crush,” Thomas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

 

“We took what we loved about those gaming mechanics, what made those games popular, and then we took what we know about gambling games and traditional slot machines and we melded the two to make something that’s seamless, unique and something that could actually work in a gambling space in a casino.”

 

Beta Testing

 

New skill-based slot hybrids, or video gaming machines (VGMs), could debut in the casinos of Las Vegas and Atlantic City within weeks, with Caesars properties likely to be first to test them out on their customers. The idea is to tempt millennials onto the casino floor, a demographic that has little interest in traditional slot machines.

 

The new breed of games will involve more strategy, skill, and social interaction than their one-dimensional predecessors. And they offer versions of games that millennials are used to playing, such as racing and puzzle games, that are like Line ’em Up.

 

For the first time, they will offer variable payouts, awarding slightly higher odds of winning to those who have mastered a certain game.

The difficulty is finding a game that’s challenging and fun enough to keep the player playing, but hard enough to prevent them from winning too much. Plus, the math needs to be balanced correctly, so that the house still makes a profit in the long-run, but pays out enough to reward skilled players.

 

The House (Still) Always Wins

 

But with Line ’em Up, the boys think they’ve cracked it.

 

“The great thing about our math is it meets all the Nevada gaming regulations,” said Pettie. The mathematics dictates that the house always will have an edge of 3.5 percent for those playing optimal strategy. For the rest of us, about 6 percent.

 

Pettie and Thomas, who developed the game under the guidance of Mark Yoseloff, executive director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Innovation, say they are currently in talks to develop the game for a land-based casino. In the meantime, it is available for download as a free-to-play social casino app.

 

 

Source: www.casino.org

[Afi4wins]

Hmmm...very interesting this.

 

Have to wait and see how things work out...and wait for it to be launched at casinos. 

[raverbabe]

The trouble with adding skill based features to any slot game is that crafty people are always going to try and write software to ensure they will always have the maximum possible win potential. Now if that simply gets them up to 97% or so, like any other slot game, then why is any regular gambler going to want to play a game they have to "get good at" before they have a chance at a regular RTP? And if playing the game perfectly gives odds better than any other slot game, then those who are "cheating" are going to cause the casinos problems very quickly I would guess.

 

I love the idea, and people do play Video Poker despite the fact that anything less than perfect strategy results in much worse odds, so it mght just work if the implementation is truly fantastic... I'm not convinced it will happen though.

[ValDes]

Good point, raverbabe! Why bothering with a 97% RTP slot when one could simply try any table game or video poker online where the odds are often 99%..

 

Still, looks like an interesting idea although I believe it's more land based casino oriented rather than online... 

[cocopop3011]

Yep I agree, this is very interesting indeed.

 

I also have a question for everyone then - would you invest your money in trying to win at these "skill-based" slots over normal slots?

[Afi4wins]

Yep I agree, this is very interesting indeed.

 

I also have a question for everyone then - would you invest your money in trying to win at these "skill-based" slots over normal slots?

 

For me, I must definitely try it out in fun mode first! 

[raverbabe]

Yep I agree, this is very interesting indeed.

 

I also have a question for everyone then - would you invest your money in trying to win at these "skill-based" slots over normal slots?

 

Well let's say hypothetically that your odds on the game can range from 88% all the way up to 99.5% with perfect strategy... in that situation I would sure be tempted to get good at the game so I could achieve the higher figure. But if the "skill" was based on my ability to, lets say, stop a light on the highest paying option like in an old fruit  machine, then I see that as being just as much luck as skill despite the fact that hitting the button at the exact right time would give me the highest return. That's an example of where software could be written that would enable a player to achieve the best possible result, and I'm certain somebody would create it if the profit potential was there.

 

So it does definitely depend on exactly how much "skill" is involved, but if I could get significantly better odds than even the best paying 98% slots, and get those odds reliably with a little effort to learn the ins and outs of the game... well I think the time (and money) invested in getting there could be recovered once I learnt the techniques and playing slots with better odds than the best All Aces video poker certainly sounds like fun to me!

 

And if they bring out a skill based slot with a 100.5% payout with perfect strategy... I'll spend my whole life playing that game! I hear you can grind your way to a million in no time with just a 1% advantage

[Fiekie247]

For me, I must definitely try it out in fun mode first! 

That's what i do, try fun mode first as well. I just did it with the Geisha slot and during 2 free spins sessions i achieved i have won enough. Its not a matter of the game is in the mood, seems to me every free spins session pays. Sometimes can just take long to reach  the free spins session.

 

This was my test run with Geisha ( Inspired by Valdes )

[Afi4wins]

That looks good mate, but never forget that fun play isn't the same as real play.

 

I've had a few Play'nGo games that plays beautifully in the fun mode, but plays horribly with real money! Almost all game provider games behave the same way, except that some games are more closer to the real money play than others.

 

Which provider's games are not so hyped up? I cannot be sure or definitive for now. I haven't tried much of Endorphina, GameArt, iSoftbet, etc, etc, so nothing can be exhaustive. 

[cocopop3011]

For me, I must definitely try it out in fun mode first! 

 

Absolutely, because what if you're completely ***** at the skill the slot requires 

[raverbabe]

That looks good mate, but never forget that fun play isn't the same as real play.

 

I've had a few Play'nGo games that plays beautifully in the fun mode, but plays horribly with real money! Almost all game provider games behave the same way, except that some games are more closer to the real money play than others.

 

Which provider's games are not so hyped up? I cannot be sure or definitive for now. I haven't tried much of Endorphina, GameArt, iSoftbet, etc, etc, so nothing can be exhaustive. 

 

There are actually some rules regarding this that say the free play mode has to work exactly the same as the real money mode, but the slot providers have been coming up with ways of getting around it for a while now. The worst case I can remember is with Playtech where if you use their download casino it doesn't contact the RNG on the server and creates them locally instead. You should try that, the games are AMAZING when your running them like this, 1000's of times stake every free spins round and stuff, it's hilarious.

 

I haven't noticed any dodgy behaviour with Play N Go's games personally though? And I've tried quite a few in free play recently.

[Afi4wins]

There are actually some rules regarding this that say the free play mode has to work exactly the same as the real money mode, but the slot providers have been coming up with ways of getting around it for a while now. The worst case I can remember is with Playtech where if you use their download casino it doesn't contact the RNG on the server and creates them locally instead. You should try that, the games are AMAZING when your running them like this, 1000's of times stake every free spins round and stuff, it's hilarious.

 

I haven't noticed any dodgy behaviour with Play N Go's games personally though? And I've tried quite a few in free play recently.

 

Not for me now, Amy. My downloaded version of Playtech games are no longer like before! Every time I load the game up, it makes a separate connection to the casino's server first, making me wait and wait before I can play the game.

 

But like I said before, maybe I'm the ONLY ONE AFFECTED by this, I cannot be sure, so much so, I hate having to wait for that second connection to be made first before I can begin my play. All jackpot games behave this way now for me, including many other games that are not connected to any jackpot prizes. I see this as a way of keeping track of my plays!!! 

 

Have you tried playing Pimped in fun mode? Then there's also Genie's Gems (that's the name, if I'm not mistaken), Lady of Fortune and a few others that are very loose in the fun mode.

[raverbabe]

Haha, maybe Playtech got told off for their blatant play money abuse since I last checked then, it wouldn't surprise me! It was actually a Marvel game I was trying when I noticed how ridiculous the free play mode was though I can't remember which one right now. I'm totally going to test out some Play N Go games later though, I'll report back. I'll be real disappointed if it's as blatant as you say though as I've really been building up respect for PnG lately.