There are two slot games based on Downton Abbey. The Zynga online slot game was released in 2015. Aristocrat Leisure Limited, an Australian company recognized as one of the leading developers of land-based slot games in the world, unveiled a new Downton Abbey slot game at the G2 expo inlate 2015 to high acclaim from gaming critics.
Downton Abbey is a British-American television drama set in the Edwardian era of 20th century history.
The show runs for six series (seasons in American usage) and begins the day after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and ends about 11 years later in 1923.
The show follows the aristocratic family of the Earl and Lady of Grantham and their estate workers, especially the household servants.
More than 120 million viewers watched the show around the world and it is to date the highest rated PBS “Masterpiece Theater” drama.
The years from 1912 to 1923 were a period of great upheaval for the British Isles. The First World War broke out in Europe in 1914, drawing down an entire generation of young men. Post-warcasualty estimates shows that more than 1 million British soldiers died or went unaccounted for during the war and another 2 million were wounded. About 1/3 of the British Empire’s 8.9 millionmobilized forces were lost, although casualties were even higher for allies France and Russia. About half of all Triple Entente forces were killed, wounded, captured, or went missing. Aneven higher percentage of German and Triple Alliance forces were lost.
Post-war Britain suffered economic and social upheavals due to the diminished manpower of the population. Many old aristocratic families went bankrupt, selling off their estates and closing outthe long era of great landed estates, of which only a few remain today. The television drama recreates the era through the lives of the people living at the fictional Downton Abbey estate.Despite the considerable attention to detail and historical research, the show has been criticized (sometimes wrongly) for introducing apparent anachronisms and inaccuracies; however, the overalltone of the productions is well-regarded even by some historical experts and older audience members who recognize the flaws and forgive them. Queen Elizabeth II is said to be a great fan of theshow.
There are two slot games based on Downton Abbey.
The rest of this review is concerned with the Aristocrat game, which was developed for their award-winning Arc Double cabinet.
The Arc Double cabinet was introduced to the land-based casino market in 2014. It houses an oversized duo video screen that curves forward over the head of the player. Most “basic game” actiontakes place on the lower screen. The upper screen is used to display videos and to provide additional rows of symbols during bonus feature games. Arc Double cabinet-hosted games feature manyexpanded symbols and stunning transitional graphics that incorporate both custom-coded animations and clips of movies, shows, and performers. The cabinet is paired with an advanced sound systemto enhance the player’s immersive experience.
The basic game starts out with two sets of reels, one on top and one on bottom. Each set of reels uses a 5 column, 4 row grid. A bonus symbol collection dashboard separates the reel sets. WhenBonus Bell symbols appear on either reel set they are noted in the dashboard. To trigger the Bell Bonus game three symbols must appear on one reel set or the other. Bell symbols cannot becombined from both playing areas.
Most of the game’s symbols consist of portrait pictures of actors from the show. Members of the Grantham family and their servants can appear on either reel set. Other symbols include items fromaround the manor house, such as a black stand up telephone, a gramophone, a sewing machine, kitchen appliances, etc.
The Bell Bonus may trigger one of two special game features.
The recipes are displayed on the top screen. Each recipe requires three ingredients.
The ingredients are rolled up on the lower screen, where characters from the show appear in single and stacked portraits. A large Wine Bottle portrait is the bonus game’s Wild symbol.
As the reels spins you collect prizes normally for winning combinations on pay lines. Ingredients are transferred to the recipes screen and then dropped from the reel set. As more ingredients arefound the number of character portraits increases, making it less likely that more ingredients will be found.
It is possible to complete all four recipes, especially as additional spins may be awarded during the game. Each recipe has its own prize.
The game plays music from the show’s soundtrack and character voiceovers are used to enhance the audio experience.
There are five progressive bonus prizes, including a Grand Progressive bonus that available across the entire network. Progressive jackpots are awarded on a random basis.
The game logo serves as the Wild symbol in the basic game. When the Wild contributes to a winning combination it plays a brief in-tile animation.
Some of the character portraits become animated or run brief video clips with scenes from the show if they form part of a winning combination. Tiles that don’t play animations glow or glisten asif the sun were shining on them briefly.
Characters who appeared in previews of the game included:
Early players gave favorable reviews to this game when they tried it out at the 2015 G2 expo trade show. The soundtrack is rich and varied and the use of still pictures from the show creates avery strong sense of nostalgia. The recipe bonus game is especially clever as it so clearly resonates with the character roles from the serving staff. The way the game finds and transfersingredients to the recipe board suggests that Aristocrat could implement a lot of find-X bonus rounds in future games.
The many portraits will be hard to keep up with, especially for people who have not watched the show. The key thing to remember is that the game still has pay lines and the only portraits thatreally matter are the ones that light up or start playing clips from the show, because they are paying prizes.
The transitions between basic games and bonus features are highlighted by exploding images of the estate. When the upper screen is not being used for the game it displays pictures of the cast andestate.
The only significant connection between the two sets of reels is that when the expanding bonus feature activates any reels that are locked Wild on top are mirrored by reels in the same positionson the bottom.
Downton Abbey slot is based on the hugely popular British drama of the same name. Downton Abbey follows the upper-class Crawley family and their servants on their large estate, including real-life events that occurred during the same time period including the sinking of The Titanic and the First World War. The show, although now ended, was a big hit even beyond the UK, so it’s easy to see why Aristocrat have decided to use it as the basis for this slot. They’ve included a tonne of features all centred around the show and its characters, so there are plenty of interesting ways to win some money.
The rules for this game are fairly straightforward and standard, with the objective of getting a winning combination using the base symbols from left to right to win credits or a bonus feature. The difference, however, is that this slot features 2 sets of reels, a noble set featuring the upper-class Crawley family, and the servants set featuring, of course, the servants. Betting 40 credits will permit play only on the servants game at 1x multiplier. If you increase to 200 credits, you can play both games at 1x multiplier, 200 credits for 2x multiplier, 300 for 3x multiplier and 500 credits for 5x multiplier. The nobles game features a 5×4 layout with 40 pay lines, while the servant game has a 5×3 layout with 25 pay lines. The base symbols for the noble set of reels are listed here, ranked in ascending order based on their value:
While the base symbols for the servant set are listed here
Both sets of reels also feature a Wild symbol, which substitutes for all of the above symbols as well as providing the highest credit award in a winning combination.
A bonus symbol can also appear in reels 1, 3 and 5 of each game, and when it occurs on the same reel on both games, it becomes a Pink Wild, substituting for all symbols. If only the servants game is active, the Bonus symbol activates the bonus only for that reel. When both games are played, the bonus occuring on a reel in either game activates the bonus for that reel. Activating 3 of these will trigger the Bell Bonus.
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Bell Bonus. Awards a single pick of 10 bells to reveal one of the following features:
Growing Reels Bonus. On any wagered spin, Growing Reels Bonus may activate, apart from when Mega Symbols Bonus or Mr Carsons Bonus is triggered. All reels in both games will then extend to 8 symbols high, with 100 lines played on each game and up to 3 reels will be covered in Wild.
Mega Symbols Bonus. This can also be triggered on any wagered spin, except when Growing Reels Bonus or Mr Carson’s Bonus is active. The characters from each game, as well as the Wild symbol, can expand into Mega symbols, which span 3 or 4 wide and 3 high in the servants game, or 4 high in the nobles game.
Mr Caron’s Bonus. Can be triggered on any wagered spin apart from when Growing Reels Bonus or Mega Symbols Bonus is active. You must pick 1 of 5 items, which can reveal a Wild or 40-500 credits if playing the servants game only, with 3 to 7 Wilds randomly placed if Downton Abbey is revealed. If playing both games, however, then a Wild or two Jackpots can be revealed, or credits ranging from 100 to 1000. If Jackpot is revealed, then the corresponding progressive will be awarded, with an increase in wager making the likelihood of this happening greater.
There’s a great deal going on in this slot, and the rules are very extensive, becoming even more complicated by the way they change depending on which set of reels you are playing. While I’m definitely a fan of a game with a good range of bonuses, Downton Abbey slot is probably overdoing it and certainly takes time to understand what’s going on. That being said, having so many ways to win money definitely makes the game more interesting and less monotonous, and fans of the show will certainly enjoy it as it brings a lot from the TV series to the game. If you’re looking for something a bit different with plenty of features, Downton Abbey slot could be for you.