Even after designing more than 300 Wheel of Fortune games over 28 years, International Game Technology still finds innovative ways to incorporate history’s most successful slot brand.
IGT is rolling out 11 new Wheel of Fortune premium slot titles at the Global Gaming Expo, plus a Wheel of Fortune bet combined with a traditional video poker game, a Wheel of Fortune electronic table game, and Wheel of Fortune VLT games.
The GameAce ETG, Wheel of Fortune-Big Money Wheel, is a standalone or stadium multigame played on the Mesa 4K terminal, which also offers roulette, blackjack, and baccarat options. Players can bet on up to four games at a time. Baccarat and blackjack are currently offered in both live-dealt and automated play, while roulette is automated and synchronized.
While the Wheel of Fortune-Big Money Wheel game is reminiscent of the Big 6 wheel, a casino staple in bygone days, “it’s a new take on the on the old casino Money Wheel,” said Kevin Parker, IGT’s director of ETGs. The digital wheel is available in three sizes, from 9 feet to 12 feet high, with an outer spinning portion offering basic prizes and an inner spinning portion offering multipliers and bonuses. Players can activate up to five pointers on the outer wheel. Triggering the “Wheel Bonus” or “Puzzle Board” is visible across casino floor and a digital video of TV hostess Vanna White congratulates big winners.
The game can be played by itself or at the same time as other games available on GameAce terminal.
Parker said the GameAce can be configured with two synchronized roulette wheels that allow 2.5 spins per minute, far faster than other ETGs or manual games. The current software also enables players to copy their roulette bets from one game to another, repeat bets and place games on auto play.
The Wheel of Fortune video poker option is available on triple-play, five-play, and ten-play configurations. The Wheel of Fortune bet is comparable to a side bet at a blackjack game, because it’s based only on a player’s dealt cards. “Your bet is five credits per hand, no matter how many hands you’re playing,” said Brad Fredella, director of global video poker and keno content. Being dealt a winning hand, whether a pair of jacks or a royal flush, generates a chance at solving a word puzzle, with three possible outcomes:
- The game randomly generates a letter that is part of puzzle and places it in appropriate spaces, as on the TV show.
- The game randomly generates a letter that is not part of the puzzle and the video poker play continues.
- The game solves the puzzle, even if not all blanks are filled, and awards a bonus initiated by the player’s spin of a digital wheel above the machine.
Fredella said the puzzle-solving happens once for about every 11 times a winning hand is dealt. The top award is 2,000 times the number of hands in play – $6,000 for triple-play, $10,000 for five-play, and $20,000 for 10-play.
“If you get one of the top two awards, you’ll have a big celebration and Vanna will come out,” Fredella said. The Wheel of Fortune portion of the game is quick, he added, because video poker players don’t want to be taken out of their game for too long. The common reaction from focus groups was, “This is really a fun game,” he said.
IGT also is showing its Tiger and Dragon multilevel progressive, which is available in two base games and debuted as the top new premium game in Eilers & Krejcik’s May report. Two new super-bonus games in the line are expected to be out early in 2025, said Anthony Sofran, vice president of gaming operations for premium products.
The Wheel of Fortune VLT will debut on the Sierra 27, IGT’s newest terminal.
The Tiger and Dragon MLP is available in two base games, Multiplier and Cash On Reels. Both have a new lock-and-respin mechanic and bonus-reveal symbols that combine to produce award values. In addition, random “up arrows” appear on reels and increase the adjacent credit value. Tiger and Dragon uses only a penny credit, but has a $5 cost to cover. Instead of being multi-denom, it gives players the option to increase their total bet to as much as $30 by pushing a button.
Even with Tiger and Dragon’s hot start and the cornucopia of other IGT titles, operators and players can expect new Wheel of Fortune ideas to keep flowing. In June, IGT announced a 10-year licensing extension with Sony Pictures Television for exclusive rights to the brand across gaming, lottery, igaming, and ilottery, as well as non-exclusive rights for free-to-play social casinos.
