Wheel of Fortune is one of the most popular TV shows that rocked the airwaves in the eighties inspiring people to follow the concept of spinning a wheel with different payout prizes. IGT was the first online game developer to explore the use of themes for slot games. It was quick to adopt the TV show as its main inspiration. The slot was released in 1996, just a year after online gambling went live. The game quickly became a favourite among gamblers in casinos online and offline.
Various Format And Bonus Features
Wheel of Fortune slots come in various formats such as Five Times Pay, Double Diamond, Red, White, and Blue Wild Star in a standard 3-reel format and related paytables. The machines have a free spin symbol providing bonus payoffs of 25 to 1,000 coins when that symbol lands on the payline. The exact bonus amount you receive comes down to the wheel of fortune at the top of the screen. It commences spinning when you press the activation button. Before it starts turning, the sound effects build up with a simulated audience shouting wheel of fortune, and the fun begins. The excitement of the lights and the sound effects herald bonus spins and the top award jackpot worth thousands of dollars. The alluring and exciting spectacle of the Wheel of Fortune slots is hard to match and has captivated slot players.
Origins of Wheel of Fortune
IGT created the first Wheel of Fortune slot machine way back in 1996. It utilized various elements based on the popular show, such as the Wheel and the exciting Bonus Round podium. The slot version requires three symbols to appear for players to access the Bonus Round, and the slot is one of the most popular worldwide. The game bases its theme on the television game show Wheel of Fortune, first aired in 1975 and created by Merv Griffin. Wheel of Fortune had initially replaced another popular show, Jeopardy, which was also created by the same person. Like numerous other slots based on television series and movies, Wheel of Fortune includes the same characters as the show. Even the host and the hostess are the same as in the hit TV game show.
Design And Layout
Wheel of Fortune Ultra 5 Reels has become a staple of IGT’s gold-standard suite. It is an interactive and engaging five-reel video slot. The old-school 5 x 3 slot machine is as glitzy as Las Vegas in the 1970s, with a collection of precious gemstones and bright diamonds spangling across the reel-grid. The game does everything to lure in players, with many multipliers on offer, alongside an Ultra Wheel Bonus and a Scatter Wheels Bonus. Bonus is a bit of a watchword, and players love an enticing freebie. IGT understands that well, and Wheel of Fortune Ultra 5 Reels is loaded with excellent game features to keep hungry players returning for more.
Wheel of Fortune Ultra 5 Reels utilizes a 5 x 3 reel-grid with 30 paylines in play. The reels feature fruit icons, including pears, cherries, blueberries and apples. They aren’t just any fruit; they include precious gemstones and diamonds, the kind of glittery baubles you see hanging from delicate chains on film star’s necks. The iced-out bling hints at what you can win playing this thrilling game. Besides diamond-encrusted fruit, the reels play host to a Wheels of Fortune game logo and numerous seven icons set In green, purple, silver, blue and red. There are a Scatter wheel emblem and an Ultra Wheels crest. The wild symbol is easy to recognize with the letters WILD in block capitals.
Payout Prizes & Multiple Wilds
Given the spinning-wheel features, the game isn’t a standard video slot. You can win handsome payouts for hitting matching combinations. The coloured Sevens pay 75 coins for five in a line, though you can trigger 400 by landing five reds. Five blues pays 250, while five silvers pay 225. The fruit symbols yield modest payouts, with the highest being 150 for landing five blackberries. When utilized in a line win, the wild symbols transform into multipliers. It might be 2x or 3x, and additionally a 4x and 5x multiplier since the wild substitutes all other icons apart from the Ultra Wheel, the Wheel of Fortune and the Scatter Wheel. The Wheel of Fortune game logo is the other wild, giving out a 5x multiplier on wins when used in a winning payline. It replaces other symbols except the Ultra Wheel, the Wild and the Scatter Wheel.
Scatter & Ultra Wheel Bonuses
When you get at least three Scatter Wheels in any position, you activate the Scatter Wheels feature. Each symbol you trigger mutates into a wheel that starts spinning automatically. It then stops in order, from left to right. The indicated values that appear on the wheel add together, then multiply by the trigger coin value to provide your total bonus win. Like the Scatter Wheel Bonus, you activate the Ultra Wheel Bonus when you land three symbols. After entering the bonus round, three additional reels will spin. Each one is related to a particular wheel containing black spaces, Wheel symbols and Wheel plus Multiplier icons rotate the reels, and Wheel one has multipliers of up to 10,000x, so you can win a considerable payout. The Ultra Wheel Bonus symbols only turn up on reels two, three and four.
Conclusion
Wheel of Fortune slot remains popular due to its massive possibilities from symbol combinations that produce impressive wins despite a somewhat small range of stakes. The base game jackpot stands at 50,000 credits, which is more than most modern slots boast. In the Wheel of Bonus mini-game, the prize balloons to half a million credits. The amount is the highest of the three bonus jackpots. Wheel of Fortune may not include modern graphics or complicated bonus rounds and free spins; however, the winnings make it worth a spin.