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A Night in Paris Slot Machines

Outside of France, or maybe only in America, Paris is associated with romance, fine art museums, and clever detectives. There is something about that French accent that is just so appealing toflat-accent Americans. Betsoft plays up to that idolization with A Night In Paris, a 3D video slot game where you follow the misadventures of a clumsy art thief as he tries to sneak past thegregarious Jerome LaBast of the La Paris Securite Agencie and his faithful companion Pierre, a bulldog.

Jerome is a huge brute of a security guard but he has a warm personality and he provides all the encouragement and enthusiastic support you could want from a 3D character. Pierre occasionallyhops around and burns off a little energy, waiting for the next opportunity to play “Catch The Thief”.

The game opens with an extensive introductory video that zooms down on a man and woman who are engaged in a romantic day-long conversation outside a café. When night falls they walk off hand inhand. The narrator then introduces Jerome LaBaste, explaining that after night falls in Paris the criminals come out to exploit the quiet in the streets and the dark of the night.

Betsoft really went the extra mile with this game from 2011. The graphics are superb and the coordination between animations is well-timed. The theoretical return to player is 96.92%, which wasvery good in 2011 and not bad by contemporary standards.

Rules for A Night in Paris Slots

A Night In Paris is a 5 reel, 3 row 3D video slot game using 30 pay lines. The game features random graphic animations alongside integrated animations that play along with special features. Thereis no Wild symbol but there are several Scatter bonus features. All prizes pay from left to right and they pay in credits times Bet Per Line except where noted.

The Badge symbol triggers the Chase Free Spins bonus game. See below for details.

When Jerome, the Badge, and the Thief appear together on pay lines 1, 2, or 3 they trigger the Alert the Guard instant prize feature. See below for details.

When three or more Napoleon painting symbols appear the Caught In the Museum bonus round is triggered. See below for details.

Other Symbols and Icons

There are nine basic symbols in the game. Each symbol has an associated in-tile video powered by Betsoft’s Expandicon technology.

  • Jerome LeBast

    is the game’s highest value symbol. You win the progressive jackpot prize when five of Jerome’s tiles form a winning combination on pay lines 1, 2, or 3. Jerome pays 1250 times Bet Per Linefor four of a kind, 500 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind, and 125 times Bet Per Line for two of a kind. Jerome lowers his glasses and shakes his finger at you when his symbols form awinning combination.

  • The Thief

    pays 1500 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 750 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, 400 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind, and 100 times Bet Per Line for two of a kind. The Thiefsneaks along the museum rooftop when he forms a winning combination.

  • Pierre the Bulldog

    pays 1250 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 625 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, 250 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind, and 50 times Bet Per Line for two of a kind. Pierreleaps and growls suspiciously when he forms a winning combination.

  • The Romantic Couple

    pay 1000 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 500 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, 200 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind, and 25 times Bet Per Line for two of a kind. The mankisses the woman’s hands when the Romantic Couple form a winning combination.

  • The Pigeons

    pay 750 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 375 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, 150 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind, and 25 times Bet Per Line for two of a kind. The Pigeonsfly toward each other when they form a winning combination.

  • The Vase

    pays 625 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 300 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 125 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. You see the Thief’s hand grab the Vase when it formspart of a winning combination.

  • The Eiffel Tower

    pays 500 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 250 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 100 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. You see an aerial view of Paris as you fly aroundthe Eiffel Tower when it forms a winning combination.

  • The Statue

    pays 375 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 200 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 75 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. The Thief pops out from behind the Statue when itforms a winning combination.

  • The Croissant

    pays 250 times Bet Per Line for five of a kind, 125 times Bet Per Line for four of a kind, and 50 times Bet Per Line for three of a kind. The man from the Romantic Couple takes a bite of theCroissant when it forms a winning combination.

How to Play

The playing reels area is embedded in a facsimile of a famous Parisian museum. Two transparent buttons labeled “Sound [on / off]” and “Autoplay” are positioned in the top left hand corner of themuseum’s façade just above the playing reels. A large Jackpot window in the middle displays the current amount of the game’s progressive jackpot. A transparent “View Pays” button sits on theright side of the roof.

Click on the Sound button to toggle the game’s soundtrack and other sounds on and off.

Game Controls

Click on Autoplay to activate a dialog where you can choose options to control automatic spins, including how many pay lines will be active, what the coin value is, and how much to bet perline. These values are set to the barest minimum by default. You also choose how many automated spins the game should play for you and then click on “Confirm” to initiate the automatic spins or“Cancel” to exit the screen without starting the autoplay feature. The automatic spins continue until you exit the game, interrupt the spins, the last spin completes, a bonus game is triggered,or your available balance declines below the amount of the automatic spin’s bet.

Click on “View Pays” to activate the three screens in the help system. The first screen shows all the credit values for the game’s paying symbols above the 30 pay line patterns. The secondscreen briefly explains the two basic game special features (the instant prize and the free spins game). The third screen describes the second screen bonus round. Use the Next and Previousbuttons (designed to look like park benches) to navigate through the screens. Click on “Return to Game” when you are done.

An information marquee is position immediately below the playing reels. The marquee displays how many credits you have remaining, what your current total bet setting is, any prizes you won onthe previous paid spin, and what your monetary balance is.

Other Controls

The five remaining controls handle your betting and spinning. They are positioned across the bottom of the screen and are transparently superimposed upon objects in the foreground of thescreen.

  • The Choose Coin button cycles through the available coin values as you click on it. The values wrap around and start over from 0.02 after you reach 1.00. The Choose Coin button overlays apotted plant.
  • The Select Lines widget overlays a park bench. It contains Minus and Plus buttons you use to deactivate or activate the pay lines. The information marquee displays how many pay lines areactive while you adjust the widget.
  • The Bet Per Line widget overlays a potted plant. Use the Minus and Plus buttons to adjust the number of coins you bet per line on each paid spin. The information marquee tells you how manypay lines and coins per line are active as you adjust this widget’s setting.
  • The Spin button overlays another park bench. Click on this button to initiate one paid spin at the current settings for Coin Value, Bet Per Line, and active Pay Lines.
  • The Max Bet Spin button overlays a sign for the museum. Click on this button to set active pay lines to 30 and Bet Per Line to 5 coins. Clicking on this button also initiates one paid spin.Clicking on Max Bet Spin does not affect Coin Value.

How the Instant Prize Game Works

Whenever the Thief, the Badge, and Jerome appear on pay lines 1, 2, or 3 on adjacent tiles they trigger the Instant Prize game.

The Thief sneaks in from the left side of the screen and begins trying to break into the museum. The game prompts the player to click on a button to alert Jerome to the Thief’s presence.

Once the button has been clicked Jerome and Pierre leap into action and apprehend the Thief. Jerome picks the Thief up and throws him off the right side of the screen. Meanwhile, the InstantPrize widget tallies up how many credits you have won.

How the Chase Free Spins Bonus Game Works

When three Badge symbols anywhere on the playing reels the Thief steps quietly toward the museum from the left side of the screen. Jerome and Pierre see him and immediately give chase. They runback and forth in front of the playing reels as 5 free spins count down.

When the last free spin has played out Jerome catches up to the Thief, gives him a thrashing off screen, and then carries him across the screen and tosses him out into the street.

How the Bonus Game Works

When three or more Napoleon Bonaparte Painting symbols appear anywhere on the playing reels the second screen bonus game is triggered.

The Thief sneaks into the museum and you are prompted to choose which item he will steal. As the Thief struggles to make the theft Jerome and Pierre catch him in the act. You win a randomlydetermined prize.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that A Night In Paris is appealing to fans of slapstick movies that feature bumbling thieves and hulking guards who represent insurmountable obstacles. Although the gameutilizes several familiar tropes it really does not try to tell a story. The story unfolds randomly as Jerome stands guard outside the museum and the thief repeatedly tries to break in. No matterhow often he gets close to succeeding, the thief always fails.

The background music could be pulled from any old sitcom soundtrack. The classic accordion motif that is so often associated with France and Paris in pop media hearkens back decades, perpetuatinga pseudoclassic retro style that never really existed. If you’re thinking when you play this game that Audrey Hepburn should be wandering across the screen whispering, “Darling! This isabsolutely fabulous!” that is close to what we were thinking too.

A Night In Paris has a 1950s French romance feel to it, although the romance theme is not very prominent. The loving couple is barely seen after the introductory film. They don’t even pay thehighest prize. It’s almost as if Betsoft’s developers were of two minds about how to proceed with the game and the comedy won out over the romance.

The ambient sounds are very good and you may even occasionally chuckle as the thief bumbles through the night. Jerome occasionally asks Pierre if he hears something. What is amazing about thisgame though is how well the 3D character animations integrate with the special features. When the free spins game plays, for example, Jerome and Pierre chase the thief across the screenin-between spins. They are not distracting you from watching the reels turn. In the Instant Prize feature you get a similar close-knit integration.

Although you’re not guaranteed to win anything on a slot game you just may find the Instant Prizes to be surprisingly generous. This is naturally determined by a random number generator but theycan pay better than the free spins or second screen bonus game. Some of the three and four tile combinations pay very well, too, and you may see five of a kind prizes for the lower value symbolsoften enough to make you take a second look.

The payout patterns suggest the game has a low variance even though there is a progressive jackpot and some very hefty max prizes for the top 3 symbols. You just won’t see five Jeromes andThieves pulling up on your screen very often.

Our Thoughts:

This game should be okay for some aggressive betting. It’s not a high roller game by any means. The most you can wager is 5 coins times 30 pay lines with a maximum of $1 value per coin. Don’tunload with $150 bets when you first start playing the game. Keep your coin values low and see where that takes you, but don’t be afraid to play 5 coins per line. You should see a reasonablerate of return. Just set a responsible loss limit to protect your balance in case the random numbers don’t fall your way.