The Big Bang Theory Slot Game Review

If you have never heard of Pinwright’s Progress you have a lot of company. Most people have never heard of this 10-episode BBC television show from 1947 but it is one of the mostdistinctive television shows in history. It was by all accounts the first situation comedy (or “sitcom” for short) ever produced for and broadcast on television anywhere in the world.Film researchers have also concluded that no footage from the shows exists any more. Videotape was not invented until 1951 and so the show, if it was recorded at all, would only have beenpreserved on film. However, to date only a few still photographs are known to exist.

The Big Bang Theory premiered on the American television network CBS 60 years later. Within a few years the show became one of the top-rated scripted television shows of the early21^st century, spawning merchandise deals and pop culture references. The legacy of The Big Bang Theory is all but assured given its success and the variety of recording mediaavailable to preserve its episodes, including DvDs and online archives. And yet, if you have never watched The Big Bang Theory you would be at a loss for all the cute references to theshow you’ll find in the slot machine game based on it. It would be something if, in 100 years, researchers only had a slot machine by which to remember and analyze the impact of The Big BangTheory, which holds a less notable position in the annals of television history than the all but forgotten Pinwright’s Progress.

Playing a slot game based on a television show is supposed to be a nostalgic experience. The game designers and the show developers are obviously counting on the familiarity of gamers with theirshows to build loyalty for the slot games. For that reason you will almost certainly never see a slot machine based on Pinwright’s Progress (the main character of which was the owner ofLondon’s “smallest multidepartment store” and who had a passionate rivalry with another store owner). But the slot game must still be appealing to players, even players who have never watched theshow. In fact, thousands of slot machine games based on silly concepts like leaping animals, hillbilly animals, and completely unique fantasy ideas have built up loyal followings.

What gives broad appeal to a game like The Big Bang Theory is not the clips from the show so much as the bonus features of the gaming experience. Slot players want to experiencesomething new even if they are enjoying a personal connection with a favored television show or movie. In 2014 Aristocrat Leisure Limited announced the Big Bang Theory slot game to anenthusiastic gambling community. At least two versions of the game now exist.

The big game runs on Aristocrat’s Helix Slant cabinet and is packed with 10 bonus features, three mechanical wheels, and 4 video slot displays. The show’s science and engineering-geek characterswould love all the bells and whistles, which slot gamers most certainly do.  The three-reel game is housed in a Behemoth cabinet and features 15 pay lines. Both games focus on the main starsof the show.

The Big Bang Theory Helix cabinet slot game boasts 200 pay lines but instead of crowding them all onto one display they are divided across four video screens. Each screen has 5 reels and 50 paylines. The four games play concurrently and any of the can trigger a bonus round. Also, players can control how many pay lines are active.

The Behemoth cabinet Big Bang Theory slot game uses 3 reels, 3 rows, and 15 pay lines and a virtual reel displayed on a main view screen above the playing reels area. This is a dollar slotmachine.

The Behemoth cabinet game is very simple. When the bonus game is triggered the player reaches up to swipe the larger video screen to activate the wheel.

The Helix Slant cabinet game is much more complicated. There are three areas where game action occurs.

• The four game screens handle the basic action. The 200 pay lines are divided evenly between them all so technically it’s like playing four slot games at once. You could play only one set ofreels and your return would be equivalent to one fourth the return of playing all four screens.
• The area where game action occurs is the virtual “in front” of the playing reels. Various characters may cross in front of the panels and award prizes. Howard rides his scooter across and thebattle bot M.O.N.T.E. comes out to sweeten the game with random prizes. Sheldon usually makes a comment as part of the voice over to draw your attention to what is happening.
• The third area is above the four screens. This is where the bonus games are played out on three mechanical reels. Two of the reels are set up for the Atomic bonus game. You spin one of thetwo reels and they award any of a cash prize, an Atomic Prize, or a Bazinga bonus. With the Bazinga bonus the large wheel at the top of the game spins and you can win credits, one of fivecharacter-themed bonus games, or a progressive jackpot.

The character-themed bonus games all begin with a video clip from the show. The clips feature the character for whom the bonus round is named.

These are two very different games and it is surprising that the same company would release two competing slot games based on the same theme. Other television shows have inspired two or more slotmachine games but they are usually separated by a few years in development, and sometimes a different company develops the slot game. We have also seen one company develop a game for land-basedcasinos and another company develop a game for online casinos, both operating under separate licenses for the same franchise.

There are references to a third slot machine game based on the Big Bang Theory that we were not able to review.

Both of these games are playable. The 3-reel game in the Behemoth cabinet stands up well in comparison to traditional 3-reel slots but fans of the show may prefer the Helix cabinet version ifonly because it is more geeky in nature. The Behemoth game is designed for higher rollers and the Helix game is designed for more conservative gamblers.

Both games only use main characters from early seasons. This seems to leave room for development of more sophisticated games in the future, depending on the success of these games. Whether othercharacters from the show (such as Howard’s wife Bernadette or Sheldon’s girlfriend Amy) will ever be added to these or future games remains to be seen. These five stars are the highest billed andhighest paid among the show’s ensemble cast.

Aristocrat is pushing the Helix cabinet version of the game more aggressively. You’ll find more reviews and references to it on video channels but there are a few reviews and videos of the 3-reelgame in the Behemoth cabinet. Players should enjoy either game but the Helix cabinet is the one that may ensure the success of this slot machine franchise for years to come.