Games with bags that collect and grow are commonplace. Some wonder where it all began:
Please settle an argument. What was the first collection game? I say the “bag game.”
Daryl & Denise C.
Fu Dai Lian Lian, sometimes called by players “The Bag Game,” was the first game to popularize the ability for multiple upgrades to a single bonus format, as well as the concept of specifically three upgrades that can combine to 7 different bonuses.
There’s a lot of novel elements that it popularized, but it wasn’t the first to have what is known as a perceived persistence pot.
For those who don’t know, perceived persistence is the idea that an element is building to something, when the growth of that element doesn’t have any actual influence over the game – the odds of bonusing with an empty or full object are exactly the same. (We think we’re all good with the definition of a slot pot, but we’ve still got you covered as well if not.)
While the game popularized the triple pot concept that’s now all over the place, single elements long pre-date the game, 88 Fortunes and its siblings like 5 Dragons and Dancing Drums are what popularized the single pot, in this case tied to a predetermined jackpot pick bonus. This format is of course also prevalent in a lot of games today, so it’s been a contributor to this particular concept as well.
So that technically is where it begins, but it is fair to say that Fu Dai Lian Lian was the slot that kicked off the triple pot format, especially around applying upgrades to a bonus format. Given that the game is only a few years old, it really underscores how quickly a popular concept can proliferate when players show an interest in it!
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