A video conversation with Matt Bourie of the American Casino Guide Book YouTube channel on the same topic is above, if you prefer to listen instead!
Slot machines, like many things related to entertainment, feature a variety of ideas, some of which take off with the public and some which don’t. The ones that endure, like Buffalo, capture the attention of players and become a specific beacon on the casino floor to players looking for a certain sort of experience.
Slot makers will lean into these popular themes to de-risk some of their endeavors, just like a movie company will work on the next James Bond or Star Wars film because they tend to resonate with audiences over time.
When it comes to slots specifically, as new games come out, a few things tend to be factored into the mix:
- What new layer can they add on to the reliable mechanics to freshen things up?
- How can they use the popularity of this theme to get players to bet more?
- How can they up the ante – more excitement, bigger top prize, more potential?
The progression tends to be in favor of adding emphasis on the bonuses, and our recent poll of Brian Christopher’s YouTube viewers probably underscores the reason for this transition – almost half of those polled said they prefer big bonuses to big line hits, and another 41% preferring a balance. Keep that in mind as you read this article.
To illustrate how these decisions come into play, and the practical outcome and what it means for players, let’s look at two game series and a progression through three versions of the game. This week, we’ll look at Huff N’ Puff, and in an upcoming week we’ll look at Buffalo for a comparison in how these brand extensions are handled.
Huff N’ Puff
In the last year there has been an explosion of Huff N’ Puff branded games. As of this writing, however, there’s been three core titles in the Huff N’ Puff series:
- Huff N’ Puff
- Huff N’ More Puff
- Huff N’ Even More Puff
The original Huff N’ Puff was itself part of the Lock It Link series of games. It was the highest bet minimum of the series at that time – 75 credits vs. 50 credits on many of the earlier titles. It shared a lot in common with Hold On to Your Hat, but with more hats on the reels it upped the potential to build up houses throughout the bonus.
The top symbol paid 300 credits for five of a kind against a 75 credit bet – 4x your bet. But with 243 ways to win given its all ways pays format, a full screen of that symbol would yield almost 1,000x your bet.
The prizes for the three houses – straw, stick and mansion – build as you upgrade them by landing a hat on a reel space that already had one previously. If you landed a hat where a mansion border already existed, you get an instant 10x credit prize.
Huff N’ More Puff
The second game in the series, Huff N’ More Puff, made significant changes. While the bet levels remained the same, the pays did not.
Two poker symbols were added, making line hits more difficult. The line hits themselves were watered down, some by as much as 80 percent off the original. That five of a kind executive pig top symbol now only paid 150 credits, just 2x your bet. A full screen would pay a still generous, but clearly halved nearly 500x or so.
The game added a wheel, where you can land a progressive or one of three other new bonus variations. The additional of Buzz Saw symbols meant two ways now to trigger the bonus, and the Mansions bonus increased the overall bonus potential.
Another shift here was the reduction in the top end of the straw and stick house prize ranges, in favor of expanding the mansion prize size. The 10x you’d earn if a hat landed where a mansion border existed changed to upgrading another space instead, which works in a player’s favor as the mansion starts at 10x payout – it can only get better. (If all spaces have mansion borders, it reverts to the 10x payout.) The Mini can now be awarded x2.
The overall bet options remained starting at 75 credits. But there was a clear shift of money overall into the bonuses, which seemed to increase in frequency as a result of the new way to trigger, and a shift in bonus performance to the mansions. All of this served to make the game much more volatile than the original.
Huff N’ Even More Puff
The latest iteration of the series as of this writing, Huff N’ Even More Puff continues the push forward with bonuses, adding a second wheel that has super versions of the bonuses that double the size of the reels.
This time though, the main wheel, the houses and the line pays largely remained untouched, with the exception of some subtle tweaks.
The main wheel adds an upgrade, to reach the upgraded wheel with the super features, and the mansions can now award a wheel spin, for a chance at another progressive or a bonus.
Instead, the base bet goes up. It’s now 100 credits a spin. That 150 five of a kind is just 1.5x. That mansion minimum prize is now 7.5x instead of 10x your overall bet. You’re spending a third more on every spin for a chance at a better bonus, further watering down what the line pays give you on the way to a bonus.
This is effectively like a more/better bet version of Huff N’ More Puff. If you want to go for the bigger super sized bonuses, you play the new one. If that’s not particularly exciting to you, you can stick with the old one.
Conclusion
The Huff N’ Puff series has done a combination of moving the payouts around and raising the bet to build each edition to be more exciting than the last. Next time, we’ll look at a more venerable brand, Buffalo, and discuss how three key games in its series managed a similar evolution.
