Today, we’re continuing our look at extensions of popular slot brands, and how new games serve to carry the game series forward. Oftentimes they’re looking at a few angles:
- 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?
Last time, we looked at the Huff N’ Puff series and how they evolved the game with each release to make it fresh and up the stakes. Today, we’re going to look at it from a different perspective by looking at three key releases in the massive and venerable Buffalo line of slots.
Buffalo
For this review we’re going to look at three variations with staying power, and were also among the more tightly connected in the Buffalo universe:
- Buffalo
- Buffalo Gold Collection
- Buffalo Gold Revolution
The original features all the core things we know and love about Buffalo today. It’s an all ways pays game with 1,024 ways to win (5×4 reel set). Symbols are clumped together, including the top paying Buffalo symbol, yielding the potential for really big win opportunities.
Wilds exist on the middle three reels, and pick up multipliers when in the free spins bonus. Three or more coins trigger the bonus, but you can retrigger with as little as 2 coins, a feature that can make for some lengthy bonuses.
The original Buffalo was a 40 credit game, meaning a 40 cent bet minimum. Five of a kind buffalo paid $3, 7.5x your bet. Funnily enough the top symbol on the game we looked at previously, Huff N’ Puff, also paid $3 for five of a kind, but at a higher 75 credit bet.
Buffalo, 9s and some of the semi-premium animal symbols even paid for two of a kind, offering some chances to pick up some smaller wins along the way.
Buffalo Gold Collection
Buffalo Gold Collection is a perfect example of layering on some new features for a higher bet level, while leaving the core game intact.
When Buffalo Gold came out, casinos had the option to have the Gold bet be a more/better bet – you could play the standard buffalo at 40 credits, or Buffalo Gold at 60 credits. Most casinos didn’t enable that feature, forcing the 60 credit bet, but we saw in Vegas, for instance, many casinos having that option still being there.
Buffalo Gold’s pay table is exactly the same as Buffalo’s. But the bet is increased to 60 cents, a 50 percent premium. That $3 Buffalo line hit is now 5x your bet – still quite good, especially when you factor in the fact you could win that on multiple ways.
On Buffalo Gold Collection, they opted to add a new feature to the base game and a new feature to the bonus. In that way, you aren’t betting 50 percent more just for an enhanced bonus. On the base game, the wilds can now sometimes have multipliers, enhancing your line hits and keeping you in the hunt for a bonus.
Of course for the bonus, they introduced one of the most popular bonus unicorns of all time – the gold buffalo heads and the ability to upgrade the other animal symbols as you collect them. Getting to 15 gold buffalo heads nearly guarantees a ridiculous bonus, and nearly a decade later remains a unicorn many players still hope to achieve.
So Aristocrat opted to up the ante, literally, by adding new features. Players who wished to play the standard Buffalo could do so by seeking out the original, or on Buffalo Gold Collection machines that allowed it, simply opt for the 40 credit bet.
Buffalo Gold Revolution
Buffalo Gold Collection’s breakout success meant that Aristocrat opted to give this particular flavor of Buffalo its own extensions. While a number have launched, the first, and most direct, descendent is Buffalo Gold Revolution.
It follows the path of its predecessor – everything you know about Buffalo and Buffalo Gold are all still in place. The pay table is exactly the same.
This time, the bet is 75 credits – now that $3 Buffalo line hit is worth 4x. But again, that can still add up quite nicely.
Just like last time, a new element was added to both the base game and the bonus. This time, the base game got a symbol upgrading mechanism not unlike what happens on Buffalo Gold Collection. On any spin, other animal symbols can be upgraded to Buffalo, triggering a line hit.
For the bonus, a wheel was added, Before your free spins, you can spin up to five times, gaining credit prizes, gold heads, and even two progressives (also new to the series). Free spins are awarded when you land on the free spins wedge, or on the fifth spin, where all wedges also have a start free spins component.
The number of free spins are always established based on the number of coins, so the wheel doesn’t add any spins, but the normal retriggers and such can occur.
Takeaway
Aristocrat’s approach with this particular line of games is to protect what people know and love about them, while layering on new components to freshen them up and give players additional things to strive for.
Along the way, the overall bet size nearly doubles, but the games continue to feel balanced and give the players a fair shot at a sizable hit. But unlike Huff N’ Puff, they don’t tinker with the core game design, instead simply opting to expand the worldview.
While other Buffalo games do tinker in various ways, and some walk away from the standard pay table in the process, this series aims to honor what makes Buffalo special, while continuing to evolve what the game series can offer.
