Much to like about Alice slots

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There usually is a lag time between my first peek at a hot new slot machine and the time I see the game in action in casinos. Sometimes it’s just because I’m not actively seeking out the game, but there’s usually a matter of months after a game is previewed before it’s fully licensed and available to casinos.

So it goes with the Alice slots from WMS Gaming. I saw working versions of the games in the Inner Sanctum at WMS’ booth at the 2010 Global Gaming Expo. Since then, I’ve been aware they were on the market, but hadn’t sat down to play until I found myself at Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin on a slow Tuesday morning.

Grand Victoria was the first of the Illinois riverboats to put nearly all of its games on one deck, and it was easy to get a good look at the game changes that had been made since my last visit. Alice caught my eye with its two five-reel mechanical versions, The Enchanted Mirror and The Mad Tea Party.

I chose the mirror, hoping to find some bonus fun through the looking glass. At Grand Victoria, it’s a 2-cent game with a 50-credit minimum wager, meaning $1 a spin. I mentally put a maximum of a $40 loss on the session, and set the reels spinning.

The mechanical Alice games have video game elements through WMS’ Transmissive Reels technology. The video image on the glass in front of the reels often is used to expand a mirror up and down the reels. The mirror spaces then are filled with regular reel symbols. If they form winning combinations, it can trigger a cascading reels effect, with winning symbols disappearing and new symbols falling in their places.

Alas, I never advanced to the Tea Party Pick bonus, a pick ’em event for credits and multipliers, nor did the Cheshire Cat ever appear to bring an extra wild symbol. Before long, I was on my way for a date with the always tasty Drunken Bull Burger at the Prime BurgerHouse.

There’s a lot to like about Alice — but moreso when the bonuses come.

John Grochowski is a local free-lance writer. His “Casino Answer Man” tips air at
5:18 p.m. Tuesday-Friday on WLS-AM (890).