Slot Machine Magic

• Slot Machine Magic Oceans

Magic of the Ring Slot As you’ve probably gathered from the name of this 5-reel, 10-payline slot from Wazdan, Magic of the Ring is blatantly aimed at those who fell in love with J. R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. This Magic allows the user to cast several kinds of spells based on the results of an inserted slot machine in a suit the user wears over its body. It allows the user to materialize.

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Astronomical Magic Slot Review

Players looking to add a dash of magic to their lucky streaks may enjoy the Astronomical Magic slot machine, a fantasy-themed game with a wizard. This Konami slot game is exquisitely designed and its action-stacked symbols add a little excitement to every spin.

While fans of more involved bonus games may be disappointed, the chance at 88 free spins is quite the draw. Will the old wizard cast a spell on players or will the magic fizzle?

The first thing that players will notice is that Astronomical Magic is an absolutely beautiful slot machine game. The simple starry night sky and clockwork background serve up lovely symbols and reels. Each reel is not only a nice shade of red for easy contrast, but the background of repeating diamonds helps frame the symbols for easy reading.

Each symbol is sharply designed, even the standard card symbols of A K, Q, J, 10 and nine have bright colors and thick borders. The four magic-inspired picture symbols are bright and glittery, and the main wizard has a detailed 3D-style design that animates when it’s on a winning payline.

The bonus game symbol also spins and flips in place, and there’s a nice fireworks display to celebrate big wins. Unfortunately, the rest of the spaces don’t animate; they simply flash to indicate a win with little dashes connecting the lines.

Given the attention to detail in the art, players may be a little disappointed in the sound design. There’s no background music for the standard game, just a few small bells and chimes to indicate wilds and lucky frames, along with a nice click as the reels lock into place. The free spin round does provide a layer of lively background music that makes the player feel like they’re in a fantastical workshop.

Compare Game Features – Paylines – RTP

Astronomical Magic: Core Gameplay

The free slot Astronomical Magic is a fairly standard three-row and a five-reel slot machine with 30 paylines. There is no option to reduce the number of paylines that are in play, and players may want to check the list of paylines before playing. It’s not as simple as matching spaces left-to-right. There is also a 15 credit bet for the additional features. This is not optional either.

The Wild system for this game is unique, with the only Wild space being the three-row high wizard. While it doesn’t always land fully in play, it does do a nice job of bridging the rows for some nice simple combinations. Matching wizards can also pay out well, with five reels of wizard spaces paying out 500x the line bet.

The big action is the lucky frames feature, which is a version of Konami’s action-packed-symbol system. On each spin, a number of spaces on the reels are surrounded by a lucky frame, which is noted with a gold border.

All lucky frames are set to have the same symbol within them, and it can be any symbol except for the wizard space. Lucky frames are spawned in batches, so two or three may appear on the same reel.

Acting almost like a reverse wild, this potentially helps load the board up with batches of the same space for easier wins.

Getting Lucky with Free Spins

The lucky frames come into their own when players manage to get them on three or more separate reels. In that case, after any wins are paid out the frames are adjusted so that each reel that had at least one lucky frame now has a full set of three.

Adding to that, any reel with a wizard space on it is nudged until the wizard fills all three rows. The lucky frames pick a new shared symbol, which can now include even the wizard space, and the game pays out again.

This also acts as the potential trigger for the free spin bonus game. When picking a new symbol, the lucky frame reels can settle on the special bonus set. This pays out a guaranteed scatter win bonus and awards free spins. Three, four and five bonus spaces respectively reward eight, 18 and 88 free spins and 150x, 450x and 1,500x the line bet.

During these free spins, one reel is guaranteed to be completely made of lucky frames. The lucky frame feature can still trigger during the free spins, and it’s possible to retrigger the bonus round for an additional payout and more bonus spins.

Final Thoughts

In general, playing Astronomical Magic slots comes down to hoping for some good lucky frames. The payout on the standard symbols are fairly low, and the winnings tend to be devoured by the line bets and feature bet.

The only three-match combination that pays above break even is the wizard. Even getting four of the card symbols is still a loss on the pull, so the game hinges on big swings when the wizards and lucky frames fall in your favor.

The one disappointing fact is that lucky frames are not guaranteed even to pay out. If your three lucky reels aren’t in the right place, it can be rather anticlimatic. Although experienced players ready to ride out the swings will enjoy the high 96.05 percent RTP.

In a way, this game nails the feeling of the old wizard performing for the king. Small tricks and spells can give way to really splendid magic when everything lines up, but sometimes it just fizzles into nothing.

The game feels like it’s missing the last bit of polish. The artwork is great, but only features a little animation. The soundtrack that’s there is nice, but no general background music can make the stretches between bonus rounds a little boring.

The free spins are fun, but tying them into the main bonus feature leaves the dry spells feeling really dry. Overall, it’s a fun game when the magic’s with you, but a little lacking when it’s not.

• Appendices
• Slots Analysis
• Miscellaneous

Introduction

Ocean Magic is what some would call a 'variable state' slot machine by maker IGT. It is characterized by wild bubbles that move up one row after each play. If it is only played when the previous player abandons bubbles in good positions, it can result in a player advantage.

Rules

Following are the significant rules of Ocean Magic.

1. The game screen has four rows and five reels.
2. Players get one payline per credit bet.
3. There are two modes the game the player choose from -- Wild Bubble and Bubble Burst.
4. The pay table for both modes is shown below.
5. While there are no wild symbols on the reel strips, wild bubbles will randomly bubble up from the bottom of the screen after each bet.
6. All wilds may substitute for any symbol except the scatter.
7. If the player looks carefully, he can see the top of any bubbles below the bottom row, ready to bubble up the next spin.
8. A bubble will replace whatever symbol would otherwise be there, according to the reel strips. However, if a bubble replaces the scatter symbol, the player will still get credit for the scatter, as well as the bubble.
9. If there is a bubble already on the screen, it will move up one row after each bet.
10. If a bubble is on the top row, it will float off the screen on the next spin.
11. If a bubble lands on the Logo symbol, then it will expand and all positions one away, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, will become wild. However, the wild expansion will not be bubbles. In other words, wilds as a result of an expansion do not bubble up on the next spin. As with bubbles, if a wild expansion occurs on a scatter symbol, that position will serve both as a wild and a scatter pay.
12. If a bubble lands on a Logo next to an edge or corner of the screen, then the expansion will take place in those directions still on the screen only. In other words, an expansion will results in 8 extra wilds if it occurs in the middle six positions on the screen, five positions if on an edge, and three positions if in a corner.
13. If the player gets three or more scattered Treasure Chest symbols, then he will play the bonus game.
14. In the first stage of the bonus game, bubbles will float up on the screen and the player will pick 5, 10, or 20 of them, according to whether the bonus was triggered with 3, 4, or 5 scatters, respectively.
15. Each bubble will reveal either 1 to 5 free games or 2 to 3 extra picks.
16. In the second stage of the bonus, the player will get the number of free spins determined in the first step of the bonus.
17. Bonus spins can re-trigger the bonus, adding more free spins to the number remaining.
18. The maximum number of free games that can be won is 150.
19. Free games use a separate set of reel strips.
20. If the player doubles his bet, then he will play in Bubble Burst mode. Wins in Bubble Burst mode are based on only half of the total bet and are applied to a lower pay table than Wild Bubble mode. The other half of the bet is a non-refundable fee to enable the Bubble Burst.
21. In Bubble Burst mode, randomly extra bubbles will be placed on the screen. The industry term for this kind of feature is an 'exploding wild.'
22. As with bubbles that bubble up from the bottom, bubbles resulting from the Bubble Burst mode will bubble up one row after each spin.
23. It is standard in the industry that if the player pays a fee to invoke a special feature, the overall return of the game with the feature activated is greater than without it.

The following table shows what each win pays in Wild Bubble Mode

Wild Bubble Mode Pay Table

The following table shows what each win pays in Bubble Burst Mode

Bubble Burst Mode Pay Table

Analysis

As mentioned in the introduction, Ocean Magic is a variable-state game. If the last bet resulted in bubbles on the bottom three rows or below the bottom row, then the game will be in a higher state than with no guaranteed bubbles. With bubbles in the right places, the game can result in a player advantage. The astute player should start playing only in a positive state and quit as soon as the game is in a negative state.

As with most slot machines, Ocean Magic was difficult to analyze because I didn't know the reel stripping, the probability of a bubble floating up from the bottom, the probability of a Bubble Burst and number of bubbles in the burst, and possibly other factors. In lieu of that information, I did the best I could based on observing the game and industry norms. The game was simply too complicated to analyze by direct math, so I wrote a random simulation, for both Wild Bubble and Bubble Burst modes. I set the simulation to a return of 85% to 86%, which is how many casinos nationwide set their video slots, as well as erring on the side of being conservative in showing the value of this game. Following are my results in both modes.

Wild Bubble Mode

I know that there are wild bubbles in both modes, but the lower right corner of the screen identifies the two modes as Wild Bubble or Bubble Burst, so I will stick with that terminology.

That said, the following table shows when you should play according to where a wild bubble(s) will be on the NEXT SPIN. Play with any bubble in a 'yes' space or any two in the 'maybe' spaces, except the only maybes are in reel 4 rows 1 and 4.

Some on my forum have disagreed with me about playing with a bubble in the upper-left corner or in the middle of reel 4. I think these disagreements are from players who usually play in Bubble Burst mode, where one additional bubble is not as significant. Remember, the line pays are twice as much in Wild Bubble Mode, compared to Bubble Burst, relative to the amount bet. That makes a single bubble roughly twice as valuable.

Bubble Burst Mode

In Bubble Burst Mode the wins are cut in half (relative to the total amount bet) in exchange for more bubbles. That makes any one bubble less significant, given the same location on the screen. The following table shows when you should play according to where a wild bubble(s) will be on the NEXT SPIN. Play with any bubble in a 'yes' space or any two in the 'maybe' spaces, except the only maybes are in reel 4 rows 1 and 4.

Rule Screens

External Links

• Ocean Magic — Lively and at times heated discussion about advantage play and Ocean Magic in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.
• YouTube video of me playing Ocean Magic, for the purpose of gathering data.
• ONE WEEK, ONE MILLION DOLLARS: ADVANTAGE PLAYERS FIGHTING FOR THEIR WINNINGS AT NJ ONLINE CASINOS — Article at NJ Online Gambling about how players beat Atlantic City online casinos for $900,000 playing Ocean Magic, using the same kind of strategy here.

Slot Machine Magic Oceans