WILL ARISTOCRAT’S AQUA KINGDOM “SEAS” THE DAY?
Created by the same studio that designed Grand Star, Welcome to Fantastic Jackpots and the Choy’s Kingdom family, Aristocrat’s new Aqua Kingdom games build on the successful fundamentals of the Choy’s Kingdom games by adding extra game features, a new Mega feature and a strengthened Major jackpot.
The Major Jackpot (2nd jackpot) level has had additional RTP allocated to it in the Aqua Kingdom games, strengthening from a $500 startup in the Choy’s Kingdom games, to an $850 start up, plus a ceiling increase as well. For players who “jackpot shop” on banks this will be a positive change.
Reading between the lines, Aqua Kingdom, by offering a 5-line game in the higher denomination choices, means the $5 player should really enjoy the strong game maths.
Aqua Kingdom Games
There are four new and unique games to be released in the Aqua Kingdom game family: Egyptian Sea, Ocean Palace, Jade Mermaid and Roman Riptide. Initially, Egyptian Sea and Ocean Palace will be released in NSW clubs and pubs as SAP games in late June with jackpot startup values of $8,000 or $5,000. The SAP is available now for QLD clubs and pubs with a $5,000, $8,000 or $10,000 jackpot option. The premium link with three games will be available in June for QLD and July for NSW, with the remaining game launching around August.
By not cloning any of the first four games Aristocrat has been very smart. They will be able to clone the best performing games quickly to extend the game range for clubs and hotels looking to add more machines early next year.
Game Features
The Aqua Kingdom games are all based on the iconic multi-window hold and spin feature in the Choy’s Kingdom games. The players collect Cash on Reel symbols in the feature to unlock more windows and improve their wins. The Super and Mega Hold & Spin features shortcut the opportunity to build up the open windows by unlocking all four windows immediately.
Super Hold & Spin and new Mega Hold & Spin Feature
Like the Choy’s Kingdom games, Aqua Kingdom features a Super Hold & Spin that unlocks all four windows at the same time, replicating the Cash on Reels symbols that the player used to trigger the feature across all four windows.
The new Mega Hold & Spin Feature is an extra feature in Aqua Kingdom that can be triggered by any random amount of Cash on Reel symbols throughout any paid game. A player can, at random, achieve the Mega Feature with just 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 trigger symbols – a great ‘surprise and delight’ win for regular players. It is similar to the Super Hold & Spin feature, where all four of the windows open, and replicate the symbols that triggered the feature across all four windows. However, in the Mega feature, if a Cash on Reel amount in gold text lands it upgrades the value for the next two spins, increasing the players win.
Free Games
Each of the Aqua Kingdom games have unique free games features:
- Egyptian Sea: a player needs scatter symbols on reels 2, 3 and 4 to trigger the feature and is given a choice of volatility (10, 6 or 3 free games). During the feature the player needs reduced Cash on Reel amounts to trigger the Hold & Spin feature
- Ocean Palace: the free games include a large block symbol that takes up 3 x 3 positions. If a player lands a Cash on Reel amount in that block it splits and pays out nine different pays on nine different Cash on Reels.
- Jade Mermaid: this free game series includes Sticky Cash on Reels where the cash on reels that were landed in earlier games stays there for the length of the feature.
- Roman Riptide: includes a Nudging reveal symbol. If a reveal symbol lands on the top or bottom of a reel it expands across all three positions on that reel and then reveals a new symbol.
Find out more about the Aqua Kingdom games here >>>> Aqua Kingdom – ANZ Aristocrat
Positioning
The Aqua Kingdom games will have real appeal for your higher denomination players. For 50-150 machine clubs, and for hotels, a 3-4 machine link would work well, and 150+ machine clubs could accommodate a 4-6 machine link, provided they are well positioned in an outdoor area, or an area on your main floor preferenced by mid-high tier players. In both hotels and clubs, the SAP version of the Aqua Kingdom games should be positioned in similar areas of your gaming floor.
The first two Aqua Kingdom SAP games, Ocean Palace and Egyptian Sea have been installed in some QLD clubs for two weeks and are achieving a turnover ratio above 2.4 (2.4 times the floor average for those clubs) on the Max performance charts.
I suspect the biggest problem for both clubs and hotels will be whether to add the Aqua Kingdom games in as SAPs now, or wait for the link to arrive in July. I don’t think I could wait!
For more information on the Aqua Kingdom games call your Aristocrat representative
Written by: Justine Channing – Gaming Specialist
