Slotomania gets at least one thing right: it does a commendable job of recreating the experience of playing a slot machine. There are lots of bright flashy visuals to keep you entranced and your stash of virtual currency will slowly dwindle as you play. Problem is, while Slotomania is a good representation of an actual slot machine, that doesn’t exactly make for a fun Facebook game.
Slotomania gets at least one thing right: it does a commendable job of recreating the experience of playing a slot machine. There are lots of bright flashy visuals to keep you entranced and your stash of virtual currency will slowly dwindle as you play. Problem is, while Slotomania is a good representation of an actual slot machine, that doesn’t exactly make for a fun Facebook game.
The game gives you some money to start off with and you can earn extra cash bonuses by logging in daily. To start you’ll only have access to one slot machine, which is appropriately farm themed, but as you earn experience points you’ll unlock new machines, each with its own unique theme. The graphics are bright and colorful and a fun little tune plays each time you spin the machine.
Just like a real slot machine, you can adjust how much you want to bet. You can also choose how many lines you want to try and match. The amount you can wager and the number of lines both increase as you reach the higher level machines. Aside from that, there’s really only one thing to do in the game: spin. You click the spin button, wait to see the results, and then spin again. And just like a real slot machine, this can get incredibly monotonous. There’s no skill involved and since you’re betting virtual cash there isn’t any real tension either.
In an attempt to make Slotomania more of a video game, there are some basic mini-games included as well that you can unlock by getting the right spin. But these are pretty boring and aren’t really explained all that well. For example, on the second machine you can play a Bubble Island-style puzzle game that, instead of testing your reflexes, simply tests your ability to guess the right answer. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and reading the instructions doesn’t make things any clearer.
While there are more than a dozen machines to unlock, the process of levelling up is so slow that it feels like you’re playing the same machine for a very long time. And while each machine is slightly different, with a unique theme and style, you’re still doing the exact same thing. No amount of pirates, cats, or aliens can make the process of clicking the spin button any more exciting.
Slotomania makes the mistake of trying too hard to feel like an actual slot machine. That may work in a casino, when you have the chance of winning some money, but for a Facebook game it’s little more than an exercise in monotony. The game is dressed up like a video game, with a great presentation and a handful of mini-games, but it doesn’t play like one. It’s gambling with none of the thrills.
