This week I played Aruze’s new Cranky Condor slot. It is a five-reel, 30 line game with an oversized top box for a bonus round based on the legendary Game of LIFE board game. The game board represents different stops in Cranky’s life, with several possible bonus “mini-games” that run through animated sequences on the big video screen.
During the base game, if the Cranky Condor symbol appears at random, it breezes across the screen and throws coins out of a bag to turn symbols into wild symbols.
The bonus game of Cranky Condor’s Life is triggered when three bonus symbols appear on the first, third and fifth reels. The player rolls the dice and advances an amount of spaces on the board game determined by the outcome of the dice. Players must face critical decisions for Cranky Condor such as going to college, getting a job and where to build an oil mine. Credit amounts are earned in mini games on the way to the goal of becoming a billionaire.
If the you land on “Win or End,” either a credit amount is revealed (a “win”) or the bonus ends. For “Turning Point,” the player selects “College” or “Job” to reveal a credit amount. The “Mini Game” can be one of several bonus sequences, each involving a pick to be made by the player to reveal a credit amount.
There also is a Derby Bonus that has the player pick a horse for a race played out on the screen with the top bonus awarded if the winner is picked. There is also a Global Bonus in which the player selects one of six countries in which to expand his business. A successful expansion awards a credit amount.
If Cranky Condor makes it all the way around the game board to the goal, he succeeds in becoming a billionaire, and the player wins a goal credit amount and is faced with a big challenge. Here the player can risk those credits in the big challenge mini-game. If the player wins, the goal credits are doubled and if the player fails to win the mini-game, they are lost. This game was fun and loud.
The Crazy Condor was very generous about throwing out the wild coins and I got several good hits. When I got into the bonus game I landed on two of the mini games.
The first where he becomes a landlord and you get credits for each tenant plus the present bonus where you pick three presents each revealing a number which together form a total that is your credit win.
I also received the Derby bonus when my horse came in third. When I got to the end and was issued the Big Challenge, I decided to gamble.
You have to pick red or black, I picked red and then a roulette type wheel appears and you spin it. It landed on black, I lost ($5), but won $14.07 for the total bonus after all was said and done.