What do you do when a shark comes flying out of tornado right at you? Grab a chainsaw and defend yourself, right? And if the bonus credits mount while the sharks meet their maker, so much the better.
That’s the way it goes in Aristocrat Technologies’ new Sharknado slot machines, based on the series of campy TV movies that have brought thrill-seekers to the Syfy Channel since 2013.
“Sharknado is a very fun slot game,” said Matt Wilson, senior vice president for global operations at Aristocrat. “This has a cult following, and it’s obviously a bizarre concept that the movie’s based around. Sharks are thrown out of the tornado at you. You swat the sharks for bonuses. All the time, the music from the show is playing. It has lots of features that are based on elements from the show.”
Aristocrat, an international giant with roots in Australia, has grown into North America’s third largest supplier of slot games. One of the most popular is Lightning Link, which claimed the No. 1 spot on the Eilers Fantini survey of the top slots in North America. That ended a five-year run at the top for IGT’s Wheel of Fortune.
Following up on Lightning Link’s success, Aristocrat is introducing Dragon Link. As in Lightning Link, you’re looking for pearls onscreen for bonus credits and possible progressive jackpots, and it’s possible to win multiple progressives in a single bonus spin.
“When you get six of these individual pearls, they have value on them and the player collects more and more money,” Wilson said.
The multilevel progressive Dragon Link is on Aristocrat’s premium Arc Single cabinet. It’s Asian-themed with base games that include Autumn Moon, Panda Magic and Golden Century. It’s available as a multidenominational game, so you can choose 1, 2, 5 or 10 cents, as well as $1 and $2 for the big players.
“Lightning Link, has been a revelation in every market, where we’ve released it,” Wilson said, adding that Aristocrat is excited to take the concept to a premium cabinet and multidenominational format.
