If you're not playing at a Total Rewards casino in Atlantic City (Bally's, Caesars, Harrah's or Showboat) you don't have a Clue ... slot machine, that is. For the next 45 days, these four casinos have an "ex-Clue-sive" with this new WMS group play.
Similar to others of its type, Clue features four standard video slot machines grouped under a large screen illustrating the interior of an English country house. If you're familiar with the classic board game, all the elements - the various rooms, the suspects, the murder weapons - are incorporated into this slot machine version. Knowledge of the original board game is not necessary, though. I, for one, never played it, nor did I see the 1985 film version.
First-time players have the option of entering a username and password to track their play from session to session, and even participating casino to casino. Registered players even have the option of playing a special online version of the game which gives them additional advantages. For more information on this feature and to earn extra bonuses, go to www.playerslife.com.
After registering (or not), a player is asked to select an identity - Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock, Professor Plum or Mrs. White. This character then becomes a featured symbol on the five-reel, three-row, 30-line video screen. Wins are based on predetermined patterns of three, four or five like symbols.
Other symbols in the main game include the various murder weapons (rope, a wrench, a candlestick, a revolver), a magnifying glass, the legs of the murder victim, a diamond, a safe, and others. The Clue logo is wild with any symbol other than the country house.
When the house appears anywhere on reels one, three and five, a bonus is triggered and the winning player is taken to one of six "rooms" (dining room, ballroom, kitchen, library, billiard room or conservatory). Each of these six rooms offers a different bonus game.
For example, in the Billiard Room Bonus, free spins generate an extra billiard ball symbol that becomes wild. The more balls you collect, the more wilds you'll have in the final Super Spin. In the Conservatory Bonus, you choose one of five musicians by blowing a poison dart. Each musician features an increasingly higher credit amount. Similarly, the Library Bonus allows you to choose five books, each with different amounts of credits attached to it. In the Dining Room Bonus you choose one of two covered dishes or a glass of wine. Again, each has a designated amount of credits, depending on which you choose.
The game also offers two random bonuses.
In the Time To Add Wilds Feature, the winning player has a choice of six boxes, five of which have a predetermined amount of extra wilds; the other, however, reveals a large clock with a single spinning hand. Depending on where the hand stops, the player receives from five to 15 bonus wilds in the following free spin.
The Lights Out Bonus darkens the entire upper video screen, showing the interior of the house illuminated solely by exterior light through the windows and by six fireplaces. When the lights come on in one of the rooms, the randomly selected winning player gets to try his or her hand at that room's bonus game.
After completing each room bonus, a player may get the chance to try and solve the mystery. Playing with maximum credits guarantees this opportunity.
A player who correctly selects the room in which the murder took place, the identity of the murderer and the murder weapon wins the Solve-The-Mystery Progressive. By not solving the mystery it makes it easier for future players since any incorrect choices are eliminated from the available options.
To see a video about the Clue-themed slot machine, click here
Where You Can Play Clue: At Bally's, Clue is located against the wall on the right as you enter the casino from the hotel lobby. At Caesars, look for the Penny Piazza sign on the first floor. Clue is located against the far wall in Zone DL. At Harrah's, Clue is located in a corner just outside the emergency exit from the Diamond Cove. At Showboat, look for the "Reel Money" slot machines across from the jewelry kiosk near VIP Check-In; walk around the Reel Money machines toward the steps to the main floor and Clue is on the left against the back wall of the casino. (Note: Locations subject to change.)
"Recreational gambler" Darryl D. McEwen, a former professional journalist, is president of his own consulting firm that manages several small national and international trade associations, and provides public relations and fundraising services for a number of charitable organizations. He is based in Wilmington, Del. His column appears every other week.
