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Microgaming is taking one of its oldie but goodie online slots games and giving it a face lift. Sort of. The game is No Worries and while its interface and graphics will not be changing, it is getting a new element.

This is the multi player online slots game that Microgaming has been talking about.

For starters No Worries, which was previously only available in the downloaded casino software, is now available in the flash version. But that is where the multi player action happens.

No Worries in the flash software will open in a multi player room that can hold up to thirty online slots players all playing No Worries. Slots players will only see the slots game as they normally would, but with the chat box so there can be communication between players. There is also a special leader board that players can use to track their progress against the other players in their room.

That is the multi player aspect of the flash version of No Worries.

While slots players can talk and socialize, they are actually playing against each other. Of the maximum number of thirty players in a single room, only then will win the Bonus Bonanza.

It will be interesting to see how a multi player online slots game does. While online poker is successful, online slots are a different sort of game.

In poker other players are necessary. Regardless of whether it is an online game or not; poker is a social game. Online slots on the other hand is a very individual casino game. Player usually play on their own. Multi player slot machine might succeed because a group of friends can be in a casino together, and it becomes a social game. But the nature of slot is individual. So we will see how multi player No Worries goes.

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New month. New online slots games. And this month will prove no different. And as usual Microgaming is the first out of the gate in April.

One of their new online slots games to launch this month is the Asian Beauty slots game. The five reel Asian Beauty will join the Microgaming ranks of online slots games with no paylines. Yes, Asian Beauty is to be another slots game with no paylines but the 243 ways to win feature. This means that symbols can land anywhere and payouts issued so long as the same symbol appears on consecutive reels from left to right.

True to form Microgaming has outfitted the geisha on the reels with colorful but tasteful graphics along with smooth animations. It is reminiscent of a couple other Asian themed online slots games that Microgaming offers.

Microgaming has given this online slots game free spins and a bonus game.

On the reels players will see a Lacquer Box. The Lacquer Box is the key to the free spins bonus. Landing three Lacquer Boxes awards ten free spins while four and five award fifteen and twenty five respectively. All free spins, regardless of how many are awarded, have a 2 xs multiplier on them.

Microgaming has tried something a little bit different in regards to the bonus game for Asian Beauty—it is randomly triggered. Tis true. There is no set way to trigger the bonus game, no designated symbols or number symbols to land. It can be triggered at any point during regular play.

But when it is triggered players will see a second screen with twelve mirrors and the four Geishas of Asian Beauty from the reels. Each Geisha has been assigned a multiplier: 15 xs, 20 xs, 25 xs or 30 xs. Players then choose mirrors until three matching Geisha faces have been revealed; the three matching faces are then matched to the appropriate Geisha on the side and her multiplier is awarded. And that is the Asian Beauty bonus game.

While the 243 ways to win feature is not new, I think having the bonus game randomly triggered is a way of balancing the 243 ways to win feature. It will be interesting to see how players react to a randomly triggered bonus game.

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One of the most popular online slots tournaments to ever hit any of the Microgaming powered online casinos was the Grand Slam of Slots.

Now the excessively popular online slots tournament is back.

While there are grand prizes for the top ten players, the Grand Slam of Slots also offers a special $2.43 million to be given away to the player who completes all of the achievements on the pay table. The top ten prizes look like so:

1st place: $100,000
2nd place: $50,000
3rd place: $25,000
4th place: $12,500
5th place: $7,500
6th place: $5,000
7th place: $4,000
8th place: $3,000
9th place: $2,000
10th place: $2,000

Places 11 through 290 will receive a prize.

Already the tournament seats being offered in the daily satellite tournaments have been snatched up. Now only nine weeks of satellite tournaments are left.

The only way into this tournament is by winning a ticket through a satellite tournament or in one of the participating online casinos’ daily drawings that are normally used to award a random prize.

The final tournament will take play on Friday, May 27th and run through Monday, the 6th of June. That is eleven days for players to spin the reels of Thunderstruck II, the Microgaming online slots game chosen for the Grand Slam of Slots II.

Players all start the Grand Slam of Slots II with 58,500 coins for their tournament balance. There are unlimited rebuys available for $20 each which will recharge a player’s tournament balance with another 58,500 coins.

There are also add-ons that may be purchased, but players can only purchase a maximum of five add-ons. Each add-on is 27,000 coins

Each rebuy and add-on costs $20 each. Only the player’s top score will register on the leader board of the Grand Slam of Slots II.

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Over the course of the last two months, Microgaming has released several new online slots games with a new feature: Respin.

The respin feature allows players to respin a reel in an attempt to create more winning combinations without upsetting the other reels. Naturally there is a cost to respin a reel.

The way it works is that an online slots player spins the reels of one of these online slots games. Once the reels stop, any winning combinations are paid to the player.

Then enter the respin feature!

At the bottom of each reel there will be a number. That number is the value of the wager that the online slots player must wager in order to respin that reel. If the player likes the value and thinks it is worth the risk then go for it.

But just because the reels can be respun does not mean that it should be done every single time. There is no way of determining if a respin is worth it or not. It has the same risk as spinning all of the reels because you do not know if the result of a respin will be better or worse than how the reel originally landed.

While there is no set strategy for determining whether or not to respin, there is a general rule of thumb that can be used and it depends on your bankroll.

If you at least make back the cost of your original spin, then consider respinning a reel if you have symbols in place for a winning combination that would at least equal the cost of the respin, then consider doing the respin.

But if you have not even made the cost of the original spin off of the original spin, do not consider doing the respin. The whole purpose here is to keep the player from losing more money.

Respins have the potential to increase an online slots players’ winnings, but they also have the potential to take their bankroll faster. Keeping that in mind can help determine whether to use them or not.

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Virgin Casino is one of the most popular European facing online casinos. It also has the advantage of being a multi-platform online casino, meaning it has more than one online casino game software provider while most online casinos have only one.

While Virgin Casino has several platforms, its two most well-known platforms are Wagerworks and Microgaming. However, it has been a couple months since Virgin launched any online slots games from Microgaming—an odd occurrence for them.

But with the onset of March, Virgin and Microgaming are back together again.

This month sees three Microgaming online slots games launched at Virgin: 5 Reel Drive, Reel Thunder and Vinyl Countdown.

The first two online slots games mentioned both feature racing themes, allowing players to mix the excitement of racing with the thrill of spinning the reels of a slots game. For 5 Reel Drive the racing is of the car variety while Reel Thunder features a motorbike racing theme.

But it was the description for Vinyl Countdown that made me laugh.

Vinyl Countdown is theme that centers around the 1960s with classic iconic symbols such as Elvis. But it was the description of records and juke boxes from the 1960s that just tickled me, describing them as a means of listening to music by way of a rotating vinyl disc from the pre-iPod era. It was the rotating vinyl disc that got me. Most young people know what a record is.

All of the slots games are popular hold overs from an earlier Microgaming era, and have been added to their QuickFire platform, making them so accessible to Virgin Casino to share with their players.

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Microgaming, sneaky little software developer that they are, is already at enticing players about the online slots games they will be launching next month. And this with their February online slots still green!

Instead of only three online slots games like they launched this month (February is a short month after all), they will be launching four new online slots games in March. While not all of the details about these new online slots games have been revealed, I will share what I know.

There is to be a third online slots game in the Retro Reels slots series, this one to be called Extreme Heat. This will be yet another spin on one of Microgaming’s most famous online slots series, but this one is going to have a flames theme going on with it.

The next is to be called Party Island, whose theme is said to be built around the perfect beach vacation. This one might be a nice way to lead into warmer weather, which by March everyone will be sick of.

Next up is Eagles Wings. This online slots game will pay tribute to the US’s national bird, the Bald Eagle. The one detail that is game specific on this one that has been released is that this online slots game has up to sixty free spins that are retriggerable.

And finally the fourth online slots game that Microgaming will be releasing next month is called Asian Beauty. This will be another online slots game which depicts the lushness and beauty of the Orient. The one detail released about this online slots game is that it will not have paylines; instead it will have the 243 ways to win feature.

What surprises me is that Microgaming put out announcements about the online slots games that they would be releasing. The announced their February online slots in January, and now they are announcing their March online slots a month before their release. Perhaps this is Microgaming’s way of drumming up interest.

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Sorry to all of you iPhone users out there who love your Tomb Raider online slots game, but I have some not so great news for you. However, if you are for Team Android and are a fan of the Tomb Raider online slots game then I have good news.

Spin3 has announced that they will be launched Tomb Raider on the Android. It will be the first of three Microgaming online slots games to be launched to the Android. The other two online slots games from Microgaming that their mobile partner Spin3 will release are whimsical and charming Mermaids Millions, and the famous Mega Moolah.

Mega Moolah is the most well-known of Microgaming’s progressive jackpot online slots games. Known for its million dollar jackpots, Mega Moolah topped itself fairly recently with a $6 million payout.

As a progressive jackpot slots game, Mega Moolah is linked between all of the Microgaming powered online casinos. So no matter what Microgaming powered online casinos you are playing at, you are playing against ALL players who are spinning Mega Moolah.

And just like how all Mega Moolahs are linked to one jackpot, the Android app of Mega Moolah will be linked to the same jackpot.

But back to Tomb Raider and its Android app.

The app version of Tomb Raider will still offer all of the same features as the online casino version—all of the Wilds, Scatters, Free Spins and, of course, the bonus game will be there. Nothing is being left out of the Android app.

The Tomb Raider app is going to be designed to be playable across the Android spectrum, meaning that it will be playable on Android phones and tablets.

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We all have a fond place in our hearts for childhood tales and rhymes. Banking on this, Microgaming has launched a new online slots game this month that is based on a childhood nursery rhyme

The Queen of Hearts, before she made her appearance in Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ was a nursery rhyme that was first known to appear around 1782. In the rhyme, the Queen baked some tarts, which the Knave stole. When the King asked for his tarts and discovered that the Knave had stolen them; he then beat the Knave and the Knave never stole again.

Now that nursery rhyme is in an online slots game for adults to enjoy. Naturally, it is very brightly colored with the lively graphics that Microgaming is known for. Players will see the Queen, King and Knave along with the Tarts, Oven Mitts and Serving Maids.

But the two symbols that will make this game for online slots players are the Logo and the Queen’s Crown.

The Logo, like in the majority of Microgaming online slots games, is the Wild. It is also the key to the 4,000 coin jackpot offered on the Rhyming Reels Queen of Hearts slots game. Five of the Logo will give players those 4,000 coins.

Sadly there is no bonus game in this slots game, but players can win up to ten free spins, each with a 2x multiplier on them. As I am sure you have guessed, they are triggered by landing three or more of the Queen’s Crown. Free spins can be retriggered though.

I do really wish this one had a bonus game. I think the nursery rhyme leaves a lot of ideas open for creating a thoroughly amusing bonus game. Oh well, perhaps in another Rhyming Reels slots game. Yes, it is being speculated that Microgaming is beginning a new online slots series based on Nursery Rhymes. I want to see the one with the cow jumping over the moon.

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Probably the most anticipated new online slots game from Microgaming this month is the third installment in their Sneak a Peek slots game series.

The Sneak a Peek slots game series, now with three slots games, present players with hunky guys who’s call of duty make them heroes or sexy doctors and nurses; this new installment gives players other worldly sexy alien babes.

The whole point and draw of the Sneak a Peek is to land the bonus game.

The bonus game bears the same name as the slots series, hence where the name of the series comes from. The Sneak a Peek bonus game is triggered by landing the Sneak a Peek symbol on the first reel. A box appears in the corresponding position on the fifth reel. The fifth reel will spin and if one of the alien babes lands in the box, the Sneak a Peek bonus game is triggered for that alien babe.

In the bonus game players choose portions of the arch above the alien babe. Each portion of the arch that is removed helps slots players in their quest to remove the alien babe’s clothing. Naturally bonus prizes are awarded when arch potions are selected and clothing pieces removed. Slots players can win up to 12,000 coins in the Sneak a Peek bonus game alone. So there is money to be won and peeks to be sneaked.

It is this clothing removal in the bonus game that makes the Sneak a Peek slots series as popular as it is. And it does put an entertaining spin on this slots game.

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There is a growing trend in online slots games. And that trend is the doing away with paylines in favor of a type of feature called Ways to Win.

The way this feature works is that in order for a player to receive a payout, he must land the same symbol on consecutive reels.

This translates to a symbol, say Symbol Q, landing first somewhere on the first reel and then somewhere on the second reel, and then at least somewhere on the third reel. Now those symbols may not have lined up on a payline if the example slots game had been a traditional online slots game, but in a Ways to Win slots game, the player would receive a payout.

In short, a Ways to Win online slots game increases the player’s chances of creating a winning combination.

And even though the Ways to Win online slots games are still relatively new, they are already evolving. They started out with only 243 different ways to win. But some of the recent Ways to Win slots games, as recent as this month when looking at Microgaming’s Hot Ink slots game, offer players 1,024 Ways to Win.

But how do Ways to Win slots games work in terms of wagering?

It is based on a single coin which can have a value of $0.01 up to usually $0.25. Players can then wager multiple numbers of coins per spin. Usually players can wager anywhere from one coin per spin to up to twenty. This gives the slots game a broad range of wagers per spin, making the same online slots game suitable for players looking to play more for fun and for players who are high rollers.

With more and more online slots games being developed to offer players the Ways to Win and no paylines, it is indeed looking like this will become the latest trend in online slots games. Which to my thinking is better than the number of paylines steadily increasing.

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