The Little Shop of Horrors
Manufacturer: International Game Technology
Platform: AVP
Format: Five-reel, 60-line video slot
Denomination: .01
Max Bet: 300
Top Award: 25,000 credits times line bet
Hit Frequency: Approximately 50%
Theoretical Hold: 2%-15%
With this video slot, IGT mines the rich vein of imagery offered by Little Shop of Horrors, the low-budget 1960 black comedy that gained new life in the 1980s as a Broadway musical and movie starring Rick Moranis, in the title role of a nerdy florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood.
The slot employs 3D animation and a novel reel configuration to make the story come to life. The reel set is hexagonal, with five symbols in the middle reel, four symbols on the second and fourth reels, and three symbols on the outer reels. It is also has a “Tumbling Reels” feature, which adds to winning combinations as the winning symbols disappear and new reel spots tumble into place.
The 3-D animation is employed both in the primary game and in a unique bonus event. In the base game, mini Venus Flytrap plants grow from the reels’ outer edges in 3-D, and eat symbols to grow bigger. Loud crunching sounds intensify the plants’ presence.
The “Pick a Bud” bonus feature lets players choose one of three prizes-more credits, a multiplier of the win, or a free games feature. In the free-spin round, extra symbols turn wild, and the Venus plants crunch away. Each time the plant grows to full size, the player gets more free games and an additional symbols turn wild.
The Tumbling Reels game play occurs whenever the plant symbol appears. Symbols disappear and new ones fall into place, and the plant continues to grow larger each time it feeds on more symbols.
Operators can configure the game to play all 60 paylines for 50-cent, quarter and 10-cent bets to allow for high-denomination play. The game is available as a 3-D game for IGT DynamiX configurations, and can also run without 3-D in the wide-screen G20 and G22 multi-game units.
