Williams Slot Machines with Reels (Dotmation, etc.) 1995-2001 (pre-TITO)
Introduction.
First I would like to state that in regards to 1990s Williams slot machines,
no one seems to be archiving any information
on these (Williams is not doing this for example).
Hence this web page. Even though most pinball people hate Williams slot
machines (because pinball financed slot machine development during the early 1990s,
and Wms gaming eventually overtook and closed the pinball division in 1999),
I find the Wms spinning reel dotmation slot machines to be the best of this era.
(Note WMS Gaming became a publically traded company in 1998.)
These are all pre-TITO machines (TITO is "ticket in, ticket out"). Meaning they
take quarters and paper money, and have a hopper to payout quarters. Most new slots
after 2001 are TITO and don't handle money, only tickets. To me a TITO machines
is not a slot machine, it's a money sucking credit cardish eating device,
and is nothing I would want in my home gameroom.
Brief History.
In early 1995 Williams introduced their first spinning reel slot machine of the 1990s
with "Reel Em In" (aka Fishtales slot). This was a very successful game,
using great sound and programming to cast (re-spin) the reels with fishing
reel sounds for bonus effects. (If a lure symbol lands on the pay line,
the reel studders and "casts" the lure out, hitting the water with sound
effects. Then the reel spins backwards slowly like someone is reeling the lure back.
Usually a "fish" grabs the lure, and the reel shakes and spins like the
player has caught a big fighting fish).
Reel Em In was extremely successful for a first effort, and was well received
at trade shows and casinos.
This was followed up by some other great spinning reel slots like High Speed (themed
after the Williams pinball game, complete with the reels re-spinning like tires burning rubber,
and cop chasing sirens), and Top Cat, amoung others.
Towards the end of 1995, Al Thomas of Williams came up with the idea of
adding a 192x64 dot matrix display
to their spinning reel slot machines. These Wms model 40x slot machines
are known as "dotmation" slots because of the dot matrix display.
Though I'm not exactly sure which was the first dotmation slot by Williams,
it was probably X-factor or Piggy Banking.
Note model 400 and model 401 and model 405 or 40s are Williams reel slots
with or without Dotmation, model 250 are Williams sit-down reel slots, model 550
are their video slot machines, model 360 are slant top sit-down video slot machines
version of the 550, and Williams Bluebird is their newest Linix based video slot machine.
If you have a Williams slot machine (dotmation, reel only, or video slot) for sale please
let me know. Broken or working is fine (I can fix them). Please email me at
cfh@provide.net
ROMs Needed.
Also if you have any ROMs or ROM files for the following Wms Dotmation games,
I would really appreciate hearing from you: Batter Up dotmation,
Monopoly Advance to Boardwalk dotmation, and Monopoly Roll and Win dotmation.
The elusive Williams Monopoly
Advance to Boardwalk
Dotmation slot machine.
What's the "Best" Game?
I get asked a lot, "I want a Williams slot machine, but which is the best one
for my home?" That's a hard question to answer, as it's like asking, "which flavor
of ice cream do you like the best?" But I will say this, I like the slots that have
some sort of interactive bonus round. All the Williams slot machines have bonus
or dotmation animations that make them much nicer than a "standard" spinning reel slot.
(In my opinion, all other spinning reel slots like IGT are awful in comparison to Wms.) Just
some models get the player involved more than others.
For example, all these games have some sort of
player interactive bonus round: Jackpot Party (including Beach and Country), Perfect Match
(very similar bonus round to JP Party), Stroke of Luck, Money to Burn, Jackpot Limbo,
Mermaid's Gold, and Mermaids Treasure. I would consider all these games to be amoung "the best"
of the dotmation games as the bonus games are interactive (involving player sections and choices).
Next are the spinning reel slots that have non-interactive bonus rounds,
hence "sit and watch" entertainment (these too are incredibly popular and fun). This includes
Reel Em In, High Speed, Top Cat, Jackpot Stampede (those four are non-dotmation),
Winning Streak, Piggy Bankin, Big Bang Piggy Bankin,
Mega Multiplier, Palace of Riches, Riverbelle 21, Jackpot Stampede Deluxe,
Safe Cracker, and Shopping Spree.
And last there are those that don't have a bonus round, but just have lots (often hundreds)
of cute dotmation animations that play between spins: Magic Lamp, Pharaoh's Fortune and X-Factor.
Note *none* of these Williams spinning reel slots are "bad"; they are all good. It's just
what you like. And again *any* Williams dotmation is better than any IGT model from the 1990s.
Cabinet Styles.
The 400/401/405 upright models came in three cabinet formats: 9" top glass, 16" top glass, and "round top"
(just like IGT). All models were available with or without card-reader strips below
the top glass (casinos use these to track players).
The round top cabinets are considered the fanciest, but personally
I like the 16" square tops the best from a cosmetic point of view. Williams made the
dotmation slot machines as late as 2001. (Late models were mostly made for
the Canadian market, as the Canadians put in big orders
for Dotmation slots around 1999.) Williams also made sit-down versions called the 550 series.
These are big things, and generally just too big for the home arcade. (But interestingly
the Monopoly series only came in 550 sit-down format.)
Bonus Rounds.
On the dotmation slot machines, if the patron is a "winner", most games go to a bonus mode which
plays on the dot matrix display (DMD). This was the first use
of a bonus game in slot machines with a DMD, and its development is largely due to
Williams' involvement in pinball. The creative talent of the pinball programmers
and designers really shows through on these dotmation slot machines.
Unlike "regular" slot machines that just have three spinning reels, the bonus games
provide a chance to increase the payout, and made the games more interactive and fun.
In addition to giving players the
chance to win more, these games are more engaging than traditional slot machines,
incorporating funny audio and video features on the dot matrix display.
Games that don't have a bonus round instead have random award multiplier (2x to 15x), again
incorporated through the DMD. Lots of great animations on the display keeps the
players more engaged and dropping more quarters to see, "what it will do next."
The earlier dotmation games generally don't have bonus games.
The first dotmations, based on the Williams-assigned game number, are Piggy Bankin,
X-Factor, Magic Lamp, Phoroahs Fortune, and have limited bonus features. Later games
like Winning Streak, Big Bang Piggy Bankin, Jackpot Party, Jackpot Stampede Dlx, Jackpot Limbo,
Mermaid's Gold, Shopping Spree, Perfect Match, Money to Burn, Stroke of Luck,
Monopoly, etc, have some sort of interesting bonus game.
Even many of the non-dotmation mechanical reels have bonus rounds. For example Jackpot Stampede,
High Speed and Short Circuit do "re-spins" when the bonus round is hit. These are incorporated
into the game's theme very well. Like on High Speed the reels do a "burn out" like car
tires when the bonus round is started, and continues as the cop chases the getaway car.
This is all done very well with great sound and speech, and is much more exciting than
any IGT S+ or Bally slot of the same era.
Sound.
The Williams slot machines also have much better sound than their IGT counterparts, with
good music and even speech. The sound is miles ahead of other slot machines of
the 1990s (most other slots have monotone synth sounds, which is pretty lame compared to
Williams slot machines). The familiar Williams pinball "bong"
is used as a Dotmation slot machine is turned on. The sound is so good on Williams
slot machines that it rivals the sound on games made 10+ years later. Even IGT's S2000
series and Bally 6000 series can't compete with
1990s Wms slots regarding sound and speech (well unless
you pay extra and have an additional sound board and software installed,
and even then it's debatable if they are better).
Backlit Reels.
Another great feature of Williams slot machines are back lit reels.
If a winner is spun, the reels back light showing the winning symbol
combination. Even IGT didn't have this feature until 10 years later
on their S2000 series (and as an upgrade option, not as a stock item).
On the Williams slot machines there are 6 lamps behind each reel strip, so even a 5-line
game can show winning combinations. Williams used a lamp matrix much like
their pinball machines, for a total of 64 CPU controlled lamps (an 8x8
row/column matrix). This is done using TIP102 and TIP107 transistors on the
Slot I/O board (same technology used on WPC pinball games).
Dollar Bill Protocol.
Another thing Wms did was to use the JCM dollar bill protocol. This is the method
where the dollar bill acceptor "talks" to the slot machine. Dollar bill acceptors
because a big feature of 1990s slot machines, so this is an important item to
have working on these 1990s and later slot machines. IGT used their own dollar bill acceptor
protocol, and frankly it stinks! That's why it's so hard to get the dollar bill
validator to work on an IGT S+ machine (I do more repairs related to dollar bill acceptors
on IGT machines than any other problem). Compared this to Williams where there is
rarely a dollar bill validator issue, because Wms used JCM's (the dbv145 and dbv200
bill validator manufacturer) protocol.
Reliability.
Every brand of slot machine has its Achillies Heal. For example, in the case of IGT,
their dollar bill acceptor never seems to work consistently. And the array of bizzare
numeric error codes and weird procedures to fix them is frustrating.
With Williams none of these things are issues (they use english commands on the front
LEDs to display problems), and the dollar bill protocol is far better. Overall IGT
slots are not good for a "home" user, as working on them requires experence and a
good understanding of their weird error codes and procedures to fix them. Also
unique set and clear chips are often needed (which are not readily available).
In this regard Williams slot machines are far easier to work on.
But Wms slot's can have power supply issues.
On dotmation games there are two switching power supplies - one in the top box for
the DMD display, and a lower switcher for the rest of the game. These can both be
problematic. But they are also easily changed out to a single inexpensive ATX computer
power supply (for both upper and lower power), making Williams slot machines pretty bullet-proof.
Once this is done, a Wms slot is less problematic than an IGT or Bally slot. And if a
power supply problem does happen, 30 seconds later you're up and running with a new
inexpensive power supply installed.
Popularity.
Of the Williams dotmations slot machines, certain titles seem to have been made in
greater numbers. For example, Winning Streak, Piggy Bankin, Big Bang Piggy Bankin, and Magic Lamp
seem to be the easiest to find, and are very popular.
Some are pretty rare like Mermaid's Treasure, Shopping Spree, Perfect Match,
Palace of Riches, Money to Burn, Riverbelle21, and the two Monopoly games.
Williams only had a 1 or 2 percent market share in the 1990s
(compared to IGT who basically had 80+% of the slot machine market).
So none of the Wms slot machine titles were made in great numbers.
Also some Williams slot machines were made as "lease only". This includes the
two Monopoly dotmation slots. Because they were never sold to the casinos,
when the games were "finished" (when their profit per square foot no longer
met casino expectations), the games were returned to Williams. At that point
Williams would crush the games. Hence very few survived. Some titles were available
as both lease and sale (Jackpot Limbo for example), so they are also "rare".
Telneas Patent.
At the time (mid-1990s), Wms was being sued by IGT over
pay table calculations (the Telneas patent). This
really kept Wms from cranking out machines, as they were tied up in court.
The arguement was that a spinning
reel could be divided into 72 virtual stops (instead of just 22 "real" stops), and
odds were calculated on these 72 virtual stops.
The Telneas patent was originally developed by Telneas of Bally during the early 1980s.
The patent was granted to Bally, but gaming commisions would not allow its usage.
Because of this, the patent was sold to Universal in the late 1980s and then to IGT in the early 1990s.
Somehow IGT was able to convince the Nevada gaming commision that the Telneas patent was Ok,
and IGT cashed in on this. Other state gaming commisions followed after Nevada declared
Telneas as legal.
Gaming commisions try to protect the player. For example if a gaming devices uses
cards or dice, it must react and play like a deck of cards or dice. That is, odds are
1 in 52 for any card, and 1 in 6 for any dice position. Slot machines were like this
too prior to the Telneas patent. There were 11 symbols per reel, so the chances of
hitting any symbol was 1 in 22. The Telneas patent made any symbol (or any blank area)
have multiple position, which was not obvious to a player, increasing the odds to say
1 in 72 (or even higher). So seeing a 10,000 coin jackpot on a game with 11 symbols
was in many respects very deceiving - instead of each reel having the obvious 1 in 22 odds,
the odds were really much longer. Because of this the Telneas patent was illegal for
many years. It is speculated that IGT bribed or paid-off the Neveda gaming commision to get the
Telneas patent approved. This gave IGT the upper hand in slot machines in the 1990s,
and this is why IGT had 80% of the slot machine market during this period.
Most games have 11 symbols on each
reel strip. This means there are 22 "stops" on each reel (11 symbols and 11 spaces
between the symbols). So the chances of hitting any position are 1 in 22. What the
Telneas Patent does is to "divide the pie" into say 72 pieces instead of just 22
(even though there are really only 22 visible "stops" on a reel). This allows for
"long odds", where the slot can payout much bigger jackpots. Yes the odds of hitting
are reduced, but notice no one plays the lottery when it's at $1 million (but everyone
plays when it's at $50 million!) That's why IGT slots were so popular during the 1990s,
since players had the possibility of hitting huge jackpots.
The idea of having many more reel stops than reel symbols was not missed by Williams either.
When Wms starting making spinning reel slots in 1995, they also used the Telneas idea.
IGT obviously didn't want Wms to enter the slot machine market, so they sued Wms over
the Telneas patent. Manufacturing of Williams games that used the Telneas virtual
stop calculations were haulted, and Wms had to go to calculations based on 22 "real" stops.
This makes paying out larger numbers of coins more difficult and less lucrative for the
casino, since the potential for big coin payouts is what attracts many slot players. Wms lost
the Telneas lawsuit, which forced them into the video slot machine market (where the Telneas
patent did not apply.) And the Wms spinning reel slot division now did all calculations
based on 22 "real" stops.
What Williams did to work around the Telneas patent was to increase the number of
symbols on a reel strip. Instead of 11 symbols, they went to 12 symbols (Jackpot Stampede),
and then 18 symbols (Money to Burn, Jackpot Party). This gave Williams
36 stops instead of 22 (without violating the Telneas patent),
which allowed for longer odds and bigger payouts (though not as long odds
as 72 stops). The reel strips were more cramped, but this compromise helped keep
Wms in the game and popular amoung players. The Telneas patent also pushed Williams into
video slots, where the Telneas patent did not apply. This inadvertently made Wms the
leader in video slots, where they still are today. So though IGT won the battle of the
Telneas patent, they really lost the war of slot machines (since video slots are far more
popular today at casinos than spinning reel slots). Little did IGT know that protecting
their Telneas patent on spinning reel slots would be the equivalent of shooting themselves
in the foot in the long run.
TITO Video Slots.
Though all the rage at casinos, I personally hate "ticket in, ticket out" video slots. They just seem
so "unreal" compared to a mechanical spinning reel slot. Casinos love them - less moving parts
and less people needed to fill hoppers with coins.
Also they can change a game quickly as all that needs to be done is to swap the software
in the case of a video slot machine.
The number of reels and the reel strips obviously change instantly with a software change
on a video slot. But for my basement, only spinning reel slots with hoppers will do.
Williams Slot Machines and Kits for Sale.
Occassionally I have a Williams slot machine or two for sale or some game kits
(a "kit" is the top glass, belly glass, reel strips, and EPROM software so any model 40x can
be converted to another game). Please see the
for sale web page
for more details.
Titles and Pictures of Williams Slot Machines.
Below is a list of all the Williams Dotmation model 400/401/405 reel slot machines by Williams,
and some of the popular non-dotmation slot machines.
Williams Spinning Reel Slot Machines 400/401/40x |
Pre-Dotmation Spinning Reel Games. |
Williams Reel 'Em In Slot Machine (game #??), circa 1995.
Reels spin like casting rods, with good sound effects.
Game re-made later in model 550 video format.
Reel Em In embodied several of the cutting edge pay schemes of the early nineties,
including multiplier features and several bonus games. This game became the prototype
for later WMS games and the blueprint for its success.
NOT DOMATION.
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Williams High Speed Slot Machine (game #??).
High Speed slot machine has a light animated bonus game in addition to the three
spinning reels. Reels act like spinning tires and do a "burn out" with
good sound effects.
NOT DOMATION.
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Williams Jackpot Stampede Slot Machine (game #62).
Jackpot Stampede slot machine has bonus round where the reels re-spin.
When the Stampede symbol lands on the payline, the the voice on the machine
calls out, "it's a stampede", and the sounds of cattle running are heard.
Cowboys also call out "yee-haw", and the reels shake like the earth is moving
from the stampede. Then the bonus round begins and
all three reels spin in different directions and respin
until it lands on a winning combination on the payline. Very cute game that
eventaully morphed into Jackpot Stampede Deluxe (dotmation).
Great sound effects. The original Jackpot Stampede is NOT DOMATION.
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Williams Short Circuit Slot Machine (game #??).
Williams Short Circuit is somewhat of a copy of the IGT Haywire game.
When the game lands on a short circuit, the reels shake (rather violently),
plays some confused music, and respins the reels in a bonus round.
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Williams Shootin' Stars Slot Machine (game #??).
Williams Shooting Stars is somewhat of a copy of the IGT nudge style games
(like Double Diamond Deluxe).
When the game lands near a "star", the reel(s) nudge to the payline with
a gun shot ricochet. Great sound and music effects.
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Williams Jitter Bug Slot Machine (game #??).
If the Jitterbug is spun and shows on the last reel, the game
awards a win. The last reel will "jitter" (shake) and the hopper will spit
out bonus coins (even if the game is set to award credits for wins instead of coins).
A very cute game with a nice mechanical effect.
NOT DOMATION.
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Williams Power Sevens Slot Machine (game #42).
If you like slot machines with a thunderstorm theme, this is the game for you.
Has lots of thunder and lightning sound effects.
NOT DOMATION.
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Williams Top Cat (game #11 and #80): Game appears to be made twice (hence the
two different game numbers), neither are dotmation.
With a Buy-A-Pay feature of the Top Cat bonus and a central character
players love. During a max bet play, a Top Cat symbol on the payline
will make the Top Cat bonus game kick in. Available in a 3 coin version.
NOT DOMATION.
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Dotmation Spinning Reel Games. |
Williams Batter Up dotmations Slot Machine:
Batter Up baseball slot machine has a 192x64 dot matrix display (DMD) in addition to the three
spinning reels. This was the very first dotmation slot machine made by Williams,
and was only produced for a trade show (it was never sold).
The picture to the right is the only evidence I have seen of the game. If you have
this game I would really love to see some more pictures. Would also love to get the ROM
software files for it too. There's one out there somewhere!
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Williams Piggy Bankin dotmation slot machine by "Scott the Dot" Slomiany:
The original Piggy Bankin' game does not have the bonus round with the
spinning and the bombs (that's a "Big Bang" feature).
The only 'bonus' was the bank, which would be
awarded and reset when you spun three "Break The Bank" symbols
(spinning 3 blanks would add the player's wager value to the coin
bank). Available in 2, 3 and 5 coin versions. Later updated and re-released as
Big Bang Piggy Bankin.
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Williams X-Factor dotmation slot machine (game #43): During Max Bet Play, players collect
Power Points when the symbol appears in the window. Every 10 Power Points
collected increases the X-Factor multiplier. When the X-Factor symbol is part
of a winning combination, the player collects the payout times the X-Factor.
Available in a 3 coin By-A-Pay version.
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Williams Mermaid's Treasure dotmation (game #56) dotmation slot machines.
The Mermaid's Treasure idea was conceived by Steve Ritchie, but Ritchie left the project before
the game was really started. Lyman Sheets and Adam Rhine picked up and finished the game.
Unfortunately Mermaids Treasure got caught up in the Telneas/IGT lawsuit, and very few MT
games were made. After Wms lost the lawsuit, Larry Demar and Erica Frohm reissued Mermaid's Treasure
as Mermaid's Gold (using calculations based on 22 reel stops, instead of 72 virtual reel stops).
Hence the two games are very similar except for the code that does the payout calculations
(and the payout table is obviously different).
Also the artwork is similar between the two games (Mermaids Treasure is a bit nicer).
On either game when the correct reel symbols hit the payline,
treasure chests of gold, silver and bronze with random coin amounts appear on the DMD. The
chests hinge close and swirl through the sea. The player selects one treasure
chest hoping to choose the most valuable. And with just the right combination
of mermaids and treasure symbols, multipliers splash in. It's sort of a classic shell game that
the player gets to pick the shell. Available in 2 coin version only.
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Williams Magic Lamp dotmation slot machine (game #66) by Greg Dunlap:
bigger payouts and jackpots won through
Dotmation sequences with multipliers emerging from the magic lamp (which sometimes
morphs into a lava lamp). Lots of good animations include UFOs shooting a 15x multiplier.
Unfortunately no bonus game though.
Available in 2, 3 and 5 coin versions.
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Williams Mermaid's Gold dotmation (game #68) dotmation slot machines.
Started life as Mermaid's Treasure (conceived by Steve Ritchie), but Ritchie left the project before
the game was really started. Lyman Sheets and Adam Rhine picked up and finished the game.
Unfortunately Mermaids Treasure got caught up in the Telneas/IGT lawsuit, and very few MT
games were made. After Wms lost the lawsuit, Larry Demar and Erica Frohm reissued Mermaid's Treasure
as Mermaid's Gold (using calculations based on 22 reel stops, instead of 72 virtual reel stops).
Hence the two games are very similar except for the code that does the payout calculations
and payout table.
Also the artwork is similar between the two games (Mermaids Treasure is a bit nicer).
On either game when the correct reel symbols hit the payline,
treasure chests of gold, silver and bronze with random coin amounts appear on the DMD. The
chests hinge close and swirl through the sea. The player selects one treasure
chest hoping to choose the most valuable. And with just the right combination
of mermaids and treasure symbols, multipliers splash in. It's sort of a classic shell game that
the player gets to pick the shell. Available in 2 and 3 coin versions.
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Williams Winning Streak dotmation slot machine (game #69) by Larry DeMar:
When 3 Winning Streak symbols appear in the window,
the bonus round starts a three reel slot game on the Dotmation display.
With a winning combo of symbols, the dot matrix reels continue to spin,
increasing the winning amount. No limit to the
number of bonus round spins, goes until a "loser" is hit.
Available in 2, 3 and 5 coin versions.
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Williams Big Bang Piggy Bankin dotmation slot machine (game #70) by "Scott the Dot" Slomiany:
Updated version of Piggy Bankin.
Has a spinning/bomb bonus round (in addition to the
"Break The Bank" coin bank bonus like the original Piggy Bankin').
Also there is a "next pig bonus" for each additional pig once you've
eliminated a certain number, based on your wager.
In Big Bang, three blanks adds one coin to the coin
bank, but only if you were playing the maximum bet
Available in 2, 3 and 5 coin versions.
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Williams Pharaoh's Fortune dotmation slot machine (game #71): During each spin of the reels, the desert
sands will blow and swirl to reveal a multiplier. (Similar to Magic Lamp.) Sometimes the big Spinks
cat blows up and a small cat meows and appears (cute animation).
Available in 2, 3 and 5 coin versions.
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Williams Mega Multiplier dotmation slot machine (game #72):
line up the Mega Multiplier symbol on the payline.
Then a second set of bonus reels appear on the Dotmation screen.
Each Dotmation reel contains a multiplier and times the base win.
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Williams Palace of Riches dotmation slot machine (game #73)
by Greg Dunlap: designed around a theme of
entering a Palace where the player is awarded bonus coins. This
occurs by getting three 'ENTER THE PALACE' symbols scattered in
the reel window. Above the dot matrix display, there is a grid
of coin awards that light up. An arrow in the display picks a
column of coins from the grid, award the player the lowest unlit
coin value, and then multiplies that value. This process continues
until the arrow chooses a column where all of the coins have been
collected, at which point the bonus game ends. If the player is playing
max coins, and the player collects all the columns, the player will
also collect 5000 bonus coins in addition to the coin amount won
from the individual coin wins in the Palace. This represents the
5000+ value in the Top Award column in the chart above. Available
in a 3-coin version.
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Williams Monopoly: Advance to Board Walk dotmation slot machine (game #74).
A 3-reel-spinning slot machine features a full-size Monopoly game
board with all of the classic Monopoly elements.
Millionaire Rich Uncle Pennybags is back to guide players through
familiar Monopoly game play with some new twists and turns on the
way to Boardwalk. With three Rich Uncle Pennybags in a scatter pay position,
the player starts the bonus round on the famous 'GO' space. The animated
Dotmation display gives Rich Uncle Pennybags the opportunity to talk,
sing and dance as he guides the player through the bonus game full of
multipliers, bonuses, and just like the board game, CHANCE and
COMMUNITY CHEST CARDS full of surprises.
A lease only game, never for sale
to the casinos. This makes the game hard to find today.
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Williams Jackpot Party dotmation slot machine (game #75, #75b, #75c):
a multiline slot with a feature theme
of going to a party. By collecting three party favors anywhere in the pay window,
the player enters a second party bonus round. The party consists of
choosing titles in a grid on the dotmation display board to win coins. The party
continues until a title hiding a party pooper is chosen (screen says "poop"). As a special feature,
the player will get an extra "Surprise Party" from a certain losing combination.
The coins values behind the tiles range between 1 to 20 for a 1 coin bet. For
multiple coin bets, the coin values behind the titles are multiplied by the coins
bet (i.e. tile values range from 5 to 100 for a 5 coin bet). Also available in
Jackpot Beach Party (#75b) and Jackpot Country Party (#75c). The reel strips are the same for
Jackpot Beach, Jackpot Country and Jackpot Party, only the
top glass is different for the three games (JP Party is aqua, JP Beach is blue, JP Country
is brown). They all use the same reel glass with a
small party pooper noise maker just above the reels. The XU2/XU3 processor software
is the same as Jackpot Party too (DMD and sound files are different for the three games though).
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Williams Monopoly: Roll and Win dotmation slot machine (game #76).
A 3-reel-spinning slot machine features
mechanical dice and a mini Monopoly game board. With the 'Wild Dice'
symbol on the middle reel on a winning combination, the mechanical dice
in the top box spin. The sum of the dice acts as a multiplier for game
awards. On max bet, 3 Rich Uncle Pennybags on the payline can really
make things swing as he takes the player into the top box bonus round
for a trip around the Monopoly game board. When the lights stop on a
randomly selected Monopoly square, players might draw a Chance Card,
win a multiplier or collect bonus credits. Animated Rich Uncle Pennybags
helps guide the player through the game.
A lease only game, never for sale
to the casinos. This makes the game hard to find today.
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Williams Stroke of Luck dotmation slot machine (game #77): Offering a unique twist,
every pay becomes a scatter pay.
A Mystery Multiplier bonus game built into the display. (Much like Magic Lamp.)
There is a bonus game too, when three "mystery" symbols are received on the reels.
As the game highlights five different bonus values, the player must hit the "spin" button
to try and get the best bonus.
Another game only available for lease to casinos (not sold), and hence is fairly rare.
Available in 4 coin version.
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Williams Jackpot Stampede Deluxe dotmation slot machine (game #78):
This game takes the theme of Jackpot Party
and beefs it up. Player rounds up bonus points as they corral cows and cash cows
to the exciting sounds of the old west. During stampede mode the reels shake (neat feature),
and then the game goes to a cow corral bonus game on the dotmation.
Available in a 3-coin version only. Note the "Jackpot Stampede Deluxe" version has dotmation
(where the original "Jackpot Stampede" is the non-dotmation version).
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Williams RiverBelle 21 dotmation slot machine (game #79) by Greg Dunlap:
River Belle 21 with jackpot symbols across the payline, the player wins
the base game award and heads into the bonus round. A blackjack dealer
with a handlebar mustache deals two cards. A blackjack means big multipliers
and big awards. Available in 2, 3 and 5 coin versions.
Can't find any more pictures of this game.
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Williams Jackpot Limbo dotmation slot machine (game #81): a 5-line game which gives the players a
chance to see a flamingo limbo. Three
Jackpot Limbo symbols anywhere in the pay window activates the bonus round.
The player hears "It's limbo time" and then sees a pink flamingo limbo in the
Dotmation display above the winnings. Player may wager some credits and limbo. Three
successful limbos in a single bonus round and the players win the limbo contest.
The limbo contest lasts for up to three rounds.
Hard game to find because only available to casinos as a lease (not sold).
Completely different software than Jackpot Party, and has different reel strips too
(flamingos with sunglasses). Reel glass is slightly different too.
Available in a 5 coin version.
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Williams Perfect Match dotmation slot machine (game# 82):
has a TV game show feel where three of a kind
earns bonus credits for the player, complete with swinging theme song, cheesy
game show host, and glamorous assistant. Three Perfect Match symbols
on the pay line and the game kicks into the Perfect Match bonus round.
Host Phil Hopper pops up in the corner of the Dotmation display and
reveals a grid of 30 tiles. He encourages the player to "Choose tiles until
you match three identical symbols." The player hits "SPIN" to select
tiles. Once three symbols match, both Phil and his glamorous assistant,
Hanna Pull, congratulate the player.
In the Super Match bonus, "wild" tiles can have a 2x, 3x, or
5x multiplier associated with them. Selecting three "5x Wild" tiles
on the first three picks awards the top award of the game (40,000
coins on the 3-coin version).
Available in 2, 3 and 5 coin versions
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Williams Money to Burn dotmation slot machine (game #86). Five coin, five line
game with a very creative bonus game. If three fire bells are spun on a payline,
player goes to the bonus round. Then a ladder fire truck pulls up on the screen
where the player can choose one of three building floors to "save". Then six burning
windows are shown, and the player much press the "max bet" button to select a window.
Behind the flames are bonus coins.
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Williams Shopping Spree dotmation slot machine (game #88). Rare game, hard to find.
Player gets "frequent shopper points" as the game is played. Every 10 points and the
player goes up a floor. Once fifty frequent shopper points are received,
the player enters a bonus round. The bonus round respins the reels,
and the player gets bonus coins as they run through the store collecting them.
Very unique dotmation animations
and cute elevator shopping music during game play. Very nicely done game.
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Williams Safe Cracker dotmation slot machine (game #??). Rare, only available as a lease
game (not sold to casinos), so not too many around. Williams' slot machines with
pinball themes (like Safecracker) were considered "high end" and were only leased and
not sold to casinos. The object is to get the combination to the safe (a five digit number),
gving you a bonus round where you bust into the safe. Excellent animations.
Available in 2 coin version only.
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