The Keystone Kops Slot Machine
Even if you’ve never seen any of their adventures, there’s a good chance that the name The Keystone Kops (sometimes spelled Cops) rings a bell somewhere in the back of your mind. These bumbling and incompetent police officers were the centerpieces of numerous silent film comedies that were produced by Mack Sennett in the first half of the 20th century. The concept was revived many times, with some members showing up in cameos as late as the 1950s.
More generally, the term has come to be used to refer to any group that appears incompetent, and that’s probably the context most people are familiar with today. But there’s nothing bumbling about The Keystone Kops by IGT, a series of at least three live games that feature the antics of these policemen. Each of these casino slot machines offers a different kind of adventure to players, but they all share a casual, humorous, and low volatility approach designed to attract players who aren’t looking for anything too serious on the gaming floor.
Three Adventures, One Police Force
The Keystone Kops video slot machines explore the adventures of a group of animated cops who seem to cause as much trouble as they solve. There are three games in total: Pie Patrol, Shuffle Scuffle, and Pilfering Pooch. All three share brightly colored and animated graphics that make it clear that this is taking a light-hearted approach to attract gamblers. All three machines are configured as penny slots, making them affordable for the low limit players who are more likely to be interested in this style of machine; however, since you won’t find these games at online casinos just yet, there are no play for free versions that you can try before playing with real cash.
Normally, we’d start talking about the mechanics of the game here. But because there are three different games, we’re going to take a slightly different approach, and give you a little information on each of the games in this series in their own separate section. While these three machines are similar in presentation, they do offer some very different gameplay features, so you might find that one of these games appeals to you much more than the others.
Every Dog Has Its Day
Pilfering Pooch is a five reel machine with 60 paylines in which players are looking to match symbols from left to right across their active lines. The basic payouts come from bits of police equipment like whistles, hats, handcuffs and batons. The cops themselves serve as the high-paying symbols, with four different versions featuring different color backgrounds. There are also wild symbols that can substitute for any of the normal icons in the game to complete win lines.
This particular machine is very big on special features, though there’s nothing too confusing going on here. One of the best features in this machine comes when you hit a dog bone symbol anywhere on the reels. When this happens, one of the Keystone Kops will appear and begin turning other icons on the screen into wilds. This can be especially powerful in the free spins round, when the screen expands to offer players 200 paylines. Each dog bone icon triggers this feature independently and has the potential to generate up to 21 wilds, so this is definitely a bonus you want to watch out for.
Finally, we should note that any spin can result in the progressive bonus round being triggered. Players select vaults from a grid to reveal bronze, silver, and gold icons. Once you’ve matched three in a row, you’ll win the corresponding prize, though these are fairly modest: even the gold jackpot is usually only worth a few hundred dollars.
Pie in the Sky
The basics of all three of these machines are very similar, sharing the same number of paylines and the same set of symbols you’ll want to match, as well as the same progressive jackpot system. Where they vary is in their special features. In Pie Patrol, for instance, players will be hoping to find pie maker symbols landing anywhere on the third reel on any spin. When this occurs, the entire third reel becomes wild, and you’ll enjoy a short animated pie fight in which many more wild symbols can appear elsewhere on the reels. These symbols hit fairly frequently and can lead to some great payouts with lots of five-of-a-kind matches.
Shuffle Up and Deal
The last The Keystone Kops video slot is known as Shuffle Scuffle, and it has perhaps the most unique of the special features in these games. If the player manages to land all of the same high value symbol (the cops) or wilds on the third reel – which only has three positions, while all other reels have four – then the shuffle feature is activated. Random symbols will be transformed into the one that triggered the feature, and the icons will then be mixed up around the screen. This has the ability to create big payouts, but doesn’t guarantee even a small win, adding some volatility – at least in terms of the results of the bonus game.
All in Good Fun
The Keystone Kops by IGT is a series that is definitely designed with casual, fun-loving players in mind. In all three games, it’s pretty hard to score any huge wins, but it’s also unlikely that you’ll go a long time without winning. Small, consistent payouts aren’t always a favorite among serious gamblers, but they do mean that users aren’t likely to go broke very quickly. The special features are also a lot of fun, which should help keep players entertained and do offer some potential for decently-sized wins from time to time. We doubt that these new games will develop a huge following in casinos, but if you’re looking for something simple and relaxing to play, these will definitely fit the bill.