Wheel of Fortune: Hawaiian Getaway

Wheel of Fortune: Hawaiian Getaway Slot Machine

The Wheel of Fortune: Hawaiian Getaway slot offering from IGT is yet another addition to the extremely successful Wheel of Fortune series. More than a dozen branded titles, some with fixed or progressive jackpots, have been released to casino floors and at online casinos. Each has distinctive features that carry a strong resemblance to the TV game show, which was aired for the first time in 1975.

Wheel of Fortune – The TV Show

Wheel of Fortune is one of the longest-running game shows that originated in the US. Today it is broadcast under license in dozens of countries around the globe. At its core is a simple concept where contestants solve word puzzles for cash and prizes. The amount of cash is determined by the outcome of a giant fortune wheel with wedges displaying various cash values.

First, contestants turn the wheel, and if they do not land on bankrupt, guessing one correct consonant in the puzzle will award the amount on the wheel. They can opt to buy a vowel at a fixed prize if their play balance is high enough. This continues until one contestant solves the puzzle, at which point the accumulated cash from the round is awarded. The final puzzle will see the contestant who won the most money in the preliminary rounds playing for a large cash prize or a car.

Reels With a Hula Swing

The show regularly ventures out of its home studio and airs live shows from different locations in the US, with Hawaii having proven to be one of the most popular destinations. This transpires on the reels in the form of typical pay symbols, a bamboo-ornamented game window, and a fitting beach background. A catchy Hawaiian soundtrack is only interrupted by the distinct tone from the TV show when scatters land on the reels. Five fixed jackpots tower over the game window in blue, purple, green, silver and gold colors.

All pay symbols including scatters appear stacked and start at the low end with Js through to As. Five intricate tiles, each depicting a typical Hawaiian feature, are the high-value symbols. In ascending order, they are Lava, which illustrates a volcano in the background; Aloha –representing a beach; Tiki – indicating the traditional statue; Hula, which depicts a dancing girl; and Surf, which features a surfer riding a wave. The slot’s wild is an intricate tile decorated with bamboo sticks and showing the word “Wild” across.

Pays for a single five of a kind are rather low here at 0.20x to 0.50x your bet. However, hitting full stacks on multiple reels in the base game and a win multiplier in the Big Kahuna feature can increase that substantially. Scatters appear as the Wheel of Fortune logo, with a minimum of six needed to trigger the bonus game.

Fortune Stats and Numbers

Wheel of Fortune: Hawaiian Escape is a video slot in HTML5 format with five reels, three rows, and 25 fixed paylines. Bet sizes start at an unusual 0.5 credits for 25 paylines and peak at 250 credits – which is just right for the high rollers among us. The RTP of this medium-variance game is pegged between 93.32% and 96.15%.

The Big Kahuna Moment

Ready for giant pay symbols? Then hit three fully stacked premium symbols on adjacent reels to trigger a respin with the three reels locked as a large 3×3 symbol. Any further full stacks landing on the respin adjacent to the block will award a further respin. Only premium symbols are present during the respins, and any resulting wins will be randomly multiplied by x2, x3, x4 or x5.

Scoring a full screen with a premium symbol will transform the entire screen into a mega 5×3 symbol awarding an all-line win. Payouts for full screens peak at 62.5x your stake when the surfer symbol extends to all five reels. Wins are evaluated and paid after each respin, and they can push the overall win from the feature to well above 100x the initial bet.

The Big Bonus Moment

Hitting a minimum of six scatters anywhere on the reels in one spin will grant you entry to the Wheel Bonus feature. The well-known Wheel of Fortune is packed with coin wins as well as Free Spins, Pointer Frenzy, and Jackpot Bonus wedges.

Landing on the Free Spins wedge will award 10 free spins, which can be retriggered to up to 120 free spins. No extras are awarded during the round, but the Big Kahuna feature will have a higher frequency. Landing on Pointer Frenzy will add more win pointers and will respin the wheel, awarding multiple prizes and occasionally multiple Jackpot Bonus spins.

The Big Money Moment

The main attraction on this IGT slot are the five fixed jackpots, displayed on top of the game window. Access to the Jackpot Bonus Wheel is awarded after the Bonus Wheel stops on a jackpot wedge. Alternatively, this can be accessed through the Pointer Frenzy feature, which can award multiple turns on the Jackpot Wheel.

The Jackpot Bonus will award one spin on the Jackpot Wheel. The wedges on the wheel include Gold, Silver, Green, Purple, and Blue Jackpots for wins ranging from 20x to 1,000x your stake. There is no empty wedge on the wheel, guaranteeing a minimum of one jackpot win.

More Big-Money Wheels

If Wheel of Fortune is your favorite TV show, then you can choose from more than a dozen slot variations in the IGT series. Try Wheel of Fortune: Wild Escape or Wheel of Fortune: Triple Extreme Spin for more jackpots.

The Big Final Verdict

Hit or miss? The Wheel of Fortune series has been extremely successful for IGT, especially in brick-and-mortar casinos across the US. Many fans of the TV game show love to spin that giant wheel to bag one of the big jackpots. On the online video slot version, some of the magic attributed to the show is lost. Still, Wheel of Fortune: Hawaiian Getaway remains an entertaining game with sufficient action and features. Remember, though, that the base game won’t produce massive wins, as those are reserved for the Jackpot Bonus feature.

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