DraftKings Casino released nearly 240 new games in February across its US and Canadian sites, one of the most interesting of which is Wicked Wheel Moby Dick by Everi.
Sometimes, during this day and age of endless gaming options, some players simply want a taste of nostalgia when playing slot machines. Everi’s signature style is to try to capture that vintage slot machine feel, and Wicked Wheel Moby Dick is no exception. This is a simple and old school set-up with five reels and three rows creating a total of 243 paylines.
Everi’s well-known as a manufacturer of retail and online slots. Many of its machines for brick-and-mortar casinos feature mechanical spinning reels for a truly retro vibe.
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Wicked Wheel Moby Dick: old-school in theme and features
Wicked Wheel Moby Dick is a video slot, but the wheel spin bonus feature is definitely reminiscent of some old Las Vegas favorites, like IGT’s Wheel of Fortune. Speaking of which, Everi and IGT are in the process of merging, so who knows what other “modern classics” might come out of that pairing.
The old-school aesthetic of Wicked Wheel Moby Dick is what makes it enticing to players. Licensed branding is all the rage these days, but instead modeling their game after a trendy new TV show or movie, Everi has decided to embrace a true classic: Herman Meville’s Moby Dick, now very comfortably in the public domain.
That nostalgia extends to the gameplay as well. There are no overwhelming sights and sounds meant to distract you from the slot game itself. There are six levels of jackpots available to be won and eight winning symbols with different payouts. The six levels of jackpots each have a preset maximum payout depending on its tier and there are two ways to win them.
Wicked Wheel Moby Dick bonus features
First, there is Wicked Wheel feature which will activate when three Wicked Wheel symbols appear on reels 3, 4, and 5. Using this feature almost feels like playing Wheel of Fortune. There are a couple jackpots spread throughout the wheel at random as well as other winning sections. After spinning, the player takes home whatever winnings they landed on. There could also be multipliers added by the mysterious white whale to spaces without progressive jackpots for even bigger winnings as well.
Secondly, there is also the Progressive Pick Bonus. This is a feature randomly activated so long as at least one White Whale symbol appears and the Wicked Wheel does not activate on the same turn. The Progressive Pick Bonus appears as 21 different ships and the goal for the player is to match three progressive jackpot symbols to win said jackpot.
P.S., there will be gold coins and other treasure from the sea that accumulates at the top of the screen while playing. This is purely an aesthetic and has no bearing on the Progressive Pick Bonus or any possible bigger payouts.
Thar she blows!
Here are all jackpots listed from biggest possible payout to lowest:
- Grand: $39,999.99
- Ultra: $9,999.99
- Mega: $799.99
- Major: $99.99
- Minor: $39.99
- Mini: $19.99
Lastly, here are the winning symbols as well. It is important to note that there is a range of possible winnings for each symbol depending on which payline was hit. To that end, each symbol will be listed with a range of possible winnings from highest to lowest.
- Captain Ahab: 60-1000 credits
- Red ‘7’: 50-500 credits
- Orange ‘7’: 40-400 credits
- Pink ship: 30-300 credits
- Purple anchor: 20-160 credits
- Gold bell: 20-120 credits
- Star: 10-100 credits
- Bar: 10-80 credits
Payouts by symbols are based on credits. For reference, 1 credit equals 1 cent so 1,000 credits is equal to $10.
My first-hand experience with Wicked Wheel Moby Dick included about 350 spins and during that time, I won four major jackpots and one mega jackpot. Four of those progressive wins came from the Progressive Pick Bonus while the one other win came from the Wicked Wheel Spin feature.
Overall, it was nice to enjoy a simple, yet exciting slot machine like old times. There were no gimmicks or fluff; just pure fun on a slot machine. Hopefully Everi will continue making these types of games even after the merger with IGT.
How could the merger between Everi and IGT impact the future of their game development?
On February 29, 2024 there was a joint statement put out between IGT, Everi and Apollo which announced there will be a merger between IGT and Everi with both simultaneously being purchased by Apollo for approximately $6.3 billion.
These massive transactions usually mean very little for the players themselves because the companies in question continue to operate normally while under new ownership. In this case, things could shake out differently and the merger could impact players as well.
The reason why is because IGT is one of the largest slot machine game developers in the world and, while uncertain for now, it seems likely IGT could heavily influence the direction of Everi moving forward.
That being said, Everi President and CEO Randy Taylor seems to be excited about the future.
“By joining forces with IGT Gaming, we expect to continue to lead, innovate, and provide unparalleled value to our customers as a stronger player in the global gaming, FinTech, and digital industry.”
