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I love reality TV as much as the next guy. Beautiful people, compelling drama, and pretty scenery — even the biggest curmudgeon would admit they find this type of content interesting from time to time (at least that’s what the ratings suggest).
As someone who grew up on the Bachelor/Bachelorette, though, I must say that I’m fascinated by Love Island. There’s something about the lack of romance and the focus on cash prizes and drama for drama’s sake that feels like a reflection of the times. I’ll leave that discussion to people smarter than me. Today, I want to focus on FanDuel’s newly minted Love Island slot game.
If you want to play the game, we certainly won’t stop you. Truth be told, it’s actually pretty fun — just like the show.
Step Inside Our Villa
With an RTP percentage of 96.39%, Love Island: Unlocked gives players the opportunity to choose what characters they want to represent different bonus pathways. As simple as it may sound, the ability to “choose your own adventure” is a pretty rare feature for a real money online casino slot game, and for that, FanDuel deserves some props.
“As America’s #1 iGaming operator, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to bring fresh entertainment experiences to our customers while reaching new audiences,” said Daniele Phillips, Senior Vice President of Marketing at FanDuel Casino. “Love Island is known for having an incredibly passionate and engaged fanbase and with this latest launch, we’re continuing to bring the spirit and thrill of the franchise to players in new ways, exclusively on FanDuel Casino.”
The game also makes use of some parlance that is marketed as “show-specific” but is really just part of dating culture. We’re talking about phrases like “I got a text!” (bonus trigger) or “Dumping Night!” (refreshes the reels). Even “Bombshell in the Villa” has become a pretty common phrase.
As fun as it may be (and it is), it’s pretty clear that this real money slot game is being used as a marketing lever for the show. I understand how the world works, and see the potential for both FanDuel and Peacock. But as a consumer? I don’t know, this feels a little forced. Truthfully, this isn’t the first time I’ve felt this way about a new slot release. Maybe it’s the island spirit or just the overt nature of this partnership, but for whatever reason, this particular title has me thinking — what other slots are being forced upon us?
Top 5 Slots Nobody Asked For
1. Deal or No Deal: Sarcasm aside, I do love this show. There’s something so relatable about seeing people succumb to peer pressure in real time. You know they should take the deal, they know they should take the deal, hell, even the audience knows they should take it. But something about that environment does something to people.
Just like FanDuel with Love Island, BetMGM Casino looked at this and said “yes, we should have a slot game based off this.” The briefcases are there. The banker is there. The psychological warfare is there. The only thing missing is Howie Mandel nervously hovering over you while you decide whether to cash out. To their credit, the conversion is so seamless that you have to wonder whether the original show was just a slow-burn slot game pitch the whole time. Points for effort, but also — did this really require a licensing deal?
2. Family Feud: Survey says: another 6×4 reel slot?
Family Feud’s slot adaptation (also on BetMGM) somehow managed to take Steve Harvey’s raised eyebrows and turn them into a bankroll management strategy. The Fast Money bonus round is genuinely faithful to the show, which either means the developers did an outstanding job or that the original show was always one reel away from being a slot. “Survey says” — yes, someone greenlit this, and honestly we respect it.
3. The Price is Right: The show hasn’t been the same since Bob Barker stepped down and this slot certainly doesn’t do justice to the glory days. At least I got my dog neutered.
To be fair, the show did open the door for Plinko as an online casino game. That said, watching a disc bounce unpredictably down a pegboard and calling it a “bonus feature” is exactly the kind of innovation that makes you question what a bonus game even is. The Big Wheel feature is equally on the nose. I suppose Bob Barker did spend decades telling people to “come on down” — he just never specified it would eventually be to a Betsoft server somewhere.
4. The Walking Dead: Nothing says “capitalize on a dying franchise” like releasing a slot machine while the show’s ratings were already limping toward the finale. The Walking Dead slot managed to achieve something truly impressive: making zombie apocalypse content feel depressing for all the wrong reasons. Players have been complaining about this one for years, which is fitting, because complaining while slowly losing everything is essentially the plot of the show too. At least Rick Grimes had a horse. You have a spin button.
5. Sweet Bonanza: This is a bit of a departure from the rest of the list but warrants a shoutout. Truth be told, we love Sweet Bonanza here at bonus, but we love it the way a parent loves their wayward child. Or so I imagine — I don’t have any kids.
Either way, Pragmatic Play looked at the slot market and decided what it really needed was candy. Not the fun kind — the kind that comes with a 21,100x max win potential dangled in front of you like a piñata you will never, ever hit. Sweet Bonanza has earned a passionate and vocal detractor base online, largely because its high volatility and multiplier bomb mechanic create sessions that oscillate between “nothing happened” and “everything happened” with very little in between.
It is, in the words of the broader slot community, either the best game ever made or a confectionery-themed exercise in patience. The fact that it remains one of the most played slots in the world despite all of this says less about the game and more about the human condition.
