Playboy Fortunes slot: A preview of Microgaming's fourth Playboy game

Coming up at the end of July and adding to the three other games from the same franchise already released by Microgaming, Gameburger Studios will be the next team to try their hand at arguably one of the most prestigious and familiar names in slot gaming, Playboy.

Their new slot will be called Playboy Fortunes and it is the fourth game produced by Microgaming under the Playboy franchise. We are going to learn a little about the history of the Playboy franchise on Microgaming before learning a little more about the game which we are set to review in a couple of week's time.

The history of Playboy and Microgaming

We all know that Playboy was the brainchild of Hugh Hefner and the magazine proved to be a smash hit success, particularly in America where its somewhat unusual brand of investigative journalism, combined with softcore glamour, proved to be a smash hit success. This led Hefner to become very rich indeed and he soon made his home at the famous Playboy Mansion, often setting up residence with a bevy of Playboy Playmates who would become his partners over the years.

Given that the Playboy name has branched out well beyond its usual remit of magazines and TV channels, into clothing, perfume, homeware and much more, it was not too surprising that one of the most recognisable industry names in the world would soon have its own slot game.

Playboy slot by Microgaming

That came in 2013 when after agreeing a deal with the Isle of Man-based slots giants Microgaming, the aforementioned produced their first Playboy slot. This was a 5x3 reel 243-ways to win game that featured cartoon graphics and pictures of a playboy lifestyle, as well as a cover shot of the famous magazine, which acted as the game's Scatter symbol.

With a jackpot of 1,215,000 coins, the first Playboy slot also had four different Free Spins bonus games which you had to unlock in order after 0, 5, 10 and 15 triggers of the bonus round. Each Free Spin bonus featured a different girl (Kimi, Sofia, Ashley and Jillian) who each offered between 10 and 25 Free Spins and an attached bonus feature alongside those spins, including Rolling Reels and the curiously named Wild Night feature.

Playboy Gold by Triple Edge Studios

Five years after the first Playboy slot was released by Microgaming, one of their new affiliate studios, Triple Edge Studios were given the task of creating the second game under the terms of the license. This was Playboy Gold and it was a very different slot to the original.

This new slot was a much larger reel-set featuring six reels and there were a total of 10 symbols on each reel. A total of 100 lines were in play on the game and spins began at 0.50 per spin. The key feature of the slot was the Jumbo Block feature which saw the different Playboy Bunny Girls, Carlie, Gia, Hiromi and Stephanie all given their own 4x4 sized jumbo blocks which could land some sizeable wins when landed with smaller symbols of the same type on the outermost reels.

Land a Jumbo Block in full during the base game and you would win either a multiplier win of 5x the standard win for that spin, a Credit prize of 30x the bet or up to 4 free Respins of the reels. There was also a Wheel Bonus game which could be triggered by landing three Scatters which saw cash prizes available to be won, while a Free Spins bonus round was also part of the game with a guaranteed Jumbo Block landing on every Free Spin.

Playboy Gold Jackpots (2019) by Triple Edge Studios

Barely a year or so later, Triple Edge Studios were entrusted once again with another Playboy slot, this time it was the Playboy Gold Jackpots, a version of their earlier Playboy Gold title. This new game was a 5x6 reel slot with 30 pay lines in play which could be played from just 0.10 per spin.

Once again, Jumbo Blocks appeared on the three centre reels of the slot when you landed three of the Stacked Playboy Bunny Symbols together on those reels. The game also featured multiplier Wilds of between 2x and 5x your standard win.

There was also a Wheel Bonus game which was triggered when you landed the Wheel Jumbo Block in full on the reels. This either awarded you a retriggerable 10 Free Spins bonus game or a shot at the Jackpot prize. If you landed the latter, you would get to spin the Jackpot Wheel where you could win a prize of either 20x, 100x, 500x or 2,500x your bet.

However, a year later and Gameburger Studios have been entrusted with bringing their own unique take on the forthcoming Playboy Fortunes slot, so what do we know about the forthcoming game?

Playboy Fortunes (2020) by Gameburger Studios

Set for release into Microgaming casinos on the 28^th July 2020, the Playboy Fortunes slot will be a 5x3 reel slot which will have 20 pay lines in play. It will offer spins from 0.20 per spin, although higher rollers will be interested to know that you can ramp up the action to 60.00 per spin if you so wish. The maximum jackpot on the slot is 2,000x your bet, which means a potential top prize of 120,000 if you play the maximum bet or 400.00 if you play the minimum bet amount.

A quick look at the slot reveals a more than passing resemblance to the Playboy Gold Jackpots layout with the reels to the right and the big money Playboy Fortunes prizes listed to the left of the reels, including the top jackpot prizes we mentioned above.

We do know that the new game will feature Playboy Bunny Wild symbols in the shape of a poker chip and that it will act as both a substitute for other standard symbols, as well as offering a sizeable payout itself if landed across the reels.

The Playboy Wheel is the Scatter symbol and three of these symbol landed on the middle three reels will trigger your Free Spins bonus. Here you get to spin the Free Spins wheel, where you will be able to trigger up to 30 Free Spins and either a 1x, 2x or 3x multiplier on all wins in the bonus round.

The game will also feature Mystery Symbols, which when landed on the reels will change into one of the symbols in the game offering you the potential for some big money wins.

Compatible with mobiles and smartphones, the Playboy Fortunes slot is a medium variance game.

Playboy Fortunes hits casinos on July 28^th and we're looking forward to trying a few spins on the fourth game of the series. Join us then for our review of this new Gameburger Studios slot to see if they have managed to put their trademark take on this classic Microgaming franchise.