The Flintstones Slot Machine

Author: GamblingSites.org | Last Updated: December 2023

You can thank Jackie Gleason for the success of the
Flintstones, the first primetime animated show made for adult
audiences. When Gleason realized that Hanna Barbera had based
the Flintstones on his popular “Honeymooners” show, he wanted to
file a lawsuit against the studio. Fortunately for millions of
Flintstones fans around the world, Jackie Gleason’s friends
convinced him that he did not want to be the man who killed Fred
Flintstone.

The Flintstones went on to become the most successful and
continuously produced animated franchise in history, spawning
many sequels and spinoffs including a full-length animated
feature film in 1966 and two live-action movies in the 1990s.
And now the Flintstones have inspired three slot machine games,
including two land-based slots by WMS and an online slot by
Playtech. Maybe J.L. Gotrocks, one of Fred Flintstone’s
doppelgangers, heard a pitch that he liked (“What’s your baby?
What’s your angle? I’ll buy that!”) and he decided it was time
to bring Fred and friends back from Rock Vegas to the real
world.

The 2014 pinball-style Flintstones game bowled players and
reviewers over with amazing bonus games and video effects. The
more recent 3-reel game has also received rave reviews. Players
and reviewers alike are anxiously awaiting details on the
Playtech game.

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Game Design Features for the Flintstones Slots

It’s hard to summarize three different slot machines in one
article, especially since the third game has yet to be released.

The WMS games that you’ll find in land-based casinos in Las
Vegas utilize two interface sections. The lower section on each
game is where most of the action takes place. The 2014
pinball-style game features a 32 inch video interface on the
lower board. You’ll normally see 5 reels with 4 rows of tiles
here, but this arrangement typically changes during bonus games.

The top screen plays animations relevant to the game but they
are either scenes from the television show or they are designed
to look almost exactly like scenes from the show. Characters can
also move across the lower screen area.

A physical bonus round wheel tops out this towering game
console and once in a while Fred and Barney give it a spin for
you.

The more recent 3-reel slot game console from WMS also has
two playing areas. The reels are positioned in the lower
section. A video screen is centered in the above section and it
is surrounded by stylized lights that feature the faces of
characters from the show.

Gameplay in the Flintstones Slots

Both the WMS games feature multiple bonus games. The slots
come with separate interfaces for “nomal” play and “bonus” play.
The bonus games require the player to look up to the second
display area where short animations may play out revealing
various prizes or prize-determining factors such as random Wild
symbols, multipliers, and cash prizes.

These are normal “spin the reel” games until the bonus rounds
are triggered. Then the animation magic starts and you find
yourself being directed from one screen to the other. In both
games animated characters assist you in winning bonus prizes by
dropping special tiles onto the lower screens.

Yabba Dabba Doo Bonus

The most popular bonus game in the 2014 pinball-style slot is
the Yabba Dabba Doo bonus. Almost every familiar character from
the show gets involved with this one in one (although Dino has
his own bonus game where he licks Fred’s face and awards cash
prizes).

The signature animation of the Yabba Dabba Doo feature
(officially called the “Flintstones Mystery feature”) is the way
the playing reels expand to include many more rows. Fred appears
on his big rock quarry dinosaur on the top video display. The
dinosaur pulls on the playing area so the reels extend upward,
adding more rows. Then various things can happen. Wilma may
vacuum the playing reels with her baby mastodon, occasionally
uncovering new Wild symbols that lock in place. Fred and Barney
may use the Flintstone Flyer to drop Wilds from the night sky.
And Betty may water the grass, flooding the reels with more
Wilds.

The characters may take several turns dropping new Wild
symbols onto the lower screen and Fred may even add more reels.
Eventually the game locks in place and you get one spin to
determine what your prize will be.

Bowling Bonus Round

In the Bowling bonus round you are taken to a screen with a
lot of bowling balls. You pick one to reveal a multiplier. Then
the game takes you to another screen where you choose a bowler.
The bowler takes the ball you chose and rolls it down the alley.
You may get a strike or a gutter ball or maybe you’ll just
knock down some of the pins. A bird keeps score for you. You get
to choose three balls and three bowlers.

Bamm Bamm Feature

Other bonus features include Bamm Bamm dropping Wilds on the
reels and a Pebble Beauty Contest where you pick the most
beautiful baby. There is also a progressive jackpot bonus that
may pay a very substantial 6-figure prize.

Reel Games

The more recent 3-reel game combines a traditional mechanical
slot-style interface with a hybrid mechanical and video
interface for the bonus games. The hybrid section includes light
bulbs featuring characters from the television show and during
the bonus rounds you look up to see which character will help
you win money.

Dino is a more important figure in the 3-reel slot game. He
sleeps on a bed beside the playing area and during Free Spins
bonus games he may occasionally wake up, dart across the top of
the playing area, and deposit a Water Buffalo hat in a
collection area. You can also win Water Buffalo hats from the
reels. When you collect three of them you look up to see which
character helps you in the bonus game. That character then
alters the mix of symbols on the reels for you. You can win
multiple bonus games during the free spins.

What to Expect from the Playtech Flintstones Game

Playtech tends to use the same basic game design for all its
slots but you can usually expect a different set of bonus rounds
for each game.

Playtech usually allows you to choose how many pay lines to
keep active. Some slot game designers are moving away from this
feature. Playtech doesn’t yet seem to be ready to lock players
into a fixed number of pay lines.

You can usually change coin values in Playtech games as well
as the number of coins you bet per line. Hence, you’ll have
maximum flexibility over how much you bet. The land-based slot
machine games typically provide you with a row of buttons that
have preset amounts on them. You don’t always get to choose the
number of active pay lines.

Playtech games usually include a Wild symbol and a Scatter
symbol. They sometimes have multiple Wild symbols. Don’t assume
you need three or more Scatter symbols to trigger a bonus round.

Playtech is also one of the game designers that offers a
Gamble button on some of their games, although not all of them.
Gamble buttons are only active after you win a prize and before
you spin the reels again. You can gamble all or part of your
winnings on some sort of pick option. Many games use a simple
“pick a higher card” style Gamble button.

Playtech also offers a lot of progressive jackpot games.
While that does not guarantee their Flintstones game will have a
progressive jackpot bonus if it does the chances are good there
will be multiple jackpots up for grabs. Playtech’s progressive
games may guarantee you a jackpot or at least a consolation
prize.

Conclusion

Playtech has its work cut out for it because people will
compare their online game to the land-based casino games. But
Playtech has a great reputation for innovation and creating
high-quality and entertaining games. Players are not likely to
be disappointed by the Playtech game.

The fact that a 3-reel slot game was released is interesting.
Three-reel slot games remain popular in land-based casinos but
they have to add special features in order to compete with the
full video games. You can usually expect 3-reel slot games to
spin in both directions, lock reels into place, add special Wild
symbols, offer free spin bonus rounds, and sometimes work in a
hybrid environment. But the more complicated a physical slot
machine becomes the less likely it will be featured in smaller,
off-track casinos.