The Game Show

The Game Show Slot Review

Most TV-studio slots use the set as wallpaper; The Game Show uses it as a payout structure. The stage lights and the banks of grinning audience members aren’t dressing for a standard bonus round, they’re the backdrop for a game that hands you a genuinely different route to the money every time the scatters land. Betsoft has built it as a 5×4, 1,024-ways slot with medium/high volatility and a 10,000x round cap, part of the studio’s narrative THE Series alongside The Oil Barons, The VIP and The Bonus Day.

Base Game & Features

Wins run left to right across 1,024 ways. The number of winning ways is calculated by multiplying the matching symbols on each consecutive reel from the left, with only the highest win per way counting and coinciding wins on different ways added together. It’s the standard ways format, and it needs no further explanation.

The paytable is a familiar split of picture symbols and royals, with the host leading the board. Values below are multiples of the total bet:

• Host (man): 0.3333x for two, 1.3333x for three, 2x for four, 3.3333x for five
• Woman (BONUS) and Car: 0.0667x for two, 0.3333x for three, 0.6667x for four, 1.3333x for five
• Luggage and TV: 0.2667x for three, 0.5333x for four, 1.0667x for five
• A and K: 0.2x for three, 0.4x for four, 0.8x for five
• Q and J: 0.2x for three, 0.3333x for four, 0.6667x for five
• 10 and 9: 0.1333x for three, 0.2667x for four, 0.6667x for five
• Scatter: 1x for three, 5x for four, 10x for five, paying anywhere and added to way wins

The WILD appears on reels 2, 3 and 4 only, substituting for everything except CASH, BONUS PRIZE, THE GAME SHOW, THE MONEY BOUNCE, POWER BUZZ and SCATTER symbols.

Cash Symbols and the Game Show Symbol

CASH symbols carry prize values of 0.50x up to 100x the triggering bet and only appear on reels 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the base game. THE GAME SHOW symbol sits on reel 1 and pays whenever it lines up alongside one or more CASH symbols on the adjacent reels. It doesn’t transform in the base game; it collects.

BONUS PRIZE symbols appear only on reel 5, and they step up a fixed ladder:

• MINI: 6.67x the bet
• MINOR: 33.3x the bet
• MAJOR: 333x the bet
• GRAND: 3,333x the bet

SCATTER and CASH symbols can’t appear on the same reel at the same time, and you can’t land the Pick Feature, a CASH and BONUS PRIZE win, THE MONEY BOUNCE and POWER BUZZ simultaneously in the base game. One route at a time.

The Game Show Bonus Features & Free Spins

Pick Feature

3 or more SCATTER symbols trigger the Pick Feature, and it does what the name promises: you choose between a round of Free Spins or The Game Show Feature. The choice is genuinely yours, which is rarer than it should be.

Free Spins

3, 4 or 5 SCATTERS award 8, 15 or 20 free spins respectively. During the round, WILDS become MULTIPLIER WILDS revealing a 2x or 5x multiplier, with up to three on a single spin and all multipliers on a spin multiplied together, to a maximum of 125x.

That multiplier applies to all wins on the spin where the wild appears, even if the wild isn’t part of the winning combination. CASH, BONUS PRIZE, THE GAME SHOW, THE MONEY BOUNCE and POWER BUZZ symbols are all absent during free spins, so the round is pure ways wins with wilds doing the lifting.

Retriggers scale with scatters too:

• 2 SCATTERS: 5 additional free spins
• 3 SCATTERS: 8 additional free spins
• 4 SCATTERS: 15 additional free spins
• 5 SCATTERS: 20 additional free spins

The cap is 100 free spins in total. Past that point, further scatters pay but no longer retrigger. Everything plays at the bet of the triggering spin.

The Game Show Feature

Pick this route and you get a single free spin, guaranteed to win one of three things: CASH symbols with values or BONUS PRIZES, a round of THE MONEY BOUNCE, or POWER BUZZ. Standard payable symbols don’t pay during the feature, and THE GAME SHOW symbol on reel 1 is replaced by a CASH symbol.

It’s one spin, and the win is locked in before it resolves. The guarantee takes the sting out of the short format.

The Money Bounce

When THE MONEY BOUNCE triggers, THE GAME SHOW symbol becomes a CASH symbol and the CASH symbols on each reel combine to create four Money Bounce Balls. You choose a drop location, and all four balls are dropped one at a time towards the multiplier buckets below.

The bouncing is entertainment only; the outcome is settled independently of the animation. The round plays at the triggering bet.

Power Buzz

POWER BUZZ turns the reels into a climbing board. THE GAME SHOW symbol transforms into a CASH symbol, and the CASH symbols on each reel combine to create four CASH symbols on Level 1. Once a CASH symbol reaches the highest row it locks in place, and other CASH symbols beneath it are added if a POWER BUZZ symbol lands in their column.

WILD, BONUS PRIZE and payable symbols don’t appear during the round. The further up the board the values climb, the bigger the payout, and the round again plays at the triggering bet.

Buy Bonus

A Buy Bonus button sits in the base game, opening a panel where you can purchase a round of POWER BUZZ or THE MONEY BOUNCE directly. No purchase price is shown in the game, so none is quoted here.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.7/10

Playing this is like waiting for your name to be called: the base game is a warm-up act, thin and steady, and everything you’re actually here for arrives when the scatters finally show up. The reason to choose it is that the buzzer moment is real. Three different mini games and a free spins round means no two bonuses feel like the same event, and the choice at the Pick Feature makes you a contestant rather than a spectator.

The variety is its biggest strength, and it’s earned rather than cosmetic, because Money Bounce and Power Buzz genuinely play differently. The weakness is the waiting. Strip away the studio lights and the base game is a modest ways-pays slot with a paytable that tops out at 3.3333x, and a medium/high volatility game can make that warm-up run long.

This one suits players who want their bonuses to feel like events and don’t mind spinning through the filler to get there. It’s a poorer fit for anyone who wants one deep, retriggerable feature doing all the work. For the right contestant, though, the prizes are worth the studio time.

The Game Show FAQs

• Is The Game Show high volatility?

  It’s a medium/high volatility slot, so expect a mix of steadier base game wins and longer gaps between the bigger feature payouts.
• How many ways to win does The Game Show have?

  The game uses 1,024 ways to win on a 5×4 grid, with winning ways calculated by multiplying matching symbols on consecutive reels from the left.
• What is the maximum win on The Game Show?

  The maximum win per round is 10,000x your bet. When it’s reached, the round ends immediately and any remaining features are forfeited.
• How does the Pick Feature work?

  Landing three or more scatter symbols triggers the Pick Feature, where you choose between a round of free spins or the Game Show Feature, which is one guaranteed winning spin.
• What do multiplier wilds do in the free spins round?

  During free spins, every wild becomes a multiplier wild carrying a 2x or 5x multiplier. Up to three can appear on a single spin, and their values multiply together up to 125x, applying to all wins on that spin even if the wild isn’t part of the combination.
• Can free spins be retriggered on The Game Show?

  Yes. During free spins, 2, 3, 4 or 5 scatters award 5, 8, 15 or 20 additional spins respectively, up to a maximum of 100 free spins in total. Once you’re at the cap, scatters still pay but add nothing further.
• Can you buy the bonus on The Game Show?

  Yes. A Buy Bonus panel lets you purchase a round of Power Buzz or The Money Bounce whenever you want.
• Who makes The Game Show?

  Betsoft. It’s part of the studio’s narrative-driven THE Series of video slots.