World Football Stars Slot

This slot is truly a diamond in Playtech’s Top Trumps slot series and a lesson in designing slots with mass appeal. World Football Stars features some of the best World Cup players, and lets you choose from seven high-profile international teams to help you score a jackpot.

European football fans whose teams haven’t performed so well in Euro 2012 (Ireland, Sweden?) will enjoy this opportunity to focus on World Cup action, and to start thinking about starting afresh in the World Cup qualifiers.

Sports event and featured athletes

The World Cup is live! After the game loads you’ll be asked to pick two opposing teams which will compete for you for the ultimate prize; this competitive twist is what puts World Football Stars in a league of its own. Your choices are Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Spain, Germany, England and France – the world’s best. You can change the teams during regular spins, but not in the Free Games round. Each country is represented by three of its best players:

• England – Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard
• France – Patrick Vieira (who’s now doing commentary on Euro 2012 for Britain’s ITV), Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane
• Brazil –  Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka
• Argentina – Lionel Messi, Juan Roman Riquelme, Hernan Crespo
• Germany – Michael Ballack, Lothar Matthaus, Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany’s new generation team is now looking like a strong contender in Euro 2012)
• Italy – Alessandro Del Piero, Francesco Totti, Luca Toni
• Spain – Raul Gonzalez, Carles Puyol, Jose Antonio Reyes

Symbols

An in-play photo, on a Trumps-style game card, of each footballer is his symbol. All of them are wearing their national team’s strip. The players alternate depending on the teams selected, as do the Free Games symbols. So if you pick Germany vs. Brazil, the Free Games symbols will be the national flags of those countries. When the same flag lands on reels 1 + 5, it waves and the Free Games round is launched.

All the non-special symbols are playing cards from 9 to Ace. In typical Playtech style, these have a minimalist, polished look and pulsate when triggered.

Other special symbols are:

• Wild – golden lettering on a red and starry background that swells up and sparkles
• Pass the Ball Bonus – a black and white football on a grassy background; the ball gets passed around between the footballer symbols
• The Top Trumps Logo – a scatter symbol that shatters into tiny pieces and acts as a multiplier

Wagers and jackpots

Unfortunately there is no progressive jackpot in this game of 15 paylines and five reels, but as we know progressive jackpots are only ever available to players wagering real money anyway. There are eight wager values running from 0.01 to 5 in whichever currency you play in (Sterling, Euro or USD are the most common choices – again, this is of concern only to real money players). The highest jackpot is 10,000 coins. The paylines are a little unusual: they pay out either from left to right only, or from right to left only, for each team. In Free Games all symbols pay in both directions, as do different players from the same team in the Mixed Pay feature.

Other ways to win

• Free Games Round – offers twelve free spins featuring only footballers from the team that activated the Free Games. Additional spins cannot be won.
• Pass the Ball Bonus – triggered when the Pass the Ball symbol lands in a certain position on reels 2 or 4. The ball bounces around the reels, accompanied by match commentary and lively goal celebrations. Your total bet is tripled for each player who touches the ball.
• Gamble feature – click on the Gamble button after a win. Five face-down playing cards will appear; the dealer’s is on the right. Choose whether to bet all and possibly double (or lose all) your winnings, bet half and possibly double (or lose) half, or return to the reels. The dealer reveals his card and you must pick a higher one. If you’ve bet real money on the game, this is a great chance to boost your bankroll.

Music, audio and graphics

• Free Games Round – offers twelve free spins featuring only footballers from the team that activated the Free Games. Additional spins cannot be won.
• Pass the Ball Bonus – triggered when the Pass the Ball symbol lands in a certain position on reels 2 or 4. The ball bounces around the reels, accompanied by match commentary and lively goal celebrations. Your total bet is tripled for each player who touches the ball.
• Gamble feature – click on the Gamble button after a win. Five face-down playing cards will appear; the dealer’s is on the right. Choose whether to bet all and possibly double (or lose all) your winnings, bet half and possibly double (or lose) half, or return to the reels. The dealer reveals his card and you must pick a higher one. If you’ve bet real money on the game, this is a great chance to boost your bankroll.

Lots of tunes and jingles are included in this slot, and tension-building music plays in the Free Games round. The cheering and whistling football fans create an authentic World Cup atmosphere. The graphics are crisp and modern, and the use of more recent footballer photos (although this is by no means a Euro 2012 generation game) gives this slot a contemporary feel. The animations are neat and attractive but not the highlight of the game, nor are they supposed to be: the focus is on a competitive experience akin to a real football match.

The Last Word

Top Trumps World Football Stars will probably appeal to a wider spectrum of slots fans than its sister-game Football Legends. Getting the slot player involved from the outset in the team selection is a great idea. This is a high-quality game consistent with Playtech standards. It relies on an interesting basic concept rather than on dazzling animations for thrills, and does what it sets out to do very well indeed. We give it 8 out of 10 – and we look forward to Playtech’s next football slot, which is surely overdue by now, given that so many of the players featured here are no longer representing their countries!