Bridesmaids Pokies
Poker machines based on hit movies are always popular attractions, and Bridesmaids is certainly no exception. Starring Kristen Wiig, Chris O’Dowd and Australia’s own Rose Byrne and Rebel Wilson, the movie was released in 2011 and went on to make around $290 million on a budget of just $32 million.
Microgaming hold the rights to produce a pokie based on the film, and they have come out with one of the most feature-filled games seen in recent years, with no less than 4 possible bonus rounds triggered by spinning a Wheel of Fortune.
Featuring many of the main characters from the movie, although not Rebel Wilson, Bridesmaids is a bright pink sparkly delight that’s aimed squarely at female casino players, but shouldn’t be overlooked by anyone, as it’s got plenty going on.
Playing Bridesmaids
The first thing that anyone opening up this game will notice are the various shades of pink that dominate the screen. Going from subtle and muted, to eye wateringly in-your-face, players who don’t like pink may need to wear shades throughout.
Once over the shock, a quick look at the layout reveals 5 reels and 40 paylines, with an option to stake just 0.01 on each line, or play up to 1.50 for a total maximum wager of 60.00. There’s no option to just play a single line or anything less than 40, but that shouldn’t put off anyone serious about wanting to win on this or any other pokie.
The Spades, Clubs, Hearts and Diamonds icons, all presented in a suitably shiny style, are the lower paying symbols, with the cast members rewarding higher prizes. To make up a win, identical examples of a symbol must line up across a payline, starting from the left, but there are a couple of ways to boost the odds of this occurring.
A paytable details how much can be won for each symbol, with the Club paying 0.05, 0.40 or 1.60x the line bet amount for 3, 4 or 5 at minimum stakes, while the top symbol is bride-to-be Lillian, who rewards 0.40, 1.60 and 5.00x for the same results.
To help improve the ratio of winning spins, each of the symbols can appear stacked on a reel, covering a couple of paylines at a time.
Bridesmaids
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Bright Bridesmaids Bonuses
This pokie comes with a host of extras, but the one most frequently found is a classic wild symbol that works in the usual way by standing in for another symbol if that completes a winning line. Like other symbols, the wild also appears stacked on reels, which can greatly boost the frequency of wins. There are also prizes to be had when it lands on a line, with up to 24x the bet for a full row of 5 wilds, not spectacular, but Bridesmaids is all about the bonus rounds, not the base game.
Those rounds are kicked off when the scatter symbol lands anywhere on the reels in at least 3 positions. Once a scatter win has been paid out, players are taken to a screen with a Wheel of Fortune and 4 cupcakes. They are invited to click a cupcake for a multiplier award, and then spin the Wheel to launch a bonus round.
The Friendship free spins round sees each of the girls stacked on different reels throughout the 10 spins, and winning combinations can run from left to right and right to left, effectively doubling the number of potential payouts.
Flying High free spins features Rolling Reels, where symbols that make up a win will disappear and allow new ones to drop into the empty spaces, plus expanding wild symbols. Rolling Reels can be found in many Microgaming pokies, and players can see several wins in sequence, with big multipliers possible.
In the Boutique Bonus, players will see 12 bridesmaids and need to click on them in any order. The round continues, with bigger prizes along the way, until a matching pair are found.
The Magic Moments bonus is another simple round, where players click on images from the film to reveal prizes hidden under each. Reveal a carrot however, and the round ends.
Last but by no means least, there’s one spot on the Wheel of Fortune labelled ‘Jackpot’ and if this comes to rest on the pointer, a big prize based on the number of scatter symbols will be paid out.
Happily Ever After, or Stood up at the Aisle?
Bridesmaids looks great and is sure to appeal to fans of the film. If there’s a downside to it, the payouts in normal play are pretty low, but Microgaming have chosen to compensate for this with lots of lucrative bonus rounds, so provided players understand this, it’s a great game.