On July 30, 2008, iLounge published iPhone Gems: Cards, Gambling + Arcade-Style Games, a feature article looking at seven assorted games developed for the iPhone OS. This review focuses on only one title from the collection; you can read the full article, with screenshots of all of the games together, through the link above.
As the other Griffin Technology gambling game for the iPhone, Lucky 7 Slots is just about as compelling as the first. 5 Card Touch was video poker, stripped of its casino cabinet trappings; Lucky 7 Slots is a one-line slot machine in all of its questionable glory. If you’ve ever actually ventured into a casino—probably with a lot less than $1,000 to drop on a single slot machine—you probably know that the least exciting slot you’ll find in the whole place is the one with a single pay line running through three rotating wheels.
Insert your cash, pull the handle, and the only match you can make is the one running through the center line; you get no pay-out for diagonals or straight line matches above that marker. Lose your cash, insert more, pull the handle again. That’s slot machine action, circa the late 1800’s.
Lucky 7 Slots is that machine, adjusted to fit the screen of your iPhone. Most of the screen is devoted to a chart listing your potential winnings, while a small part shows off the rotating wheels, the amount you’ve been paid, your remaining credits, and the number of credits you’ve chosen to play.
Buttons on the bottom let you pick how many credits—up to 3—you’ll bet per spin, and once you’ve bet the max, the wheels roll to produce a mix of bar, 7, and blank space graphics. The more of any one kind you match, the more credits you can win. You just keep hitting the max button over and over and wait until you get some huge payout or blow all of the credits the game starts you with. As with 5 Card Touch, there are roughly 3 sound effects here, no music, and virtually no variation in what you’re seeing.
Ultimately, without multiple machines to choose from, variation in the ways to win on a given machine, and any real payoff besides the excitement of seeing an on-screen credit number grow smaller and bigger, there’s nothing compelling about Lucky 7 Slots for the iPhone.
