Andy Capp Slots
Andy Capp is a rare example of a British cartoon character that’s been syndicated around the world and has now become the subject of his very own online casino slot game. First introduced in 1957, Andy Capp is an unemployed guy from the north east of England who spends his time playing darts and watching soccer, much to the disapproval of his wife Flo. Casino games developer Blueprint Gaming have managed to secure the rights to this popular cartoon strip, and will surely have lots of success with it, not only because he’s quite well-known, but also because it’s got lots of bonus features, including 5 side games and a progressive jackpot.
The game is presented in the bright colours and sharp lines of a comic strip and sets the 5 reels against the wall of Andy and Flo’s living room. The couch sits underneath the main game and Andy wanders around the room now and then, looking uninterested in anything that’s going on around him, just like the original character. There’s 20 paylines running from the left side and punters will need to land matching symbols across a line on adjacent reels to win a coin prize, but special modifier symbols can appear in any spin to launch a bonus game.
Blueprint Gaming is the UK arm of the huge Merkur group of Germany. Their range is licensed for fair play in the UK,
Drunken Adventures with Andy
Pulling back the curtains to the living room reveals the main game, where brightly-coloured playing card symbols are going to create the lower-value winning combinations when they land across a line. Other unique symbols are of the important things in Andy’s life, such as a TV set, darts and football, a tabloid newspaper and of course, a pint of beer.
One of these pints is a wild symbol that can substitute for all but the bonus icons and complete winning lines, helped greatly by the fact that it can be a super-sized wild, filling up whole 3x3 blocks of the reels, which will almost inevitably lead to multiple lines being completed.
Despite being out of a job, Andy Capp still manages to spend much of his time in his local pub, The Jolly Riveter, and it’s here that some of his adventures take place. But to join in the fun, players will need to trigger the bonus features, some of which play out in the game, and others on new screens. There’s also randomly awarded jackpot prizes which will certainly be enough for a few pints at your local.
In-Game Bonus Features
There’s 3 different bonus symbols and landing any 3 of a kind will start a short mini-game. In the Let’s Play Darts game, gamblers can win up to 180x the triggering bet as they get Andy to throw 3 darts at a board, collecting wins equal to the score achieved by his drunken attempts.
Betting on horse racing is another of his favourite pastimes and the Back to the Bookies mini-game gives punters 3 picks on sections of an oval race track. Each contains a credit win, but if 3 trophies are found there’s a mystery bonus to be won.
On Me’ead, Son is a soccer-themed side game where Andy is dressed in his football kit, (but keeping his trademark hat on of course,) and has 3 shots on the goal during some free spins. Each hit adds a sticky wild symbol which stays in place until he gets a yellow card, then red card to end the round.
Fun at the Boozer
There are a couple of other bonus rounds that are a little more involving, and can lead to bigger rewards, such as The Boozer free spins, where Andy collects wild symbols over the course of 10 bonus games. Once they are done, the wilds are all put back on the reels for a final Super-Spin, and finally, players get to either collect whatever they have won in the round, or pull a beer tap and have the Super-Spin play out again in the hope for better luck this time.
The Jolly Riveter free spins round is similar, with Andy knocking back the pints as the reels go through Super-Spins, collecting game logo symbols along the way. Each logo increases a win multiplier amount which can lead to a jackpot of 1000x the triggering bet being awarded at the end. Once again, players can choose to collect the win, or try again by pulling a beer tap.
Freeplay Games and Betting Options
To see how it all works, and how the many bonus games are awarded, there’s the option to practice on free Andy Capp video slots, although the starting bet is only 0.20, and with a good return to player percentage, there’s not going to be much risk to bankrolls by playing for real cash.
You can also choose to get the reels spinning for up to 100 times on Autoplay, which will stop if a bonus round is triggered, or whenever you decide to end the games. Plus, there’s a soundtrack to go along with the action, which includes the chatter in a pub, sound of footballs being kicked and so on.
Classic Comic-based Slots
There are a number of online casino slot games based around famous comic characters, and while the likes of Superman and Batman are perhaps the most famous names to be immortalised in a game, Andy Capp isn’t the only British comic who has transferred to a slot machine.
Blueprint Gaming seem to have cornered this particular market, with their Count Duckula slot, based on the kid-friendly cartoon vampire, but a comic that’s definitely aimed at adults, and has now been turned into a slot game is Viz. Themed around the antics of characters such as Buster Gonad, Roger Mellie and The Fat Slags, the Viz slot machine won’t be to everyone’s taste, but UK audiences will love it.
Boozy Cartoon Capers
Anyone familiar with the comic is going to enjoy the Andy Capp video slot game, but it’s unlikely to bring him many new fans, with gamblers who haven’t heard of him probably not giving the game a second look. But if you’ve read this review so far, you may already be a fan of the character, and we’re pleased to say that this is an outstanding game.
Standard gameplay is perfectly good, with a nice design to the reel surroundings and a good choice of symbols, but this slot really comes to life in the dazzling collection of bonus features. They are all accompanied by some nice animations, as Andy, Flo and the barmaid move around the screen bringing a new dimension to the comic strip, and the sound effects add even more to the atmosphere.
It’s mobile optimised, independently certified as fair, and even within the base games, there’s some decent rewards to be had in this medium-volatility game.
