Silent Movie Slot: A Throwback To Another Era Thrills

Long before the advent of Star Wars, Terminator, and Avatar, there was a time when all that accompanied the latest film release was a jaunty piano-playing soundtrack. The era of silent films was remembered quite beautifully in the film The Artist back in 2011. It was also parodied in Mel Brooks’ classic Silent Movie. Now you can celebrate this classic era of film with the new Silent Movie slot from IGT.

The game is based on four classics of the Silent Movie era, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Muddy Romance, Keystone Kops, and perhaps the film that launched the entire genre, Georges Melies classic A Trip to the Moon. (Each with its own bonus feature!) This is a slot that pays a timely tribute to silent filmmaking, while being a hugely enjoyable game to play in its own right.

Overview: Silent Movie

The Silent Movie slot is a 5×3 reel slot which has a total of 30 non-selectable paylines in operation on every spin. You can bet from $0.01 up to $20 per spin on each payline. This gives a minimum bet of $0.30 and a maximum bet of $600. Given the parameters, this is a slot that will appeal to both smaller stakes players as well as the high roller.

Set against the backdrop of a retro movie theater, the slot offers a potential jackpot of 1,000 times your line bet in the base game. It’s more of a medium variance game that offers a RTP percentage of between 92.66% and 96.51%.  The slot is not yet available on mobile devices, but can be played from laptops and desktops.

Who will the Silent Movie slot appeal to?

Although perhaps now a forgotten era by many, there’s a huge number of fans who still rank some of the monumental silent films as being the best of any era. There is no doubt that fans of movies in general, as well as those who specifically enjoy silent films, will find plenty to enjoy in this brand new and innovative slot from IGT.

In terms of a slot game, there are a number of bonus features on the Silent Movie slot that will appeal to modern slot fans. The chance to play four different bonus games will certainly appeal. There’s also the fact that the base game offers a real test—in particular when it plays toward the tighter end of variance. This will also add appeal, as you can land some decent base game wins when this happens.

Gameplay: Silent Movie

Firstly, I have to applaud IGT for coming up with the idea for a silent movie-themed slot. In the modern world when we have movies at our fingertips on our phones and tablets and can do all sorts of technical wizardry with a whole host of objects, a slot about the simpler times of movie-making may have sounded a little out of date. But IGT has pulled it off quite superbly.

Part of the appeal is the attention to detail. There was no other possible setting for the slot than a movie theater screen. With its sepia-toned detail and gentle silent movie-inspired soundtrack, IGT has hit the nail firmly on the head. The slot looks and sounds fantastic. It has such a wide range of wagers available, it will appeal to a huge number of slot fans too.

The game itself plays very nicely too with the animation on the reels fitting in neatly with the theme of the slot. However, if there is a slight criticism, it is that the base game is a little unexciting, as there aren’t many features to get too excited about.

Game symbols

The symbols on the reels have been based on the silent movie theme too. There’s a variety of props and other items acting as the lower value symbols. Four posters from the featured silent films of the slot are the higher value items. It’s a simple and effective way to populate the reels and does away with the rather ubiquitous playing card low symbols very nicely.

There are two other symbols on the reels that players need to be aware of. The first of these is the Wild symbol, which is simply the Silent Movie logo. This symbol can appear stacked across reels 2 to 5. It helps create winning paylines on a spin by replacing the low and higher value symbols. It can also create multiple winning paylines from a single position on the reels which can result in bigger payouts.

Additional features

The second symbol to look out for is the Bonus symbol. These symbols are on reels 2, 3 and 4, although the symbols are slightly different on the fourth reel. On reels 2 and 3, a generic Bonus symbol is used, however on the fourth reel, four different bonus symbols are available, one for each of the four films featured in the slot.

If you land the two general bonus symbols on reels 2 and 3 and then one of the movie-themed bonus features on reel four, then you trigger the bonus game attributed to that movie.

• Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde – Pick your ticket to get between 3 and 6 free spins with all wins tripled. Each spin is guaranteed to be a winner, otherwise you will get another free spin.
• A Trip to the Moon – Pick from the selected tickets to reveal between 10 and 15 free spins, with more Wild symbols on the reels.
• A Muddy Romance – Pick a ticket to earn 6 to 12 free spins with extra scatter symbols (which can trigger additional free spins as well as cash awards) added to the reels.
• Keystone Kops – Pick a ticket to decide a multiplier of between 2x and 5x your total win and then see how much you win over the final five spins of your ten free spins.

Special features: Silent Movie

Stacked Wild symbols

The Silent Movie logo is the in-game wild which replaces all other high- and low-value symbols in the game. This can be stacked up to three positions high on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5 and you can land multiple wilds across the reels to trigger multiple paylines in the base game.

Four Silent Movie bonus features

Land three of the Bonus symbols across the middle three reels and depending on what the fourth reel bonus trigger is, you will launch one of the four Silent Movie-themed bonus games, all involving free spins and with a number of other exciting bonuses attached to each.

1,000x jackpot

The slot boasts a base game jackpot of 1,000 times your line bet, which at higher wager amounts can equate to a very large win.

What works?

Presentation

I cannot fault the presentation for the Silent Movie slot. It is simple, yet extremely effective with its sepia tones and theater setting. Silent Movie is a perfect example of how a slot doesn’t have to be all bells and whistles to capture the player’s imagination.

Bonus Games

The selection of bonus games accessible via the bonus features is what gives this game added appeal, not just because you can trigger four different games, but because this is where the majority of the big money wins in the game are more likely to occur.

Stacked Wilds

The Stacked Wilds are what makes the base game so accessible in that they can help create so many additional wins by substituting for other low and high value symbols, but also offer the chance of a much bigger win if you can land several stacked across the reels.

What doesn’t?

Low-value wins

Part of the problem of any higher variance slot is that you can hit periods when the wins you do get are very small or even nonexistent. This can happen on the Silent Movie slot.

Hard-to-trigger features

One of the key issues that affects the playability of the slot is when you hit a long run of spins without triggering any features. Given the features are what gives the slot its value, waiting excessively to hit them can be frustrating and expensive.

High variance

We’ve already mentioned the fact that this is a high variance slot which means you could win a huge amount, or you could lose a large amount. Some people like this in a slot game, others find it a negative.

Graphics & soundtrack 5/5

I cannot fault the presentation of the slot. The spartan use of color highlights the fact this is from a different era and the setting and the music is absolutely top notch. Silent Movie is as good as it gets when it comes to slot presentation.

Originality & creativity 4/5

The only knock against the creativity of this slot is that despite a unique theme and superb presentation and four great bonus games, the base game is somewhat derivative and repetitive at times.

Play value 3/5

This is a medium to high variance game and as such it plays like that, but to be honest, although I’ve had spells when wins are hard to come by, I have found that the mix of low wins, no wins, and higher value wins is perfectly acceptable if you budget your session well.

Jackpot potential 3/5

A 1,000x jackpot isn’t that big, but given that you can play the Silent Movie slot for some big bucks per spin, that can translate into a sizable win even if you are a higher roller.

Repeat play 5/5

There is no doubt that once you spin the reels on the Silent Movie slot you will keep coming back for more.

Total score: 20/25

One of the best presented slots I have ever played and with some truly innovative and exciting features. It’s a higher variance game, so play at the right level for your bankroll and you’ll need to be patient, but if you are you could be handsomely rewarded.