Poke The Guy Slots - Microgaming

ABOUT POKE THE GUY SLOTS

What sets great companies apart from good ones? For us, it is their willingness to experiment and try new things, even if they get hurt in the process. And make no mistake, Poke the Guy, the Microgaming May 2018 release, will hurt your bottom line and the developers’ reputation in the process. There are no reels or paylines. Just you, the slingshot and the desire to murder the frustrating monkey-man on the board.

The slot is more than capable of netting you a respectable jackpot worth 15,000 coins! However, we cannot recommend sticking around long enough to try and win it. This game is absolutely bland and does not offer any special features to make things fun and interesting.

HOW TO PLAY

Poke the Guy, unlike many slots, does not have set reels or paylines. Instead, the guy randomly moves about the board and you have to nail him with whatever projectile you can find. Depending on your choice of a projectile and coin value, you can wager between $0.01 up to $30 per spin. There’s no element of skill in this Microgaming release. Both the guy’s movements and where your shots land is completely random. There is also no Autoplay option for players to use, so you will have to keep clicking the button manually.

Since you don’t have reels or paylines, you are also deprived of any symbols. So how does the game determine your prize? Well, it’s random, just like whether or not you hit the guy. This feels incredibly frustrating to play and we found ourselves annoyed and bored while playing Poke the Guy. The design makes it clear that the antagonist is supposed to be very annoying. But paired with the absence of any engaging mechanics, it goes from playful teasing to frustration and rage. The type that makes gamblers quit playing, no matter if there’s a 500x prize waiting for them or not.

OTHER FEATURES

Bonuses have been part of video slots for as long as we can remember. Whether they were rudimentary Wilds or elaborate, multi-stage special features, there’s usually something to keep players engaged.

Wild

Which was why we were unpleasantly surprised that Poke the Guy does not have even that. Admittedly, with its design, Wilds wouldn’t really have a place to fit into the whole story.

Scatter

There is also no Scatter symbol either. By itself, this isn’t the end of the world or anything. The developers could have taken an alternate approach and made special features activate randomly. Or perhaps, a counter that enhances your spin after playing a certain number of times without a win?

Special Features

Microgaming went with a grand total of zero of these ideas. We cannot say it’s unheard of for games to not have any or just one bonus. Heck, Starburst has only one and it remains the most popular slot in most casinos! But Poke the Guy does not share in the greatness of games like Starburst. It’s far too simple, it intentionally frustrates the player, and random rewards just feel awful.

Unfortunately, not all experiments end up being successful. We can appreciate Microgaming attempting a different angle, but they pulled the curtain back too much. While Poke the Guy is no more random or annoying than another high volatility slot, it feels worse to play. One or two bonuses and maybe a skill-based mechanic would do wonders to fix our annoyances with the game.

POKE THE GUY ON MOBILE

This release is also available on mobile devices. It remains untouched, so its visuals and gameplay are exactly the same as in the desktop version. The controls were slightly adjusted to suit touch-screen devices, but that was the only real difference we saw.

If you decide to play Poke the Guy, we do recommend doing so on your phone. The layout, in our opinion, looks a lot better that way. Just be careful not to lose your temper and toss your device across the room!