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Funhouse Pokie Machine
Anyone even mildly freaked out by clowns look away now, as Funhouse, a 3-reel pokie from Microgaming has one scary-looking clown staring out from below the reels. Overlook that however, and what we have here is a bright and colourful game that has 5 paylines, classic bar symbols, wild wins and a 5000-coin jackpot, so it could be worth conquering your fears and diving into the Funhouse anyway.
Microgaming have played it safe with the layout of this game, putting the reels at the top of the screen and the game logo in big swirly letters below it, with a payout table taking up the whole of the right side. It works on so many other pokies, so there's no reason to mess with a tried and tested format. Quite why they wanted the clown to look like Pennywise from the horror film 'It' is anyone's guess, but it certainly adds to the atmosphere of a fairground attraction and makes it memorable.
Enter the Funhouse
Below the main part of the game is the standard control panel that Microgaming tend to feature on all their pokies, and players can use it to determine their bet size and spin the reels, while there's also an option to select the Expert button and have the reels spin automatically for a set number of times.
The amount wagered on a line can be adjusted from 0.25, to 0.50, 1.00, 2.00, 5.00, 10.00 or 20.00 and players then decide how many of the 5 lines they wish to activate. It's always better to place something on all of them however, even if it's just the minimum amount, as this way all wins can be claimed and the players will also qualify for the jackpot prize.
The payout table lists how many times the amount bet per line will be won each time a line of identical symbols comes to rest across the reels. From the bottom, if any of the bar symbols combine across a line the player will win 4x, while single, double and triple bars will result in payouts of 10x, 40x and 60x.
1 5 1 5 Funhouse
A bag of colourful candy is the highest-paying regular symbol, being worth 80x, and then we move on to the Funhouse logo that has a couple of treats awaiting those players who land it in the right spots.
If any 1 or 2 examples of a symbol lands on a line along with 1 or 2 of the Funhouse logo, the logo will act as a wild, substituting for any other and players will still win the prizes that corresponds to the regular symbol. This boosts the frequency of winning spins, but the real bonus is when the logo fills up a line on its own.
If it lands across line 1, which goes across the centre of the reels, players get a 1000-coin payout, while landing on line 2 along the top equals a win of 1500 coins. If it fills line 3 which runs along the bottom of them, the reward is 2000 coins, and line 4 that goes from top left to bottom right carries a value of 2500 coins.
Following this pattern, players could be expecting a 3000-coin prize for getting the logo across line 5, from bottom left to top right, but here's where another advantage of activating all lines comes into play, as this combination will actually pay out the jackpot of 5000 coins.
Funhouse or Freakshow?
Despite the unusual theme and imagery, Funhouse has some nice features going for it. The format and extras may not be anything new, but players who want value and a game that they can trust to deliver regular wins will be more than happy to try this one out.
The wild wins are a neat touch although unlike many other pokies, there are no multiplier payouts in effect when the logo completes a line. That and the low maximum stake are the only real issues here, and the clown's really not that scary.