Casino software developers really, really love to brand their creations. Anything that has a remote to connection to popular culture get the slot treatment, often using officially licensed material. From a business perspective you can see why, as it gives some name recognition and some crossover appeal.
As with every part of the artistic spectrum, sometimes these creations can be brilliant and other times not up to scratch. We await the day they create a casino game based on Masters of the Universe, but for the moment these are the best examples of casinos harnessing the power of pop culture:
- Guns N’ Roses
Yes, today Axl Rose has lost all of his cool, but the incredible Guns N’ Rose slot is a throwback to when the band was at its peak. This game, created by NetEnt in 2018, goes heavy on the licensed material, meaning you will get plenty of clips and sounds from the bands’ classic albums like Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion. It’s high octane stuff, but also features some lucrative features that can award some big payouts. It’s quickly become one of the most popular slots in the world, and it’s easy to see why.
- Justice League
Everyone loves Superman, Batman and the rest of the DC superheroes. However, nobody loves them as much as branded slot specialists Playtech. The gaming software company signed a massive deal with Warner Bros. to get their hands on all the licensed content for DC superheroes comic books. The result? About 20 branded games based on the movies and comic books. Our favourite is the one that brings some of the big hitters together. You should also note that all DC games are connected by a shared jackpot network.
- Ace Ventura
Jim Carrey’s star is arguably on the wane a bit since his 1990s heyday, but his comic brilliance is perfectly encapsulated in this slot from Playtech. The best adjective we can use to describe it, along with Carrey’s films, is “madcap”. What does a “madcap” slot game look like? Lots of fun bonus games, special features and funny little extras. It’s never boring. We should add, however, that slots can be deceptive: Despite this being a fun game, there are some huge prizes on offer.
- Britain’s Got Talent
We aren’t really fans of the tv talent show format, and, if anything, believe it detracts from the cultural pantheon rather than adds to it. However, The Britain’s Got Talent slot is a really inventive and fun game, one that uses its source material cleverly by not spending too much time on celebrating it. Rather, the game has lots of exciting bonus features that play on the talent show’s format. If you want another reason to play, then be assured that Simon Cowell does not feature in the game. That means it gets the “golden buzzer” from us (sigh).
- Daring Dave and the Eye of Ra
Every game on this list so far has been officially licensed material, featuring real clips and sounds etc. Daring Dave, meanwhile, is a bit of a knock off of Indiana Jones. Do we care? Our name is not Harrison Ford, so we don’t give a toss. Daring Dave is as adventuresome a game as you would expect from someone trying to cash in on the Indiana Jones theme, with plenty of exciting bonus features and games where you can unearth mystical riches. Great stuff.
