Hollywood Stars Slot
Who wants to be a Hollywood star? Why, just about everyone, from teenage girls to cocktail waitresses and bellhops working their way around LA’s less salubrious spots, all waiting for their big break.
There’s nothing wrong with dreaming of the A-list life of course. Sure, all the parties and red carpet events would probably tire after a while, but for one night only, stepping into the custom-designed shoes of the stars would be a blast.
Hollywood Stars is a scratch card-style game that lets you do all that, within the confines of a 3x2 gambling board. It’s more Z-list than A-list, but that’s not the fault of makers Eyecon.
In fairness to the Aussie development team, any simulacrum of a Hollywood lifestyle – especially one rendered in 2D on a screen – is gonna fall a little flat. Hollywood Stars might not hit the dizzy heights of the famous neighbourhood it’s modelled on, but it does what it sets out to do, namely provide a fleeting distraction from the drudgery of real life, with the possibility of a big money win to keep you captivated.
The Walk of Fame
Hollywood Stars takes its cues from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a trail of over 2,500 terrazzo and brass stars that are embedded into the sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. The great and the good are immortalised here, from Neil Armstrong to Frank Sinatra.
In Hollywood Stars, your goal isn’t to walk on the famous five-pointed stars: it’s to lift them to reveal the prizes hiding underneath. Do that on Hollywood Boulevard and you’d be arrested, but in Hollywood Stars the game it’s deemed perfectly acceptable.
In terms of design, Hollywood Stars is reminiscent of the browser-based games that are popular with teenage and pre-teen girls, many of which also have a Hollywood theme it must be said.
For obvious reasons, this game is clearly marketed at an adult audience, but it’s reasonable to conclude that Hollywood Stars will appeal to women predominantly. To the right of the screen sits the 3x2 grid of black tiles overlaid with red and gold stars that mimic the Hollywood Hall of Fame.
To the left of the screen, beneath the Hollywood Stars logo which imitates the lettering of the famous Mount Lee sign, is an image of a veritable Hollywood starlet. Her red dyed hair flung over one shoulder, a chic black dress accentuating her shapely body and a ring and bracelet catching the light, she’s the epitome of glamour. In the background, a blanket of stars adds to the stellar theme.
The Big Reveal
Playing Hollywood Stars couldn’t be simpler. The stake value can be set anywhere from 0.1 to 10. This in turn will limit your potential winnings to 100 and 10,000 respectively. If you wanna win big, you gotta bet big.
Press the play button and the game will load six random symbols, one under each star. Match your lucky symbol to any of the six star squares and you’ll win the value of the prize shown.
With each hand you play, the lucky symbol will appear in a star to the left of the grid. If it’s a box of popcorn, for instance, that’s what you must find on the grid. Interestingly, there’s no obligation to click and reveal the lucky symbol; if you’d rather proceed blind, with no knowledge of the lucky symbol you’re hoping to match, that’s your prerogative.
The symbols that surface on the walk of fame encompass all the trappings you would associate with being a major movie star. There’s an Academy Award, which is worth 500, and a champagne bottle worth 250. Lower value symbols include a cinema ticket, clapperboard, and a women’s magazine called Glitz with the same red-haired starlet on the cover. You can elect to click on the stars one by one to reveal the symbol, or select Reveal All to have all 6 unveiled instantly.
On the occasions where you don’t notch a win, a clapperboard will click and a director will drawl ‘First positions please’ as if ordering a retake. It’s a neat touch, and one that certainly adds to the moviemaking vibe.
Everyone’s a Star
Hollywood Stars isn’t going to win any awards – Academy or otherwise – for its graphics and gameplay. Nevertheless, it’s a fun scratch card-style game to play for a while, and visually is a sight better than Eyecon’s other title, Love Lines. Have you got what it takes to become a Hollywood star?
