Shake up Some Winning Winter Action with "Snow Globes"

Sometimes you don't realize how clever a video slot really is until you get to the bonus rounds, and that's the case with IGT's Snow Globes. But first, some general info. With its adorable graphics and characters, Snow Globes is a treat to play. The screen itself is designed like one big snow globe. The symbols include a sled, ice cube, pine cone, evergreen tree, snow cone and various snow globes, featuring a bear, a snowman, a sexy lady walrus and a lovestruck top-hat-wearing penguin who's in love with her. Each of them does a charming little dance or other performance when they contribute to your points.

The game offers two bonus rounds. The Ice Breaker bonus is triggered when three Ice Breaker symbols land on reels 1, 2 and 3 on a played line. You select up to four of five tools (hammer, pickaxe, etc.) to help the amorous penguin escape from his snow globe to get to the lady walrus. The tools have hidden values that are replaced by a multiplier when they're selected. At the end of the round, the value of the tools you didn't select is multiplied by the total of the selected tool multipliers. That value is then multiplied by the number of initiating lines, from 10 to 855 times the initiating line bet. Get it? Well, it's easier to understand when you're actually playing the game.

The other bonus is the Global Warming bonus and this is what I was referring to earlier when I said Snow Globes is really clever! The bonus kicks in when three or more Global Warming symbols land in any position. Pick one to reveal the number of free spins you win, up to 50. They start up automatically with your original bet. The Donna Summer disco hit "Hot Stuff" also starts up automatically -- funny!

These free spins use their own set of reel symbols. They're the same as the original symbols, but since this is the Global Warming bonus, they're all melting! The ice cube turns to water, the penguin's wearing swimming trunks and sunglasses, the evergreen is drooping, even the Global Warming symbols melt into Bonus. What's more, within these free spins you can win even more free spins when three or more Global Warming symbols land in any position.

Ready, set, go! My 15 original free spins turned into 15 more, as the credits kept building and building…800 per spin, 360 per spin, 2000 per spin…and the multipliers kept rising too…18x, 24x, 26x, 30 times the total points! Altogether on this one bonus round I won 6255 points! Considering I was playing a penny slot, and had invested $5, that was a $57.22 win! Not too shabby, since it's all "research" anyway! Well, it was just about time to go anyway, so I cashed in and said bye-bye to my new favorite video slot, Snow Globes.

Until next time, enjoy Life Among the Slots!