Max Damage: Alien Attack Preview
Once a mere sideshow to the more traditional titles, casino and slot games are now a huge part of the $40.6bn mobile gaming market, with a host of slick games and concepts taking their rightful place among the industry staples.
Although the old-style slots format remains popular, it is the less traditional, skill-based titles that are experiencing huge interest, seemingly capturing the millennial market with a handful of slick titles. Casino sites are drawing gamers in by the boatload, but it’s not just mobile gaming that is taking advantage of this trend, either, with land-based casinos bringing the spirit of the arcade to their floors in recent months.
One of the titles driving the mobile section of the industry forward is Max Damage: Alien Attack, a skill-based retro slot game available on the Mr Smith Casino app, which itself is known for its usability and is rated five-stars by the Casino Apps website.
What is interesting is that retro titles are so often driving this ever-so-modern market forward, and to that end, this title is leading the way. Developed by mobile gaming firm Microgaming, the title is essentially a vastly modernised version of the immortal classic Space Invaders, pitting the player in a spaceship, cruising through the stratosphere and swatting enemy ships away with the help of various features, tricks and free bonuses.
The concept of skill-based slot games is particularly new – there are no reels, no paylines and no symbols. Essentially, it’s a slot game without the slots and this title is a prime example of why these games have been so refreshing for iGamers weighed down by the sheer volume of slot variations available in the competitive casino games market. Not so much tapping into the arcade game market but smashing it with a hammer, Max Damage fuses the gamers’ sense of fun and adventure with the ability to win cash prizes, and to that end, it is surely one of the finest options out there.
One of the many casino games on the Mr Smith site, Max Damage: Alien Attack rewards cash in the form of points as the player navigates his way past the boss at each level. By the same token, cash is removed from the player when their ship is destroyed or damaged, giving the game a sense of motivation most arcade games of this nature miss. Successful players will unlock bonus shields, extra ammunition and weapon upgrades as they make their way through enemy territory – it’s a small game but one that is sophisticated beyond its means – players can elect to pick enemies off one by one or select the auto fire function on some weapons.
In fitting with a palpable trend brought about by pop culture phenomenon such as Netflix TV series Stranger Things, the game reeks of the ’80s, and unashamedly so. With slick but simple graphics, pleasing sound effects and a sense of playability modern games often overcomplicate, it takes the user straight back to games of yesteryear and offers a genuine feeling of nostalgia absent from most casino sites.
Microgaming maintain that there are 243 active ways to win on every spin, with many pleasingly hidden beyond its basic gameplay. Each boss provides the player with a genuinely fresh challenge and the game’s difficulty increases smoothly, something many games of this nature struggle with.
Clearly, this isn’t a game with MMA depth or console-quality graphics. Whisper it quietly – mobile gaming has its limitations – but this is a pleasing and player-friendly effort from a games developer with rapidly increasing stock. Greatly departed from the all-too-often-trotted-out slot game format, it is a cash-prize game reliant on skill above luck, and one that is a lot of fun to play.