Alibaba Slot Machine
Developed by 777igt, Alibaba is a 5 reel, 100 pay line slot machine that's found in online casinos.
Alibaba is the primary character in the story Alibaba and the Forty Thieves, which appears in the 18th century book One Thousand and One Nights.
In the story, Alibaba is a poor woodcutter who overhears thieves talking about their treasure filled cave. Using the words open sesame, he enters the case and takes some of the treasure for himself.
Alibaba is forced to reveal the location of the cave to his brother, Cassim, who is murdered by the thieves when he can't remember the words to exit the cave.
The thieves eventually find out that Alibaba knows of them and set out to kill him. But Alibaba's slave, Morgiana, carries out a plot to kill the 40 thieves with their own hot oil jars, leaving Alibaba as the only one who knows of the treasure.
As you'll find out below, 777igt's Alibaba, one word, doesn't stick to the original story.
Let's discuss why below and cover this game's atmosphere, music, animations, pay table, graphics, bonuses, betting options, and game rules. We'll also discuss how this slot compares to a couple of similar online slot machines.
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Alibaba Slot Machines Overview
The background features a mix of purple curtains, Arabian style towers, and a genie lamp.
The best quality of this background is the towers because they feature solid detail.
But the problem with this scene as a whole is that it could represent any Arabian slot machine. We wish that 777igt would've instead used the thieves' cave as the background.
Alibaba's music sounds like an Arabian dance tune.
While this fits the region, we don't think it matches the danger presented in the story. Furthermore, this is the exact same tune used in 777igt's Aladdin's Treasure slot.
Sound effects include: coins piling up during wins, a dreamy sound after payouts, magical sound after payouts, and movie projector sound when the reels are spinning.
Given the theme of this game, the music and sound effects aren't terrible. But they won't make you think of a guy who's trying to survive with murderous thieves on his trail.
Animations include: coins bouncing off the screen and into your account, a gold treasure chest shining, winning symbols moving towards and away from the reels, winning symbols spinning around in circles, Big Win celebration where balloons float upwards, and another Big Win celebration where gold coins shoot off the reels.
The good thing about these animations is that they make you feel special after wins. But the bad thing is that the animations are generic and don't enhance the story's characters.
Alibaba Pay Table and Graphics
Below are the payouts and symbols offered in Alibaba:
A standard palace in the desert, this symbol delivers the Mega Jackpot when you land 5 in an active payline.
Tigers aren't closely associated with ancient Arabia, but this game includes one anyways. You win the Minor Jackpot by getting 5 tigers in a line.
We're assuming this is a sultan because he's well dressed and is a major symbol in the game. You win the Mini Jackpot by landing 5 sultans in a payline.
Representing the treasure hoard that Alibaba found in the case, this symbol substitutes for everything except the bonus, jackpot, and scatter symbols to form wins. The treasure chest also offers a payout worth 150 coins when you land 5 in a line.
We're not sure why this slot includes a genie since the original story doesn't mention one. This is the top paying symbol, offering 200 coins for 5 symbols, 40 for 4, and 12 for 3.
Alibaba's slave turned hero pays 150 coins for 5 symbols, 40 for 4, and 12 for 3.
Holding an oil lamp, Alibaba pays 120 coins for 5 symbols, 30 for 4, and 12 for 3.
The A pays 100 coins for 5 symbols, 30 for 4, and 10 for 3.
The K offers 80 coins for 5 symbols, 25 for 4, and 10 for 3.
This letter pays 60 cons for 5 symbols, 25 for 4, and 10 for 3.
These two symbols both pay 50 coins for 5 symbols, 20 for 4, and 10 for 3.
We're assuming this is a magic lamp because it has purple smoke pouring out of it. The genie lamp pays a multiple on your total bet when landing 3 or more times anywhere on the reels. Scatter payouts include 100x for 5 symbols, 30x for 4, and 5x for 3.
The regular oil lamp triggers free spins when landing anywhere on the reels 3 times or more.
The double genie lamps trigger a second screen bonus when they appear 3 or more times anywhere on the reels.
The symbol graphics are the worst part of this slot for two reasons:
- 1They look bad.
- 2They don't match the story.
In contrast to the quality background, the symbols are blurry and reminiscent of slot machines from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Alibaba is the worst looking symbol of all, which is bad since he's the main character.
As for the lack of cohesion with the story, we don't get the genie, sultan, tiger, and lamp symbols.
We under that genies and magic lamps are a common part of Arabian folk tales. But it would make more sense to include thieves and Cassim, rather than several references to genies.
The magic used to open the thieves' cave came from words - not the power of a genie.
Alibaba Slot Bonus Features
Moving from the worst aspect to the best, Alibaba offers several bonuses and jackpots that keep this game interesting. Here's a closer look at the bonuses and jackpots.
The oil lamp awards 15 free spins for 5 symbols, 10 for 4, and 5 for 3.
These free spins don't come with special multipliers, new music, or a different background, which takes some of the excitement out of triggering them.
When you land 3 or more lamps, you're taken to a second screen where two genie lamps await. The goal is to rub the lamp that contains a genie so you earn a bonus prize.
The round ends if you rub a lamp with no genie, at which point the lamp will dim and you'll be taken back to the main game.
Alibaba features three progressive jackpots in the Major, Minor, and Mini Jackpots. And unlike other multi jackpot slot machines, all three of this game's progressive payouts are huge.
At the time of this writing, the Mega Jackpot is worth $1,121,631, the Minor Jackpot is worth $565,585, and the Mini Jackpot is worth $373,877.
We're impressed by the level of consistency with these three prizes, considering that some games will have a 7 figure Major Jackpot coupled with a 4 figure Mini Jackpot.
Betting Options
You can change pay lines from 10 to 100 using the plus/minus buttons underneath the reels. You can only adjust pay lines in increments of 10, but this isn't much of a problem since you have such a wide range of lines to choose from.
Coin size can be changed from $0.01 to $1.00, making the minimum bet worth $0.10 when you use the smallest coin and pay line amount.
One thing we don't like about adjusting the betting options is that the minus button is touchy. You need to hit the button in exactly the right spot to make changes, which is annoying.
You can auto spin the reels for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or infinity spins. The infinity choice is helpful for when you want to keep the reels spinning without having to worry about when auto spin ends.
To halt this feature, click Stop where the spin button is.
One more option includes using the speaker button in the upper right hand corner to control volume. This is nice because you use a sliding bar that allows you to get the volume exactly where you want it.
Win Frequency
We played Alibaba slot for around 300 spins and found the win frequency to be above average for a 100 pay line slot.
Playing all 100 lines at one cent a piece, we won something on the majority of our spins. Granted, most prizes were worth between $0.40 and $0.90, but at least we earned enough to sustain our bankroll during the session.
In the end, we lost $5 from our original starting amount, which isn't bad when you're betting $1 total for 300 spins.
One aspect we really like is the frequency in which free spins are triggered. We got free games several times while playing, which gives you lots of opportunities to earn bonus credits.
We only triggered the second screen bonus once, which is below average when compared to other online slot machines.
Game Rules
Alibaba features standard rules for a 5 reel slot, which you can see below:
- All normal payouts must form left to right, beginning with the leftmost reel.
- Bonus, free spin, and jackpot symbols can trigger rewards from anywhere on the reels, regardless of if they appear in a pay line.
- Payouts are multiplied by your triggering line stake i.e. if you bet $0.10 per line, you'll earn $10 on a 100 coin payout.
- The Mega, Minor, and Mini Jackpots can only be won when you get 5 of the respective symbols in a pay line.
Comparison to Similar Slot Machines
777igt's game isn't the only slot machine based on Alibaba. Leander Games has also made one, which is why we've compared the two slots below.
Another game that we chose for comparison is 777igt's Aladdin's Wishes because it uses the same music as Alibaba and has a Middle Eastern theme.
This 5 reel, 20 payline slot is more in tune with the Alibaba story than 777igt's version.
Starting with the background, you'll see a desert, sword stuck in the sand, and a cave in the distance. The cave has a crease in the middle to suggest that it can open.
The music is a mysterious beat that reflects the seriousness of the story. Like in 777igt's game, this Alibaba slot also has generic sound effects, but we can forgive this considering that the main music is good.
Symbols include a treasure pot scatter, Morgiana wild, Alibaba, thief, monkey, camel, snake, scarab, bracelet, dagger, flute, and drum.
Bonuses include free spins and a second screen Gold Or Bandit game. The latter sees you choose pots with the hope of getting gold, rather than thieves.
The only advantage that 777igt's Alibaba has over Leander's Alibaba is the 3 large jackpots. But other than this, the latter slot has superior music, graphics, and atmosphere.
Besides being made by the same company, the link between Aladdin's Wishes and Alibaba is that they use the exact same music. The tune doesn't sound great for either game, which makes it surprising that 777igt used it for both.
Other similarities include both slots offering 100 pay lines, three progressive jackpots, scatter payouts, free spins, and a second screen bonus.
Considering that these games have common elements, you're better off playing Aladdin's Wishes. The reasons why include that it uses licensed Disney characters and has richer symbol graphics.
The only advantage that Alibaba has is a more unique background. But other than this, Aladdin's Wishes is the better slot machine.
Conclusion
Alibaba is one of the most famous tales from the One Thousand and One Nights book. Unfortunately, 777igt doesn't do a good job of portraying the story through its Alibaba slot machine.
You'll immediately think this is a dated slot when you open it and see the blurry symbol graphics.
And if you don't know anything about the story beforehand, you'll think that Alibaba is an Aladdin like story about a man and his genie.
The animations and music don't help this slot either since they're generic and could appear in any slot.
The only saving grace for this game comes from its multiple bonuses and three large progressive jackpots. But as we showed with Aladdin's Wishes, you can find these same elements in many other 777igt slot machines.
Given that 777igt offers both Aladdin and Aladdin's Wishes, we see no reason to play their Alibaba slot. Furthermore, you can find a better game based on the same story in Leander's Alibaba.
