Casino Meow: Kitty Slots - Nom Games Inc

This review of Casino Meow: Kitty Slots was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 2 February 2014.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of Casino Meow: Kitty Slots contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

1-9

App description

This is a game of chance – a series of simulated gambling slot-style games, with a kitty theme.

Reviewers comments

This slot style casino game with cute kitty graphics allows players to spin and win cheezeburgerz and spend donuts to unlock kitty wallpaper pictures and other graphics and humour associated with cats and kittens.

Initially, only one poker machine style game is unlocked.  The player begins with an amount of free credits (in this app, cheeseburgers), places bets and then “spins”. A Pay Table can be viewed which details winning combinations of symbols. The player can chose how many lines to bet on (initially between 1 and 5) and the size of the bet (initially 1 to 3), resulting in a Total Bet range of 1 to 15 per Spin. The default number of lines is the highest available for that game. The number of lines available and maximum bet amount increases as the player goes up levels. When the player taps the “Spin” button (which is a pink donut), the symbols spin around, similar to a real pokie machine. When they stop, any winnings (more burgers) are calculated by the app and the winning line/s is highlighted. Winning burgers will slowly uncover a photo of a cute kitty, which is mostly obscured by a pile of burgers. Winning sufficient burgers will reveal the kitty photo, which can then be added to the player’s gallery. Additional games (with new kitty photos) are unlocked. Players can spend donuts to reveal the kitty picture faster.

If the player runs out of burger credits, they can either buy more or wait for one hour, when they will collect more free burgers.

It could be argued that while little player skill is required, perhaps some players will apply strategies to avoiding running out of coins. Given this, a possible learning benefit could be that the player learning about the risks of gambling. For example they may realise that betting on a large number of lines per spin will rapidly decrease their total, to the point where they may run out of burgers. However, the chances of spinning a winning combination of symbols is also much higher when more lines are selected – they player may feel this is more important.    

In App purchasing

Purchasing extra credits (burgers and donuts) can be by debit card, credit card and gift card (i.e. Google Play card). Purchase amounts are displayed in US$ and range from $1.99 to $99.99, with $99.99 suggested as the “Best Value” amount. Periodically a “special offer” will pop up to offer a discounted purchase price which expires in a few minutes. The process to purchase coins requires moving through 3 screens before entering either card/debit card details or gift card number. Where GooglePlay credit already exists, the Google Account password is requested. Parents should be aware that if they enter the password, the player can make more than one purchase. The password remains valid for 30 minutes to continue purchasing for quite a number of minutes, even after the game has been exited and resumed.

Online information

N/A.

Gambling

Although the developer states the content of this app is intended for those of “Medium maturity”, anyone can download it easily. The featured cute kitties and the currency of burgers and donuts suggest it has been designed for a young audience. It appeared as though the frequency of wins decreased as playing time increased. It is possible that simulated gambling apps inflate the odds of spinning a winning combination, when compared to a real casino machine or even a gambling app which uses real money. This could lead to the player overestimating their luck, or even skill, in this activity.

Advertising and product placement

N/A.

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

None found within the app. However when “Casino Meow” is entered as a search in Google Play, several free apps featuring sexy women are found.

Coarse language

N/A.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

Simulated gambling

Other

N/A.

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