Sale Of The Century was a television game show that ran in the United States for four seasons from 1969, but it is probably much better known in the United Kingdom, where the British version remained highly popular through the Seventies and Eighties. The format was simple: players built up cash reserves by answering general knowledge questions correctly, and then used that cash to buy luxury goods at bargain prices.
The online video slot title Sale Of The Century borrows the game show’s theme music, catchphrases and bright studio set as a backdrop for five reels in a shiny gold frame. Instead of a general knowledge quiz, players collect cash by betting on the spinning reels and collecting prizes for matching symbol combinations, running in sequence from Reel 1. It has three bonus features that mimic the games show’s bargain-hunting rounds.
Icons Drawn from Game Show Prizes
Sale Of The Century offers 25 adjustable paylines, with bets per line going from 0.25 in the relevant currency to a huge 1,000.00 per line. There are 10 ordinary symbols in base play. The washing machine and lounge suite are paired in value, and win the lowest prizes for three or more matches. A set of golf clubs and a TV set win matching prizes too, as do the fur coat and motor scooter.
The designer watches and diamond necklace are also matching-value icons. For five of a kind, they win 500X the line bet. There are two high-value Sale Of The Century icons: a luxury cruise, depicted by an ocean liner, and a red sports car. Both begin paying at two matches. The prizes for two, three, four or five matches is 3, 25, 150 or 1,000 credits for the cruise liner, and 4, 50, 500 or 5,000 credits for the sports car.
Buzzer Wild and Super Pick Feature
Sale Of The Century would make players press a buzzer to bid on items during the bargain-hunting rounds. This feature is remembered in the Sale Of The Century slot game’s Wild icon, a pair of hands pressing a bright red buzzer. It appears only on Reels 2, 3 or 4.
There are two icons in Sale Of The Century that the Wild cannot stand in for. The first is the Question Mark, another import from the TV original. If it appears on Reels 2, 3 and 4 on the same spin, it triggers the Super Pick Feature. All symbols on the reels change to Question Marks and the player must pick one. This reveals a cash prize, a set of free spins, a combination of the two, or it triggers the Gift Shop Game.
Sale Of The Century Logo Scatter
The other icon that cannot be duplicated by the Wild is the Scatter symbol, the Sale Of The Century TV show and slot game logo. For two to five appearances in any position, it wins the player an instant prize of between 1X and 100X the total bet on the spin. Three or more Scatters also activate the Gift Shop Game. This is a round of 8 Fast Money Spins on a new three-reel slot, with just one central payline. The game is playable on desktop as well as mobile devices.
Sale Of The Century has a randomly triggered feature, the Instant Win. When it activates, players are offered a sum of money. They can accept it, or reject it in the hope the next offer will be larger. After two rejections, the player must accept the third offer.