Happy Hour by QPS is a great fruit machine, not to be confused with Al Murry’s Happy Hour by JPM, which is a pile of poop to be honest. Housed in a typical yellow Bell Fruit cabinet, Happy Hour combines a little bit of everything to make for a reasonably playable £100 jackpot fruit machine. Happy Hour has a typical progressive cash and feature ladder progressing up the side of the game, with fourteen values on either side. There is also a progressive cashpot with three varying values depending upon the stake that you play the game on. The cashpot can only be won via the super game, which is in the style of a Deal or No Deal feature, without the selection of an initial value. It is also worth noting that disappointingly the final value is not selected at random, and is more of a accumulation of the amount that has been played through the machine i.e. how ready it is.
The fourteen features from the bottom to the top are:
- Win Spin
- Triple Shot
- Turbo Cash
- Spin ‘n Tonic
- Money Belt
- Nearest Bars
- Up for It
- Abara-Kebabera
- Money Mixer
- Burger Flipper
- Lucky Shots
- Down in One
- High Spirits
- Jackpot
The cash values closely match that of the corresponding cash ladder for the value of the features. As well as standard feature play, there is also a super board which opens up the main Happy Hour feature on entry to the game. There is then a Super Happy Hour and a Mega Happy Hour. These will eliminate the lower cash values, visually increasing your odds of winning the jackpot or cashpot. Once the Mega Happy Hour has been lit, the beer mugs will turn red if landed on again. With three, five, or six red mugs lit, the cash values will turn red, offering a true skill repeat chance for wins £35 or less. The £100 and cashpot value can turn red, but the repeat is not true skill, there are however not shy of £200 on occasion. For those that care, the cashpot isn’t always free.
The main reason to play this game would be for the cashpot or jackpot, or a quick profit on the Happy Hour feature. Unfortunately, as the feature is predetermined you may get sucked in as many of the boards values are £5-£8, with cost of feature entry running along the same value. There is also a Happy or Bust button which is progressive and can offer any of the Happy Hour features, including red mugs. As of writing, there are currently two versions of this machine. The latest version tightens up the playability and reduces the potential profit for the player.