The world of casino slots is a vast and diverse one, with countless games vying for players’ attention. Among these many titles stands out "Chicken Run", a slot game that brings to life the classic Aardman Animations film of the Chicken Run same name. In this review, we’ll take an in-depth look at all aspects of Chicken Run, examining its theme, design, symbols, payouts, and bonus features.
Theme
As mentioned earlier, Chicken Run is based on the 2000 animated film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park. The game’s theme revolves around a group of farm animals, led by Ginger the chicken, attempting to escape from an evil farmer named Alvin (also known as "The SFX" in some markets). This light-hearted and comedic approach to slot design makes Chicken Run stand out among more somber titles.
Design
Visually, Chicken Run is a stunning example of modern casino game design. The game’s layout features six reels, with five rows on each reel. Symbols are arranged on transparent backgrounds, allowing players to view the gameplay area in full color and clarity. Colors used throughout the game evoke the classic claymation style seen in Aardman Animations’ earlier films.
Reels are divided into three sections: top, middle, and bottom row. Each section features distinct symbols based on farm animals from various parts of Europe, including cows from Denmark, sheep from Germany, pigs from Sweden, ducks from England, horses from Ireland, rabbits from France, chickens from Scotland (of course!), goats from Italy, geese from Wales, turkeys from Spain, and more.
Symbols
Chicken Run features an impressive selection of animal symbols drawn from various European countries. Each symbol is carefully crafted to maintain consistency with the game’s visual style and theme. Players will find a mix of high-paying (more valuable) and low-paying (less valuable) symbols scattered throughout the reels:
- High-value animals, worth up to 10x stake when landed in any combination: Horse from Ireland, Goat from Italy, Sheep from Germany.
- Medium-value animals: Duck from England, Turkey from Spain, Rabbit from France.
- Low-value animals, paying only for landing three or more of a kind on adjacent reels: Cow from Denmark.
Payouts
Wins are awarded according to the paytable. These payouts can be seen in two ways: either as an absolute win value or as multipliers applied directly to player bets. The winning combination is determined by any three (or more) identical animal symbols landed consecutively on adjacent reels, from left-to-right only.
Wilds
As is common with most slot games of this genre, Chicken Run features a "wild" symbol that serves multiple purposes: substitution and multiplication:
- Ginger the chicken functions as the game’s wild.
- She can appear anywhere across the six reels except for Free Spins scatters (which we will discuss later).
- When Ginger fills entire reel from top to bottom, she multiplies all winning combinations on adjacent reels by 10x.
Scatters
Ginger has another crucial role in Chicken Run – as a scatter. Unlike wilds that pay left-to-right only and appear anywhere except Free Spins scatters:
- Two or more Ginger icons scattered across any five of the six reels, regardless of position (even when stacked).
- Ginger acts simultaneously as both Scatter and Wild.
- Landing three Scattered Gingers activates Bonus Round "The Great Escape".
Bonus Features
A key component of Chicken Run is its innovative bonus system. Both "Free Spins" rounds, triggered by The Great Escape (more on this below) or randomly every 200-300 games during normal game mode via ‘Flock Free’ award mechanism.
- The Great Escape : Upon achieving three Gingers anywhere in view the player starts their own co-operative adventure, choosing which animal escapes from prison while they help another through an endless loop of free spins (which accumulates bonus rewards).
- Bonus Round Fleeing Craziness & Egg-cellent : These are additional mini-games played during The Great Escape round – designed by expert programmers working together with award-winning animation studios like Aardman Animations who originally produced ‘Chicken Run’ movie.
Free Spins
Players have two routes to trigger these rewards: manually or via Flock Free mechanism:
- Manually, three Scattered Ginger icons on any five reels unlock 12 "Fleeing Craziness" bonus rounds – awarded immediately.
- Bonus Rounds : During each of twelve Bonus Round Games you play as Ginger and assist farm animals escaping from their coop in succession until one becomes stuck; after that, the round ends.
RTP
Return to Player (or Return Percentage) measures how much money is distributed back out through payouts compared against total wagered sum. Here’s Chicken Run:
- Estimated RTP: around 96%.