Old MacDonald's Farm Slots
Cozy Games have something of an obsession with farmyards. At least, if producing two separate farmyard-based games counts as an obsession they do. The Isle of Man software development firm are the creators of Farm Run, which features cartoon sheep, pigs and cows as well as golden eggs. Old MacDonald’s Farm appears to have been an earlier release by the company, one that’s hard to find at online casinos now.
If you can track down a working link, you’ll find plenty of evidence that Cozy Games took the best bits from Old MacDonald’s Farm and then incorporated them into Farm Run. It may be a little dated, but their first foray into the farmyard still works just fine and has plenty to recommend about it.
Down on the Farm
The logo for Old MacDonald’s Farm features a beehive, a happy looking bee and old farmer MacDonald’s hat, resting upon the hedgerow. The reels are overlaid against a green rural backdrop of grassy fields with a wheelbarrow and a red timber farmhouse in the distance. Down the sides of the reels, a series of numbered circles display the active pay lines and flash when a win is triggered. This is a feature that Cozy Games evidently decided to drop when they began work on Farm Run.
The playing symbols resemble something out of a Looney Tunes cartoon. There’s a rooster, cow and pig to behold, all of which look like they’ve come straight from chilling with Buggs Bunny. Another symbol of interest is a basket of eggs, though unlike in Farm Run, these ones aren’t golden.
Assume Control
Old MacDonald’s Farm comes with the usual controls you’d expect of a 5-reel slot. The line bet can be set at a maximum of £3 and anywhere from 1-10 pay lines can be activated. Play and Auto Play buttons are provided along with a Bet Max option. Cozy Games have given players a high degree of control over the game’s settings, not just in setting the bet levels, but in allowing them to change the background image. Not feeling the green fields and trees? Switch it for a farmyard vegetable garden or to a henhouse full of freshly hatched eggs.
Spin While You’re Singing
Everyone recalls learning to sing Old MacDonald’s Farm at nursery. If you find yourself humming the tune while you spin the reels, you’re not alone. With a moo-moo here and an oink-oink there, it’s hard to resist the temptation. Sing loud and proud, but pay attention to what’s on the reels while you’re at it.
Grain sacks, wheelbarrows and cow bells are the entry level symbols, worth 100 for 5 of a kind. The rooster is worth 200 for 5 and so is the pig, cow and egg basket. There’s a newly born chick that’s worth 250 for 5 and a honey jar that commands the same amount. Finally, 5 money sacks are worth 500.
Scatter Your Seeds
The scatter symbol is played by Old MacDonald himself, now with hat placed firmly on head. 3 scatter symbols in view will land you 15 free spins and the prospect of a double prize. Anything you win during this feature will be doubled. For 4 scatters, it’s 20 free spins and for 5 it’s 25.
The wild symbol, meanwhile, is played by a pumpkin. As you’d expect, it can substitute for any of the regular symbols save for scatter. With 4 wild symbols on an active pay line you’ll be awarded £1,000, and for 5 you’ll land a decent £5,000.
The game has no bonus symbol and thus no bonus game, unlike its successor Farm Run. This means you’re limited to scoring big wins off wild or scatter – unless you can land 5 money sacks in a line, or something equally impressive.
Old MacDonald’s Farm looks and plays like the slightly dated game that it is. As a testament to its age and the regard it’s held in, Cozy Games don’t even have an HTML5 version available – it’s Flash only. For all that, it’s still a perfectly playable game and one where, as with all slots, persistence can pay off.
While some players will take umbrage at being forced to play another infernal farmyard-themed slot, Old MacDonald’s Farm in fairness was there before many of the current contenders were released. If you’re a fan of Looney Tunes, this cutesy 5-reel slot might just be worth a look. Roll those reels and see what you can pick up down at the farm.
