Slot Machine
A luck-based minigame — players spin image reels and win when enough reels land on the same image.
The Slot Machine is one of the five minigame challenge types. Players spin a row of image reels; when enough reels land on the same image, the challenge completes automatically. The outcome of each spin is random, and players can spin as many times as they like.
What players experience
The challenge screen shows the clue as usual, then a "Slot machine" panel with
a row of reels built from the images you configure. Under the reels the app
shows the rule in plain terms:
Match {winCondition} of {reelCount} reels to win
(for example, "Match 4 of 5 reels to win").
The player taps Spin. The reels animate and stop one after another, each landing on a random image from the reel image bank.
If at least the configured number of reels show the same image — any
image counts, it just has to repeat — the player sees
Match! +{pointsOnWin} points and the app submits the completion
automatically. No answer typing, no submit button.
If not, the player sees No match. Try again. and a Spin again
button. When Points on loss is negative, the loss message also shows
the configured penalty value (e.g. -25 points.). Retries are free and
unlimited — each spin is an independent random roll.
If the challenge is opened before it has at least two reel images, players see "This slot machine isn't fully configured yet — at least two reel images are required." instead of the game.
Scoring & answers
Slot Machine is answerless — there is no correct answer stored on the
challenge and no Answer Type field in the editor. The mobile app computes
the win locally and, on a win, submits the sentinel answer
minigame_completed; the server marks the submission correct if and only if
it receives that sentinel.
Points awarded on completion follow the standard challenge formula:
- Base points = the challenge's Points value (default 100), minus the hint deduction if the team used the hint, floored at 0.
- Speed bonuses apply — if the team is among the first finishers and the challenge has speed-bonus tiers, the tier for their finishing position is added.
- An active Double Down artifact effect doubles the whole award.
Points on win / Points on loss are display-only
The server awards the challenge's Points value — it does not read the
slot machine's Points on win or Points on loss config when scoring.
Points on win is what the win banner shows players
(Match! +{pointsOnWin} points), so keep it equal to the challenge's
Points or players will see one number and score another. Points on
loss only changes the loss message; no points are actually deducted on a
losing spin — the app submits nothing on a loss.
The outcome is client-trusted
The server cannot replay a slot roll, so it trusts the win signal from the app — the same pattern as every minigame. Treat minigames as fun point-earners, not anti-cheat-hardened puzzles.
Configuring in the admin
In the challenge editor, set Type to Slot Machine. A Minigame Setup section appears with the config panel on the left and a Live preview on the right, so you can spin the machine yourself before saving.
| Field | Constraints | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel images | 2–20 image URLs, required | — | The image bank. Each spin samples every reel independently from this bank. |
| Reel count | Whole number, 2–10 | 5 | How many reels are shown. |
| Win condition (matching reels) | Whole number, 2–10 (the editor caps it at the current reel count) | 4 | How many reels must land on the same image to win. |
| Points on win | Whole number, 0 or more | 100 | Shown in the win banner. Display-only — see the scoring note above. |
| Points on loss | Whole number, negatives allowed | 0 | Shown in the loss message when negative. Display-only — no points are deducted. |
Invalid config blocks publishing
You can save a Slot Machine challenge without a config and fill it in later,
but the event cannot be published or started while any minigame challenge
has a missing or invalid configuration — the readiness check
invalid-minigame-config fails with "N minigame challenges have a missing
or invalid minigame configuration." See
Creating & Configuring Events.
Tips
- Tune the odds with the ratio of images to reels. Fewer unique images and a lower win condition make matches frequent; a large bank with a high win condition can take many spins. Because retries are free, "hard" only means "slower" — every team gets there eventually.
- Keep Points on win equal to the challenge's Points. The win banner quotes Points on win, but the leaderboard credits Points — a mismatch reads as a bug to players.
- Use square-ish images. Reels render as square 90 px faces with cover-fit cropping, so tall or wide images get cropped.
- Remember the hint still costs points. Like any challenge, using the hint deducts the hint cost from the eventual award — even though the win itself is pure luck.