Funky Time from Evolution is live

Funky Time is now up and running at most Evolution powered live casinos.

It’s another big money wheel with a bunch of bonus games thrown in for good measure. Think Monopoly Live or Crazy Time but with a disco theme (and great backing tunes).

Evolution has quite a few big wheels on offer now. Which begs the question… why another? The question becomes all the more pertinent when it is considered that Funky Time is the most complex and expensive game they have ever made!

Simple answer – players can’t seem to get enough of them. Crazy Time was (and still is) a juggernaut for Evolution and its partner casinos, with upwards of 10,000 punters usually playing at any given time. Go figure!

Introducing the Funky Time DigiWheel

Funky Time marks Evolution’s first use of their new DigiWheel.

DigiWheel is a circular video wall in the middle of a 7ft spinning wheel. Evolution acquired the DigiWheel technology, or more precisely the company that developed it, for an even €‎1 million at the end of 2021.

Here’s the Funky Time wheel. 64 segments which are fixed in position. Real flapper. Real pegs.

Funky Time wheel segments and payouts

A nice big selector let’s you bet on your chosen segment, either:

• 1: which pays even money in the absence of a multiplier
• letters P, L, A, Y, F, U, N, K, Y, T, I, M, E: which pay 25:1 in the absence of a multiplier
• Bar, Stayin’ Alive, Disco, VIP Disco: launch the respective bonus game.

Multipliers

When the presenter spins the Funky Time wheel, you get a look at it’s in-wheel video capability.

A bunch of multipliers are generated (up to 50x) and randomly assigned to segments before the wheel comes to rest. The multiplier elevates that segment payout accordingly.

For example a 2x multiplier applied to a Y segment increases the payout to 50:1.

Applied to the 1 segment, as below, the payout becomes 2:1.

Funky Time Bonus Games

When the funky flapper comes to rest on a Bar, Stayin’ Alive, Disco or VIP Disco segment, the bonus game is launched. If you had a bet on that segment, you’re in the bonus game. If not you have to sit through it patiently with no skin in the game.

Each bonus game has a different way of coming up with a win payout multiplier. Stayin’ Alive uses a physical ball machine. For the others you’re entirely in the hands of the RNG gods, albeit with some impressive disco themed computer graphics attached.

Multipliers from the wheel segment are also applied to the bonus game outcome. For example:

• Bar bonus game triggered with 2x wheel multiplier, and
• Bar bonus game results in 10x multiplier, then
• win becomes 20x bet amount

Funky Time Bar Bonus Game

With 6 segments on the wheel this is the most common bonus game. A chip on the bar segment lets you play the game which consists of selecting one of 3 different glasses on a bar. If you fail to select in time the decision is made for you.

From here it’s an entirely RNG affair as a robot fills your glass and assigns it a random multiplier.

Funky Time Stayin’ Alive Bonus Game

With Stayin’ Alive, a physical ball machine decides your fate.

Pick a ball colour (green, pink or orange) and hope that as many of your balls drop before the black balls do. 4 blacks ends the game. The longer you stay alive and the more of your balls that drop before the 4th black, the higher up the multiplier ladder you go.

Funky Time Disco and VIP Disco

These are both completely RNG affairs. Mr Funky boogies across a dance floor racking up multipliers as he goes, until he falls off the edge. The multipliers are higher on VIP Disco.

Funky Time Return to Player

You don’t need to be Einstein to figure the returns on this game will not be good.

Just consider the letter segments…2 from 64 but with a 25:1 base payout. Multipliers would need to be numerous and generous to close that kind of house edge.

Unsurprisingly, they don’t.

RTPs per segment (kudos to Evo for publishing all in the games house rules) are:

• number 1: 95.99%
• letters: 95.49%
• Bar: 95.99
• Stayin’ Alive: 95.49%
• Disco: 95.51%
• VIP Disco: 95.38%

And that’s Funky Time! Not a game I’ll be playing much. Can’t afford it. Also not a big fan of the game show segment generally. But very much in the minority there.

The effort that’s gone into this game is commendable though, and the disco tracks are absolute crackers. License fees on these must have been a big chunk of the game’s cost.