Back in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s some may remember a hugely popular adult-themed video game called Leisure Suit Larry. The narrative of the game was built around the attempts of a balding 40-something to seduce the many attractive women who appeared as he journeyed around his hometown.
It sold over 10 million copies.
Others with a taste for a gore-fest may remember a rare cult classic called Thrill Kill, a fight game where four nefarious characters deemed too bad to be on the side of the angels are sent to hell after they die to fight it out for a chance at reincarnation. It’s Adult Only rating and intense, gory content have made it something of a cult classic – it’s still available as a bootleg on various pirating sites.
Other gory, or soft-porn type video games that have made their mark over the years include Grand Theft Auto, Playboy the Mansion and Critical Point.
But what’s our point? Well, it’s no surprise to learn that adult-themed video games like these were, and still are, hugely popular. But it is somewhat surprising that adult-themes have never really taken off in the video slot game market before now. Indeed, you would have thought that gambling game developers would spot a link between the 18+ entertainment they are supplying and the potential adult themes. Maybe they were concerned about the reaction they might get from the UK Gambling Commission?!
Well, now it seems one developer has decided to change all that and see how far it can push the boundaries of taste. Adult-themed gambling games are on the rise. Here we look into the sick world of Sweden’s young gun slingers, No Limit City (NLC) and highlight some of their recent ground-breaking releases. You can find out for yourself if you play at these new slot sites, they are definitely worth a look if you fancy something different.
So, who are NLC? Well, they started up something like five years ago. They are part of a new wave of developers that are appealing to a younger audience of 20 to 30-year olds who are into watching slots play on streaming channels, enjoy high risk gameplay and get a kick out of the alternative themes. Out go the old-skool Vegas-style games with fruit, 777 and double bar symbols, and in come the off-beat, quirky and horror-esque themes that borrow from PS2 classics like Silent Hill and movies like Halloween.
We can start with one of their most recent releases, Tombstone RIP, a slot game set in a dark Wild West town shrouded in mists and with dark clouds overhead. After getting to know the grizzly and sinister characters who populate the story, the climax of the game brings us a free play round in which the town is set on fire and a set of gallows is wheeled on. Bandits are hanged at various points in the gameplay and the sickening sound of necks cracking as the reels spin is not something you would normally find on a slot game. This delightfully-named, ‘Hang Em High’ free spins round already a favourite amongst slots players.
Elsewhere, in autumn 2021 NLC took us to a lunatic asylum in the game, Mental. It offers one of the eeriest backdrops to a slot we can remember – it’s all sepia-tinted with straight-jacketed patients and a background noise of screams coming from echoey cells. The creepy feel is made darker still by the weird faces that appear on the reels, including one with a Hannibal Lecter mask and another apparently screaming in mental anguish. Typically for an NLC game, Mental offers a high value jackpot prize – 66,666x your stake! Before we looked at this slot for the first time we never though a game like this could actually be scary – well it’s time to think again. Mental has a horror styling that would is worthy of any dark indie cinema classic.
Other NLC games in 2021 you could have a look at include San Quentin xWays, Das xBoot and Evil Goblins!
So, last year was big for this kind of game and NLC made their mark as one of the most eccentric and unique game developers in the slots industry. The good news for fans of adult-themed games is that they show no signs of letting up in 2022. Their most recent release is called Punk Toilet – a noisy and stinking descent into the toilets of a punk rock club circa 1976 in London. And in typically bad tastes it includes features like the Glory Door, P!$$ Spins and $h!t Spins!
And they promise more in March with a game called Kenneth Must Die. Rumours are rife about what this game might involve but it’s fair to say the marketing material available so far suggests it won’t be Ken and Barbie as you know them, as Barbie appears to be dressed up in S and M gear!
That’s just a small taste of what you might expect loading up a game from this developer right now. The new wave of adult-themed video slots is a niche that NLC have very much made their own. No other game providers have yet dared to attempt to replicate the kind of darkness and dirt that they are mixing into this popular form of gambling. But given their success, it probably won’t be long before we start seeing more of this style of slot appearing in casinos both online and offline.
Maybe even Leisure Suit Larry will be reincarnated on the reels one day!