“Game of Thrones” is, without any doubt at all, the most popular TV show of the 21st century. Its ratings are astronomical and only rivaled by its budget per episode. Practically every single member of its cast has gone on to star in huge Hollywood blockbusters, and as HBO prepares to wrap it all up after the final season next year, they’re all ready to replace it with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR different spin-off shows. “Game of Thrones” is no longer just a TV show – it’s a cultural phenomenon that has become ingrained in modern society. Just like how the 80s had “Cheers”, when people look back on the 2010s in a few decades, they’ll undoubtedly remember “Game of Thrones”. With such a powerful, influential show that’s near and dear to the hearts of so many people, you’d think that its very own slot adaptation would be phenomenal. But unfortunately, Microgaming’s “Game of Thrones” slot shows us exactly what it means to be lazy.

The unfortunate part is that it would’ve been so incredibly easy to make a really fun “Game of Thrones” slot! You start off with the TV intro (or, if the budget allows, perhaps modify it a bit to include elements that appear in the slot), alongside that classic theme song. In-game, the player would be greeted by new compositions of classic “Game of Thrones” tunes like “Rains of Castamere” and “The Bear And The Maiden Fair”, to set the mood for what you’re about to delve into. The slots, of course, would bear the likenesses of the characters (or, if Microgaming isn’t able to procure the rights to the actors’ faces, their book counterparts would serve just fine), alongside important objects like the Hand of the King pin serving as scatters or wilds. There would be several bonus games based on the symbols you get – for example, you may play as Tyrion engaging in a verbal duel with someone, and the better he does, the more you win. Or maybe you play as Robb Stark marching his army South and trying to gain the loyalty of his bannermen – the more he gains, the more free spins with a bigger multiplier you obtain.

I could go on and on, but my point is that the design for a slot based on “Game of Thrones” essentially writes itself – the show has a deep enough lore and history to let any slot fan who’s even marginally familiar with it come up with fantastic ideas on how its world can be brought over to the realm of reels and symbols. With that said, how much did Microgaming do in that regard? Not much at all, I’m afraid. The opening credits music blasts ad nauseum over the course of the game, to the point where the slot actually achieved the impossible – it made me hate one of the best main themes in TV history. There are no characters on the reels, just the banners for four of the noble houses involved in the show’s conflict. Those very same banners are used once again, when you trigger the bonus game in which you must randomly select one of them and receive a random number of free spins, to the point where whether you choose Stark or Lannister (two completely opposite factions in the realm of the show) doesn’t even matter.

Ultimately, “Game of Thrones” just comes off as lazy. It kind of feels like the developers grabbed the license and then immediately dressed a random slot in a “Game of Thrones” coat, which, honestly, feels a little bit insulting to us fans. At the end of the day, while not a terrible slot to play, it completely fails as an adaptation on every single level. It’s honestly a little bit sad to think about the many, many possibilities a slot based on the world created by George RR Martin could bring to the table, but alas, it just wasn’t meant to be at this point.