Evolution’s live Dream Catcher vs. PlayTech’s ‘copycat’ Spin A Win.
On February 7, 2017, at the ICE Totally Gaming expo in London, Evolution Gaming debuted a revolutionary live casino game it calls Dream Catcher Wheel. Despite the furrowed brows of some skeptics, the game turned out to be a huge success. Live Dream Catcher, an energetic game show style version of traditional money wheel games at land-based casinos, took the online and mobile gambling community by storm.
Now skip ahead to just a few weeks ago. On February 14, 2018 – exactly one year and one week later – Playtech launched a new creation of its own called Spin A Win. Okay, to call it a new creation is a stretch. It is, in reality, a almost-exact copy of their rival’s enormously successful Dream Catcher.
I suspect the near perfect parallel time frame to have something to do with a 12-month exclusivity patent, but who knows. What I do know – and everyone else with eyeballs knows – is that PlayTech is clearly mimicking the competition. But the games aren’t 100% similar.
We’ll take a close look at what Dream Catcher and Spin A Win have in common, and the few features they don’t.
Live Dream Catcher vs. PlayTech’s Spin A Win
On the analogous side of the coin, these games are extremely similar. Both feature a large wheel with number values in each position. Those numbers match perfectly, including 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 40. Both wheels have exactly 54 spaces, with the same amount of each number value displayed. PlayTech even copied Evolution Gaming’s pair of Multiplier slots on the wheel, with a 2x and 7x multiplier on opposite ends.
The color schemes are different, I’ll give them that. But the award for aesthetics goes to Evolution Gaming, whose vibrant design is easily more appealing; at least in my book.
Of course, being based on a typical casino’s money wheel game, the paytables are perfectly aligned as well. Each number pays the same amount for a win at Evolution live casinos as it does at PlayTech’s live casino websites.
There are only two distinct differences between these games. One is more beneficial for Evolution’s Dream Catcher players, while the other puts a check in the win column for PlayTech. As for which is better – that’s up to you to decide.
Differences Between Evolution and PlayTech Live Wheel Games
On the plus side for Evolution Gaming’s casino licensees, Dream Catcher Wheel allows its players to sit in, without betting, for as long as they wish. Strategic players looking for some mysterious pattern to appear – I know there’s a lot of you out there! – love this feature. Unfortunately, the reverse is true of PlayTech’s Spin A Win, and it’s got a lot of players calling foul.
Any player who joins the Spin A Win game must place a bet at least once every 10 spins of the wheel. If a player goes 10 spins without activity, they are unceremoniously disconnected from the live stream.
If that’s not an issue for you, you may like this next part. The live Spin A Win game comes with a few additional side bets. Players can wager on Evens, Odds, and the Multiplier positions. Those bets aren’t available in Dream Catcher.
The additional wagers actually create a slightly better RTP in the PlayTech version. With so many 1s and 5s on the wheel, betting on Odd has the highest theoretical RTP of 97.22%. Unfortunately, that high RTP comes with a mere 3:4 payout (0.75:1). The highest RTP at Evolution (and PlayTech, minus side bets) is 96.58% for a bet on 10, paying out at 10:1.
