I’m a great dancer. Everyone knows that. My skills are so intimidating, in fact, that girls always refuse to partner with me, and entire dance floors clear on my arrival. My secret: I’ve discovered that true rhythm lies not in the hips or the legs but rather in (drumroll, please) the arms and the hands. While most dancers try to move around and feel the music, I stand locked in place, feet firmly on the ground, pinwheeling my arms and contorting my hands to the beat like a man on fire, or someone trying to escape from a swarm of locusts.

One night club that I would’ve loved to check out is New York City’s The Palladium, which was renowned for hosting wild parties and the best Latin musicians from the mid-1940s until it closed in 1966. Although it’s been shuttered for almost 50 years, High 5-ers can now visit this famed hot spot, and drink and dance the night away while surrounded by glamorous characters in H5G’s new game The Palladium! Mario Ruiz, the art director of H5G’s 50 West studio, was kind enough to provide some details about the game’s creation:

“We wanted to incorporate a dance element into one of our slots, and mambo music and New York in the 1960s felt right. We found models who fit the part, but we also made sure that they could really dance. The Palladium was actually one of the first games we shot with live actors, so it felt almost like a test run. After we shot a few more live-action games, we ended up revisiting The Palladium, and added a bunch of different camera angles, costumes, and more dancers so it looked even better. The game has a certain West Side Story vibe to it that we think players will enjoy. It’s very energetic and colorful, and it looks so good in large part due to the efforts of Guillermo [animator], David [digital illustrator], and Scott [production artist].”

The Palladium has more than just a cool theme and top-notch art design going for it, though. It also features Super Symbols, a new gameplay innovation from High 5 Games that debuted in Ocean’s Glory. With Super Symbols, extra-large major and wild symbols can appear on the middle reels of the game. These symbols are sized 2×2, 3×3, and 4×4, and appear in addition to traditionally sized symbols. Super Symbols count as if each space they cover is occupied by that symbol, making it easier for players to achieve large wins on multiple lines at once that will have them feeling like VIPs!

What do you think of The Palladium? Which musical genres would you like us to base games on in the future?

Play The Palladium at High 5 Casino.