Every pokie room in Australia is a bit of a museum. Walk the rows of a big club and you'll see Aristocrat cabinets from several generations: chunky older boxes, sleek dual-screen machines and towering curved screens, all blinking away under the same carpet.
This field guide shows you how to tell them apart, how to spot which game family you're looking at, and what all the meters, lights and buttons actually do. Think of it as birdwatching, with more flashing lights.
Cabinet versus game: two different things
First, a bit of jargon. The cabinet is the physical machine: the box, screens, lighting, speakers and button deck. The game is the software running on it, like Queen of the Nile or Dragon Link.
Venues can change the game on a cabinet, so the same model might run a 1990s classic in one pub and a brand-new link game in the next. When you're identifying a machine, look at both: the shape of the box tells you the cabinet family, and the art and topper tell you the game.
Aristocrat cabinets you're likely to see
Aristocrat has released many cabinet families over the years, and the mix you'll see depends on the venue. These are the ones we've been able to confirm from Aristocrat's own announcements and trade press.
MKVI era machines
Aristocrat's Mark VI (MKVI) platform powered a lot of the 2000s classics. These older machines tend to have a smaller, squarer screen and physical push buttons with printed labels. If you find one still running, it's probably a well-loved favourite. Many of these classics were later re-released on newer cabinets.
Helix and Helix+
Launched in 2014, the Helix brought slim, frameless "Infinity Edge" HD screens, ambient lighting and a programmable LCD button deck. The standard slant version had two 23-inch screens. Lightning Link launched on the Helix in 2015, so plenty of Aussie link banks started life on one. The Helix+ is an evolution of the same idea with a bigger 27-inch screen on the same footprint.
Arc Single
Look for a single, tall, curved 42-inch HD screen. The curve wraps the game art up and over the player, which makes it easy to spot from across the room.
MarsX
A dual-screen cabinet introduced in 2019 that Aristocrat has called the industry's No. 1 dual-screen cabinet. It launched with Dollar Storm, built on the Lightning Link formula, and has since hosted Dragon Link and Thunder Empire themes. Clean lines, two big stacked screens and bright edge lighting are the giveaways.
The Baron Upright
The newest of the bunch on Aussie floors. The Baron has two 27-inch 4K screens plus a 27-inch topper screen, a floating virtual button deck, a soundbar and built-in dynamic lighting. Aristocrat says there are now more than 10,000 Baron Uprights across Australia and New Zealand.
Overseas giants
Some Aristocrat cabinets are built mainly for big casinos overseas, so you're less likely to see them in a local pub. These include the Neptune Single, with a single curved 49-inch 4K screen, the flame^55, and the RELM XL, a stepper machine standing over 9 feet (about 2.7 metres) tall that pairs a curved 43-inch touchscreen with real mechanical reels.
Reading the topper
The topper is whatever sits on top of the cabinet. On older machines it's usually a backlit sign with the game's name and art. On newer cabinets it's often a screen in its own right that can show the game's logo, animations or jackpot amounts.
Toppers are the quickest way to identify a game family from a distance:
- Lightning bolts and storm art usually mean the Lightning Link family.
- Dragons, lanterns and red and gold point to Dragon Link and its cousins.
- A charging buffalo or desert sunset means you've found the Buffalo family.
- A cartoon bloke in a top hat is Mr Cashman, one of Aristocrat's longest-running characters.
Jackpot meters and bank signs
On link games you'll often see a big sign above a whole bank of machines with ticking numbers. That's the linked jackpot display. The biggest number is usually the Grand, which grows with play on every machine connected to it.
Smaller jackpot amounts such as the Major, Minor and Mini usually appear on each machine's own screen, above the reels. Some can depend on your bet level, so check the help screen. Our Hold & Spin guide explains how each tier is won.
A high meter doesn't mean a jackpot is due. Every spin is random, and the number simply shows how much has built up since the last win.
What the lights and buttons mean
Button layouts vary by cabinet and game, and newer machines put most of them on a touchscreen deck. These are the ones you'll see most often:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Bet / lines / reels | Sets how many lines or reels you play and your bet per line or reel. |
| Spin or Play | Starts the spin. The result is decided the moment you press it. |
| Help or Info | Opens the pay table and feature rules. |
| Gamble | On many Aristocrat games, offers a double-or-nothing guess on a card after a win. Optional. |
| Take Win | Adds your win to your credits and skips the gamble option. |
| Collect | Cashes out your credits, often as a printed ticket. |
| Service | Calls a staff member over. |
The light on top of the machine is mainly for staff. It typically flashes when you've pressed Service, when a payout needs an attendant or when the machine needs attention. If it's flashing and you didn't press anything, stay put and someone will come over.
Tips for the amateur spotter
- Check the screen shape first. Curved and tall usually means a newer cabinet; small and square usually means older.
- Look for the Aristocrat badge. It's usually on the cabinet frame or the game's start-up screen.
- Read the help screens. Many games show the title and studio there.
- Don't hover. Pokie rooms are personal spaces for the people playing, so admire from a polite distance.
Want to see the games up close without spending a cent? Many of them turn up in official apps, listed on our free Aristocrat pokies page. And if a night in the pokie room stops being fun, see our play-safely page.