Fruit Machine Ironwood Sevens
# Ironwood Sevens — How to Play
Ironwood Sevens is a hand-wound, brass-and-walnut fruit machine you play right in the browser. There's nothing to install, and credits have no real-world value — the whole point is the mechanical fun of the reels.
## Opening the game
Open the HTML file (or the published page) in any modern browser, desktop or phone. You'll see the cabinet with its marquee lights, a three-by-three grid of reels behind glass, and a brass control plate underneath. On a phone, a "Machine / Pay Table" switch appears above the cabinet — more on that below.
## Spinning
There are three ways to spin the reels: click the **SPIN** button on the brass plate, click or tap the **lever** on the right side of the cabinet (hidden on narrow phone screens to keep things tidy), or press **Space** or **Enter** on a keyboard. Each spin costs the current bet amount in credits, deducted the moment the reels start turning.
## Reading a result
Only the **middle row** counts — it's marked by the dashed line and the small brass arrows pointing in from each side. The top and bottom rows are just for atmosphere. Whatever lands on that middle row is evaluated the instant all three reels stop.
Right below the reel window is a dark result strip. It stays out of the way of the symbols at all times: it reads "Pull the lever to start" while idle, "Spinning…" mid-spin, and then either turns gold with your winnings and the winning combination's name, or shows "No win — try again" in red.
## Betting
The two small −/+ buttons step your bet up or down in units of 5, between a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 100 credits, and never above what you currently hold. The **MAX** button jumps straight to the largest bet you can afford (capped at 100). Your bet and credit balance are shown in the two brass-framed readouts above the controls.
## The pay table
Three matching symbols on the middle row pay out at the multiplier shown below, applied to your current bet. Rarer symbols are worth more.
| Symbol | Payout (3 in a row) |
|---|---|
| Cherry | ×4 |
| Lemon | ×6 |
| Clover | ×10 |
| Star | ×16 |
| Bell | ×25 |
| Bar | ×40 |
| Seven | ×100 (jackpot) |
Cherries have one extra rule: even if you don't land three, two cherries on the middle row still pay ×2, and a single cherry pays ×1 — your stake back. It's a small consolation that keeps near-misses from feeling like a total loss.
## Running low on credits
If your balance drops below 5 (the minimum bet), a **REFILL** button appears on the control plate. Tapping it tops your balance back up to 500 credits at no cost — there's no real money involved anywhere in this game.
## Sound
A small "sound: on/off" toggle sits at the bottom of the control plate. It mutes the mechanical tick and win-chime sound effects; your last choice is remembered.
## On a phone
Below 760px wide, the paytable moves to its own page. Two tabs — **Machine** and **Pay Table** — appear above the cabinet so each screen gets full width instead of being squeezed side by side. On wider screens (tablets and desktops) both panels simply sit next to each other and the tabs disappear.
## Saving your progress
Your credit balance, current bet, and sound setting are saved in that specific browser on that specific device (using local browser storage), so they'll still be there next time you open the same page there. They don't sync across different browsers or devices, and clearing that browser's site data will reset them back to the starting 500 credits.
## One more thing
Ironwood Sevens has no real money value and isn't gambling — it's a themed toy. Play for fun, and if the reels ever run cold, the REFILL button is always right there.
