After a stellar first 7 months of the year, August was a little disappointing when it came to new slot releases. Slot developers seem to have lost just a touch of creativity from their usual high levels, probably due to the summer slowdown. But the month wasn’t a total bust, as our reviewers found a total of nine slots scoring a rating of 7 or above. These include the usual smattering of megaways titles, as well as a really intriguing Spanish-themed casino game from Relax Gaming. Let’s take a look.
Diamond Inferno
The design of Triple Edge’s Diamond Inferno is – as the title suggests – based around diamonds in an inferno. It’s maybe not the most subtle of themes, but it is exciting to play. The game starts off with 5 reels and 3 rows, but the expanding reels mechanic sees each win triggering a respin, as well as opening up a new row on the grid to a maximum of 6 rows (and 50 paylines). Once these rows are maxed out, then each subsequent win takes us on a multiplier trail with 10x applied to the final winning spin. Instead of free spins, the blue diamond scatter awards instant prizes, with more than 11,000x wins enough to tempt slot fans.
Morgana Megaways
iSoftBet’s Morgana Megaways is the latest in their Twisted Tales series, packing in 117649 ways to win in the classic Arthurian fantasy theme. The design is spot on here and will appeal to all video gamers, as we follow the adventures of the flame-haired Morgana as she explores a brazier-lit crypt on a search for riches. Special symbols that transform into paid symbols keep the base game ticking along. The free spins round sees Morgana collect symbols to build up bigger multipliers and additional spins, and has the potential to win you 10,000x payouts.
1 Million Megaways BC
There are plenty of movie-themed slots out there, but Iron Dog has uniquely come up with a slot based around a film from as far back as 1966. One Million Years BC starred Raquel Welch as a primitive-swimsuit-wearing cavewoman in a struggle against dinosaurs. Historical accuracy aside, the film was a huge hit, and we think slot veterans of a certain age will love playing this title. Saber-toothed tigers, mammoths, a grunting man, and a woman inspired by Welch represent the symbols, while the wild is a block of ice. As its name suggests there are over 1 million ways to win this slot, but only in the free spins round, when a seventh reel is added. With a max win of 45,000x, the only thing we really missed here was a pterodactyl or two.
Blinged
Play n’ Go have released another installment in their series of luxury-themed slots. We have had That’s Rich and Pimped, and now it’s the turn of Blinged, which comes with a backdrop of a big city at night, and a chilled R’n’B soundtrack. This time around the symbols consist of money, shoes, rings, and a girl group, with a diamond acting as the scatter. Three scatters trigger 5 wins spins – for each of these, you are guaranteed either a win or respin, which continues until a win shows up, and a multiplier which increases by 1 for each respin. A genuinely nice touch on Blinged is that two scatters awards you 1 of these win spins. Like its predecessors, this title is aimed at the casual gamer, with medium variance to keep things interesting. That said, the RTP is a little lower than the others in the series, so just make sure you enjoy the theme and generally chilled vibe before playing this slot.
Irish Pot Luck
NetEnt loves to produce big-budget titles, but in Irish Pot Luck, the studio shows it can also make pretty good kitschy slots when it wants to. The design contains most of the stereotypical Irish elements that you would expect, such as pipes, hats, and harps, while horseshoes offer the highest value at 20x for five of a kind. The pot luck feature sees the well-fed leprechaun on the left randomly throwing scatters and wild symbols across the reels. Free spins come with 10x multipliers, but the biggest money is actually won from one of the 3 jackpots (triggered by landing 3 jackpot symbols and then spinning a jackpot wheel). The mega jackpot is worth up to 5000x which isn’t at all bad for a medium variance slot.
La Fiesta
The Costa del Sol might have been off-limits to British tourists for most of the summer, but this Spanish themed slot from Relax Gaming still gives casino fans a taste of Iberia. A bright and vibrant slot designed in a cartoon style; the bull is the highest paying symbol across the 5 reels. Wilds come with multipliers attached which help to increase the size of wins. In fact, the base game is jam-packed with features, such as La Tomatina (where wilds get randomly added), Pamplona (where the bull symbol becomes mega-stacked), and San Joan, where a vertical wild with progressive multipliers gets added, with a final respin at the end. The free spins feature is also rather interesting – you need 3 scatters as usual, but there are 4 kinds of these, and the bonus varies based on which scatter that lands. The rose scatter triggers a mini-game to determine the number of free spins and multipliers, while the tomato gives you 7 free spins with sticky wilds. Bull scatters give you 6 free spins with that stacked bull wild, and by gambling this feature, you have the chance of playing the Stallion bonus, which comes with a 14, 000x max payout. La Fiesta is hands down the most fun slot of August.
Curse of the Werewolf
Curse of the Werewolf is the fourth Megaways title from Pragmatic Play, providing slot fans with up to 46,656 ways to win. Unlike many rather overwhelming megaways games, this lycanthropic slot uses a traditional 6-reel layout without any extra reels on top. Design-wise, the artists have opted for a fun cartoon-style, with various human characters acting as the symbols, and the werewolf himself being the highest value symbol. Instead of cascades following every win, Curse of the Werewolf features Mystery symbols and 2 randomly triggered spin modifiers (a super spin with stacked high-value symbols, and a guaranteed big win with multipliers). As always, the free spins are where most of the serious action takes place, and here we see red wolf symbols removing high-value characters and replacing them with even higher-paying gold wolf symbols. This slot is insanely volatile – but with 40,000x at stake, big win hunters will howl with delight playing Curse of the Werewolf.
Ted Megaways
Blueprint’s Ted Megaways slot is based on the 2012 comedy starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and Seth Macfarlane as the eponymous foul-mouthed teddy bear. Although this one isn’t quite as heavy on the movie references as other Blueprint slots, there are still a few for fans to enjoy, with symbols including cokes and ducks, and Ted shouting quotes at regular intervals. In terms of gameplay, each win triggers a cascade, and mystery symbols may be triggered at any point by Ted pointing his zap gun at the reels. The Thunder Buddies bonus feature comes with 12 free spins, although you can gamble this number on a wheel before the round starts. In both cases, the feature comes with unlimited multipliers, and this can lead to some hefty rewards of up to 50,000x. It’s a highly volatile ride, but those looking for big wins – or fans of this brand of adult humour – will find the Ted slot a fun way to spend an evening.
Riddle Reels a Case of Riches
Play n’ Go always comes up with innovative slots, and their developers clearly put a lot of thought into the games. Riddle Reels a Case of Riches is perhaps their cleverest title to date. A Sherlock Holmes inspired slot with a touch of Cluedo thrown in, this game features various murder weapons as symbols. Guns, knives, and ropes all make an appearance on the 3×3 grid, with the human characters providing the highest value in the base game. Wilds come with 2x and 3x multipliers, and a payline full of 3x wilds pays out a massive 324 times your stake in the base game. The highlight though is the bonus feature, where you must solve clues as you move around a board game to qualify for one mega spin which could net you up to 5000x.
So that was it for August. Not the best of months, admittedly, but still some gems to keep slot fans occupied. Early indications are that September is shaping up to be a much better month, with Hotline 2 already staking a claim for slot of the summer. But let’s see what the rest of the month brings.