There are some excellent slots available in this week’s roundup, alongside some more average fare – let’s take a closer look!
We’ll kick off with a banger here. Miami Mayhem from Hacksaw is heavily based on the Grand Theft Auto series – you’ll pick this up as soon as it loads. In fact, this is one of those slots which manages to skillfully weave its theme into the actual gameplay, which is always a welcome treat.
Namely, we have the Mission feature, where you’re looking to land certain symbols to advance to the next level, and working through these objectives supercharges your multipliers, which can lead to some big wins. Hacksaw has really been impressing us again lately – make sure to check this one out!
Conquer Babylon from Relax Gaming looks amazing, especially when new rows are introduced, creating a great sense of grandeur and scale as the grid grows upwards. This is an all ways pays slot, with hundreds of thousands of ways to win. Giant symbols rendered in an impressive Mesopotamian style can land randomly, increasing the global multiplier as they crush smaller symbols beneath them. There’s even a coin-based mini game. It’s a really unique slot and hopefully signals a return to form for Relax.
That said, the other Relax title this week doesn’t quite hit the same heights, but it does have a certain charm. Reel Illusions Dream Drop is based around the idea of a magician’s stage show, and, once again, this slot looks great. There’s also the progressive coin collection feature which encourages you to stick around and build up the potential for higher value multipliers.
Spellmaster from Pragmatic Play continues the magic theme, but in a more wizardly fashion. Unfortunately, the gameplay is far from enchanting, with a dull base game and predictable jackpot/hold and win bonus feature. Maybe the 40,000x max win potential will tempt you in though?
Diner War from BGaming reminds me of a few different Hacksaw titles with its vintage cartoon + jazz soundtrack combination, and unfortunately the gameplay is as derivative as the theme.
Next we have Tsar Wars by Nolimit City, which feels relatively tame compared to this studio’s usual output. As the name implies, it does take inspiration from Star Wars (and Russian history), and the background music is a bop, although it won’t be to everyone’s taste. As for the gameplay, it’s based around a cluster pays mechanic, with features like xBomb Wilds thrown in for good measure. Some players will enjoy this, while some will say “meh”.
Veracruz Wild from Popiplay is another Mexican/carnival-themed slot, and this one perhaps elevates itself a little beyond the average mark with its expanding wild symbols, but it’s far from the best slot this week.
Lastly, our Game of the Week is Pirate Bonanza 2, so read on to learn about this anticipated sequel…
New Slots
- Veracruz Wild – Popiplay
- Tsar Wars – Nolimit City
- Diner War – BGaming
- Spellmaster – Pragmatic Play
- Reel Illusions Dream Drop – Relax Gaming
- Miami Mayhem – Hacksaw Gaming
- Pirate Bonanza 2 – Backseat Gaming
- Conquer Babylon – Relax Gaming
Game of the Week
Our Game of the Week this time is a sequel to one of my favorite slots from last year: Pirate Bonanza.
Coming out of the Backseat Gaming studio, it used an elegant mechanic in the vein of the Le Bandit series; think highlighted squares that get triggered by a special symbol. The original helped put Backseat on the (treasure) map, and now we have the sequel with some upgrades to the gameplay and stats.
To recap the basics, landing a win results in winning squares becoming highlighted, and if a Cannon symbol is present, all the highlighted squares will receive Bomb multipliers, charging up your win, sometimes to giant amounts. These games can be very generous, I’ve found.
The first difference you’re likely to notice in Pirate Bonanza 2 is that we’re now working with cluster pays instead of scatter pays, plus we also have Wilds at our disposal (they weren’t there before).
Next, the amount of Bonus scatter symbols needed to enter the bonus round has dropped by one, so you just need three to trigger the Cannon Blast round, and four to trigger the Bombs Away round. In the former, highlighted squares now persist until triggered, which is another improvement on the original.
Finally there’s a brand new type of Bomb symbol called the R-Bomb, and when it lands it essentially respawns a second barrage of bombs for you – great!
The RTP has remained the same at 96.32%, but the max win has doubled to 20,000x. This perhaps suggests a shift toward higher volatility, although in practice this slot still delivers wins often. And if you want to turbo charge your sessions, there are various bonus buy options available at the click of a button.
The charming visuals and soundtrack make this a joy to play once again, so set sail and give it a go below!
