Roaming Reels Slot – Free Demo

A Wild That Cannot Start a Line

That's Roaming Reels for you in brief. The Free Games Feature is the only feature the rules describe. Albeit somewhat constrained by its lone RTP of 94.14%, it is wide and bountiful with a lot of paylines. That figure is the only one Ainsworth publishes, and there is no second setting documented anywhere. There's more to discover, however, so keep reading if you want to learn the complete story.

Ainsworth has built on the same 100-line frame more than once, in Cash Cave from February 2016, the same season as Roaming Reels in March of that year, which returns 94.04%, and in Mustang Money from March 2017, which returns 94.38%. Roaming Reels is a 5-reel, 3-row video slot with 100 selectable paylines. Every win has to begin on the leftmost reel and run left to right on adjacent reels, and only the highest win on each line counts. These are modified with the + and - buttons, so that the Total Bet is merely the line bet multiplied by the number of lines. Scatter wins are added to line wins, and wins on different lines are added to each other. Players can bet at 0.01 per line, and central to the game is the Free Games feature which Ainsworth constructed around a wild that shifts where it lands. At that line bet with all 100 lines lit the Total Bet comes to 1.00, which is the configuration the rules screens are printed at. Or perhaps the name is just a pun in response to the reels that never truly roam, who knows. The rules say nothing at all about a roaming or moving reel, and the only reel-specific statement in them is where the Lion may land.

Roaming Reels flaunts a theme that is rather intriguing. Above the card symbols the paytable runs Africa, Zebra, Emu, Antelope and Paw. As soon as the reels begin spinning one immediately becomes part of this African plain, and there are no unresolved questions as far as the story is concerned. The Tree is the scatter and it pays from any position on the screen. The Lion and the Zebra pursue their fortunes. In paid play the Lion is confined to reels 3, 4 and 5, where it arrives in stacks that can fill a whole reel from top to bottom. So do you. One such spin at a Total Bet of 1.00 lit four Paw along line 12 for 0.50 and finished at 6.00 across the screen.

Where the Tree Pays From

On the reels, you will discover the low-value symbols depicted by the card suits. They are grouped in pairs, A with K, Q with J, and 10 with 9 at the foot of the table. These bottom out at 0.05 for three. That figure, like every other in the paytable, is printed for a Total Bet of 1.00 and is restated whenever the bet configuration changes. The high-value symbols are fashioned out of animals and scenery and a tree which has a special role, as you will soon see, and the latter is also the most valuable and produces a 100.00 win should you land 5 in any position, printed at a line bet of 0.01 over 100 lines. Africa heads the animals, and the Tree pays from anywhere rather than along a lit line. The wild symbol has no payout of its own. It is the one entry in the table listed as Substitute, with no figures beside it. It also has some distinctive traits. Where it lands depends on whether the spin was paid for.

Eight, Twelve or Twenty Free Games

3, 4 or 5 Tree scatter symbols award 8, 12 or 20 free games respectively, and in the bonus game 3 or more scatters trigger additional free games accordingly:

3 or more scatters: +5 free games

In the free games, players will profit from the Lion wild changing its position, and just like in the base game the Lion substitutes for everything except the scatter. Now it emerges on reels 1, 3 and 5, instead of being restricted to reels 3, 4 and 5. That puts a wild on the leftmost reel, where every line win has to start. Furthermore, the Feature paytable applies. On the frames captured it carries figures identical to the Base paytable. The reel strips are distinct from paid play, while the bet and the number of lines carry over from the triggering spin. A feature won at a Total Bet of 1.00 therefore plays through at 1.00. Also observe that there is no multiplier anywhere in the feature.

What 338 Spins Left Behind

Over 338 spins at a stake of 1.00 the balance moved from 5,000.00 to 4,841.40, a return of 53.1%. That is 338.00 wagered against 179.40 won. It never once climbed above where it began, and only 64 spins paid at all, 25 of those for less than the stake. Paying spins came to 19% of the run. One dry stretch lasted 17 spins. It ended on spin 71, and the spin after it paid 9.20, the best result of the session outside the bonuses. Two bonuses landed. The lowest the balance went, 4,834.00, was the point at which the first of them began. The first, on spin 232, paid 90.00, or 90 times the stake, the second, 85 spins later, paid 5.40, and together they were 53% of everything won. The second one left the balance at 4,859.90, still over 140.00 short of the starting figure.

Final Minty Score: Two bonus rounds paid 95.40 of the 179.40 this session won, and the balance still closed 158.60 down over 338 spins at 1.00 a go. The Lion stacks look generous in paid play, but it cannot land on the two reels where every line win has to begin.

Ninety-Five Credits From Two Rounds

Roaming Reels is certainly all about the free games feature. The two rounds here were worth 95.40 between them. It sustains the session. Outside them the largest single spin returned 9.20. Players can expect to see plenty of exasperating low-paying bonuses, however, being a volatile slot, which is merely the character of the beast. Three or more Trees during a round add more free games, though neither bonus in this session retriggered. It has a broad grid, a compelling feature and, most importantly perhaps, an RTP of 94.14%.