Some well-known fairy tales are, on second thought, a bit offbeat. Even though they are written with children in mind, some of the stories may be rather terrifying. Case in point: in Rumpelstiltskin, a miller’s daughter is spared death for her father’s boasting when she is rescued by a mystery man who turns straw into riches for her, on the condition that she sacrifices her firstborn child as payment. In the end, though, the kid is saved only in the nick of time after someone remembers the guy’s name. In comparison, today’s kid’s shows look almost tame. The Riches of Rumpelstiltskin Megaways slot machine is the latest in developer iSoftBet’s Twisted Tale Series of darkly comedic fairy tale-themed games.
At first glance, Riches of Rumpelstiltskin Megaways didn’t seem like iSoftBet’s most visually appealing offering. It’s a bit gaudy, like a computer game designed for older or less powerful hardware. The rural atmosphere of this fall film about floating fireflies or something like that does get better the more times you see it. Were they living at the miller’s house on the left before the princess was carried away to the castle upon her marriage to the king? Must be, as hills on the other side of the screen roll out into the horizon in what seems like something out of a fairy tale, fair enough, let’s move on. A and B studios are common among game publishers, and this appears to be more of a B release from iSoftBet than their A studio.
Theoretical returns for paid rounds of Riches of Rumpelstiltskin Megaways, playable on any device, are 96.01%. Bets range from 20 pence to £/€20. This slot machine alternates between a standard game and a Hold&Win bonus round, both of which have extremely high variance. Wins occur in the main game when identical symbols appear on neighboring reels, starting from the leftmost position, on a game grid consisting of 6 vertically rotating reels and a horizontally spinning top tracker reel with 4 positions. There are up to 117,649 possible winning combinations, however this number varies with the number of symbols.
The cascade function eliminates winning paths from the grid and fills in the resulting gaps with symbols from above. If the falling symbols make a new winning combination, the cascade function will activate again. The Riches of Rumpelstiltskin Megaways slot machine has ten different pay symbols. Despite appearances of elegance and refinement, they are not what they seem. High-paying symbols include Rumpelstiltskin, a chesty version of the miller’s daughter, keys, and looms, while lower-paying symbols include 9-A card rank symbols (worth 0.5 to 1.5 times the bet for six-of-a-kind). A premium win for getting six of a type pays 2-12.5 times the wager. The wild symbol, which appears on the top tracking reel and may substitute for any symbol except from the scatter and Mystery symbols, helps to form winning combinations. When a mystery sign lands in view, it changes into a standard pay symbol.
Features of the Slot Machine, “Riches of Rumpelstiltskin, Megaways”
Riches of Rumpelstiltskin Megaways also includes cascading winnings, Max Megaways, and Rumpel Respins, in addition to the game’s Mystery symbols.
Maximum Megaways
Max Megaways is a random feature that, when used, causes the reels to generate 117,649 ways to win.
Rumpel Turns Around
The pot o’ gold scatter symbol is the other important one, since it represents multipliers for one’s wager. Rumpel Respins are triggered by landing at least 5 scatters, and the scatters that triggered them remain in place during the re-spins. The function is activated when there are no symbols in the grid other than blanks, scatters, and Booster symbols. There are three respins to begin with, and if any further scatters or Boosters appear, the amount of respins resets to three. Only the top tracker reel features booster symbols, and using them requires collecting three of a kind. Here are the four classes:
Extra respin awarded after three respins have occurred without a scatter or booster being landed (Life Boost). You can save up to three additional lives and collect up to three Life Boosts.
Reel Boost allows for up to two reels to be enlarged to a maximum of 8 symbols high. Up to three separate victories are possible.
The final win is increased by a multiplier that is provided at the end of the feature. It may be won a maximum of three times, with multipliers of x2, x3, and x4.
All visible scatter prizes are multiplied by 2 when you activate Prize Boost. There are a maximum of three possible wins.
Slot Review: The Wealthy Megaways of Rumpelstiltskin
Some studios, once they take an interest in something, might become as fixated on it as a vicious pit bull with lockjaw. We’re obviously talking about iSoftBet’s dedication to the hold ‘n win genre. To put it plainly, the studio has a plethora of titles of this type under its belt at this point, some of which are excellent, some less so, and the rest somewhere in the middle. The Megaway Riches of Rumpelstiltskin are around average. It’s not your run-of-the-mill “hit the money symbols and collect” scenario, thanks to some nifty extras.
Hold ‘n’ win games like Riches of Rumpelstiltskin Megaways don’t exactly hit the big time either. Its unique features, although pleasant, are basic. Obtaining more lives, restricted multipliers, reward boosts, and reel boosts might provide you an advantage in the game. However, they aren’t the kind of unique icons that launch a bonus game into space as some of the most out-there slots can. Scatters accumulate and, with any luck, you gather enough Boosters to speed things up a notch or two. The potential isn’t crazy however; the win ceiling of 100,000 coins, or 5,000 times the stake, is fine, but it’s not exactly a room full of straw spun into gold.
A long had gone since the last Twisted Tale slot came our way (Riches of Rumpelstiltskin Megaways), and while this one was OK, it didn’t exactly blow away our expectations. Riches of Rumpelstiltskin Megaways is a choice if you’re looking for a Rumpelstiltskin theme with a Hold&Win bonus round, but it didn’t exactly propel the Twisted Tale Series to new heights.