ALL ABOUT BEAT PEAKY BLINDERS SLOT
The Peaky Blinders phenomenon is brought to the reels by Pragmatic Play as the story of Birmingham’s ruthless inter-war gangster family provides inspiration for this high variance slot. Aside from being one of the most popular TV dramas of recent years, Peaky Blinders is also a fitting brand for a slot game. The Shelbys, who work their way up from the working-class streets of the midlands to wealth and infamy, run a gambling operation themselves. In fact, it’s where a large portion of their riches originates from. The show is known for its scenes of violent retribution dished out to anyone who crosses the bosses, as well as a dark and moody backdrop and super-cool soundtrack. Pragmatic Play manage to capture a lot of this in the artwork surrounding the reel set, but what is a little disappointing is the relatively low top payout of just over 2,000x – not much for a high variance game in 2020. Nevertheless, fans of the show will be eager to spin the reels and will be rewarded with some engaging features and slick gameplay.
GAME SET-UP, SYMBOLS AND GRAPHICS
Peaky Blinders slot is built on a 5 x 3 reel set with 20 fixed paylines. A fairly standard set- up then. The backdrop is provided by one of the polished rooms in a Shelby mansion, with bookcases and oak paneling adoring the walls. On the reels themselves you’ll find low value symbols or 10 through to Ace, and premiums made up of the key members of the family: Michael, Polly, and Arthur and Thomas Shelby. The top value symbol is Thomas, worth 20x for 5 on a payline. There is also an important Wild symbol which is also worth 20x for 5 on a line and subs in for all others to create winning lines.
PEAKY BLINDERS SLOT RTP, VARIANCE AND PAYOUTS
Peaky Blinders slot is in the lower end of the high variance spectrum and comes with a top payout of 2,022x. That is pretty modest in an era when many slots pack a punch of over 10,000x for top wins. The RTP is set at a decent enough 96.5% and you can start playing from just 20p per spin. Just bear in mind that as a high-ish volatility slot the wins won’t come thick and fast, but rather infrequently – and any substantial ones will be locked up in the free spins round that we’ll come on to in a minute.
GAMEPLAY AND FEATURES
There are two features that come into play in the base game and the bonus round, as well as a free spins round which can deliver some good action. Look out for the special scatter symbols required to unlock these. Here’s how they work:
Shelby Betting Shop Bonus – When the Shelby Betting Shop scatter lands on reel 5, any high value symbols showing on the reels are awarded a cash value. These are added up awarded as a win.
By Order of the Peaky Blinders Bonus– When the By Order of the Peaky Blinders scatter lands on reel 5 a re-spin is triggered. Before it plays out all premiums and wilds transform to an identical symbol to increase the odds of a win.
Free Spins
Look out as well for the game logo that appears on reels 1 and 3. You’ll need to land this along with one of the bonus symbols on reel 5 to trigger free spins. If it’s the Shelby Betting Shop scatter you get 8 free plays with additional scatters on reel 5. If it’s the By Order of the Peaky Blinders scatter you get 10 free spins with additional scatters on reel 5. There are no re-triggers.
OUR VERDICT
It is easy to tell from this review that Peaky Blinders Slot is not breaking any new ground when it comes to video slots, let alone branded ones. This is a simple, straight-forward game with few tricks up its sleeve and a very basic game mechanic. It also lacks punch in the jackpot department – no one is going to get over excited about the possibility of a 2,022x win in 2020. Pragmatic Play must be hoping that the brand alone will carry the game and to some degree it will for fans of the show. For anyone else though, the gameplay itself is just a bit too pedestrian, and with the level of competition right now this studio might regret not being a bit braver with their creation in the years to come.
