ALL ABOUT ROYAL MINT MEGAWAYS™ SLOT
There is no argument round these parts that Big Time Gaming are simply kings of the high variance slots scene. Their back catalogue is a parade of classics always mixing incredible innovation with exciting themes, great soundtracks and massive potential. They are the studio whose games we all turn to when we’re looking for some seriously dangerous high-risk slots play. It’s always a pleasure to be reviewing a new game from BTG and we’re delighted to give you the low down on their January 2020 release, Royal Mint Megaways™. It’s a slot that brings together a collection of their best features, from the standard expanding reels format first made famous in Bonanza, to the Triple Reaction™ frenzy of Opal Fruits, to the pumped-up Heartstopper™ Free Spins of Lil Devil.
GAME SET-UP, SYMBOLS AND GRAPHICS
Sound and vision are important aspects of any Big Time Gaming slot, and Royal Mint is no exception. The background to this game is the Johnson Smirke Building, previously the London home of the UK mint. It’s a strong iconic image that serves the slot well. The basic format of the game is standard Megaways™ – six reels, each displaying anywhere between two and seven symbols per spin. Payouts are made when three or more identical symbols land on adjacent reels from left to right (regardless of position). This creates up to 117,649 ways to win per spin. There are also 4×1 reels – one above and one below the main reel set – for further wins. These spin horizontally, rather than vertically, and turn Royal Mint into a Triple Reaction™ slot.
In the standard BTG format, the low value symbols here are the cards, 9 through to Ace, whist the premium symbols are the gemstones – red, green, blue and purple. The latter is the highest-paying at 50x for six on a payline. Two more important symbols are the Wilds, which appear in the top and bottom 4×1 reel sets, and the scatters that are required to set up the free spin rounds. Here you will need to spell out the word M-I-N-T in scatters to launch the spins (a bit like the G-O-L-D in Bonanza).
GAMEPLAY AND FEATURES
Cascading Wins
We are all very familiar with this one by now – for each winning spin, winning symbols are removed from the reels and replaced with new ones. If more winlines are created, so the process repeats, and on and on until no more wins are visible. In the free spins round, this feature combines with a progressive multiplier which increases by 1x with each cascade to create big win sequences.
Free Spins
The free spins round itself is triggered by landing the four letters of the scatter symbols to spell the word M-I-N-T. This sets up 12 spins, with a further 4 spins added for any additional scatter that lands on the reels at the same time. If a further 3 scatters land on the reels during your free spins, a further 4 spins are added. Remember, the progressive multiplier is in play now, so you can push some massive wins here.
Heartstopper™ Free Spins With Enhanced Multipliers
The Heartstopper™ feature is one that is taken from the Lil Devil slot by BTG. Here, the multipliers double up to boost your wins – so you start at 2x, and increase by 2x with EVERY cascading win.
Its not easy to trigger this one though. It’s done by landing gold bars in the base game, which happens each time you get three of the four scatters needed to set up free spins. Basically that means even when you don’t quite hit the mark there’s a consolation – and once you’ve collected FOURTY gold bars, next time you get to the free spins round you’ll be in the enhanced mode.
OUR VERDICT
This slot has the potential to be huge. Lil Devil and it’s Heartstopper feature made huge waves in the slots scene last year thanks in part to a series of massive wins that were driven by the enhanced multipliers available for those who are prepared to gamble through sessions long enough to collect 40 gold bars. We can expect the same from Gold Mint. It’s a fine looking slot too, and one that regular BTG slots players will feel very at home with, whilst still feeling like their into something new. As always though, we recommend any player treads here with care – the volatility is sky high and it will take a lot of play to get any rewards.
