Slot Magical Stacks — Game Review

Fortune Cats Golden Stacks

Fortune Cats Golden Stacks from Thunderkick is the latest from the provider to enter the scene, but is it the greatest?

First impressions of Fortune Cats Golden Stacks has us doing a double take because it’s not really something that Thunderkick has done before. The Beat the Beast series, Riders of the Storm, Pyramyth and Midas Golden Touch all share similarities in some ways, but Fortune Cats Golden Stacks seems like a completely different ball game.

Thunderkick has certainly improvised with titles before with titles like Bin Fin Bay, but it really didn’t enjoy success like the firm favourites did.

Will Fortune Cats Golden Stacks earn a place atop the list of titles from Thunderkick? There’s so many great ones to compete with. so it’s a tall order.

Let’s see what Fortune Cats Golden Stacks can do.

Fortune Cats Golden Stacks Theme

Fortune Cats has a very obvious Japanese influence with ‘kawaii’ cats and Japanease daruma dolls.

It’s very unlike anything we’ve seen Thunderkick pen before, but it’s quite nice, unless you’re not into Japanese style artistry that is.

Thunderkick has always been very good in this aspect of their games, and regardless of your opinion on the eastern style, you can’t deny that it isn’t well designed. The music here is very mellow – you really get the impression that Fortune Cats is quite chilled overall.

Fortune Cats Golden Stacks Betting and Symbols

Thunderkick offer players a good variety of betting options in Fortune Cats Golden Stacks. Players who prefer a lower stake can enjoy playing on a minimum bet of £/€0.10 per spin. For players who prefer a higher stake, Fortune Cats Golden Stacks has a maximum bet of £/€100 per spin, and with plenty of other options in between the two, Fortune Cats Golden Stacks is viable to all players.

The highest paying regular symbol in Fortune Cats Golden Stacks is the Gold Cat, closely followed by the Lantern, Bottle and Fish. Lower paying symbols fall to Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs.

Wilds substitute for all symbols except Scatter and Mystery symbols.

Features

Fortune Cats Golden Stacks Base Game and Features

Fortune Cats Golden Stacks is a 5 reel slot with 40 fixed paylines. To form a win you will need to connect 3 or more (or 2 or more of the highest paying symbol) from left to right, starting from the left-most reel.

We love it when providers throw in a little something extra to the base game of their slots and Thunderkick has done exactly that. Sadly, Thunderkick hasn’t gone all out with Features in Fortune Cats Golden Stacks, including only a Mystery Symbols feature. It may not have been the feature you were expecting, but we know from previous slot games that Mystery symbols can be just as fulfilling and full of potential as any other feature we’ve come across.

Mystery Symbols

Folding Fans can appear randomly in any position during the Base Game and Free Spins.

Once a folding fan lands in view, it will automatically transform itself and all other instances of one symbol into the Golden Cat symbol (excluding Scatters and Wilds).

Fortune Cats Golden Stacks Free Spins

Landing 3 or more Scatters in any position on the reels, triggers the Free Spins round and awards 10 Free Spins. If more than 3 Scatters land during the initial trigger, then more game areas are unlocked during the Free Spins round.

• 3 Scatters – Triggers Free Spins with 1 game area unlocked.
• 4 Scatters – Triggers Free Spins with 2 game areas unlocked.
• 5 Scatters – Triggers Free Spins with all 3 game areas unlocked.

Each Scatter symbol that lands in view during the Free Spins round, awards +1 Free Spin and contributes towards unlocking the remaining game areas. The max amount of Scatters that can land in any one spin is 3.

The Free Spins round has a Golden Stacks feature. During Free Spins, if any of the reels become fully occupied by Golden Cats, they will be copied to the corresponding reels on the other game areas.

If the maximum win capacity of 2,500x is reached during Free Spins, all remaining Free Spins will be terminated.

Fortune Cats Golden Stacks Our Verdict

Fortune Cats Golden Stacks is a charming slot from Thunderkick, but is it the best we’ve seen? Not really.

To say that the potential here is relatively low compared to their other games would be a bit of an understatement. 2,500x doesn’t really induce the same sense of excitement as more prominent slots with much higher win caps, but for what it’s worth, Fortune Cats is alright.

Fortune Cats is very un-Thunderkick in a sense. We’re used to the likes of Beat the Beat, Riders of the Storm, Midas Golden Touch and Pyramyth. Gods of Rock itself was a bit of a shift too, but in the right direction we think. Fortune Cats isn’t bad, but it certainly doesn’t measure up to any of the aforementioned titles in our eyes.

The theme is at least interesting, but what’s even more interesting perhaps is the divide between people who love the Japanese sort of influence and those who can’t stand it. Western Culture is clearly torn with a fairly sizeable group of people that just doesn’t see the appeal, but if you’re into it then you’ll really enjoy the aesthetics here.

Overall, Fortune Cats is relatively low potential if your perception on potential has been influenced by the swathe of highly volatile games, but it has enjoyable aspects in many senses, just don’t expect it to take the place of any of your other Fortune Cats titles

Drop and Lock Deep Sea Magic

Open your mind and the doorway to the deep and let the ocean pull you in as you explore the Drop and Lock Deep Sea Magic slot. Relax and drift away into a world of wondrous mermaids and Poseidon guarding the treasure buried inside the sunken pyramids.

Rating
Paylines
Volatility
High

2000+ Games
Up to 20% Cashback for each deposit
What does John have to say?

We’d love it even more if the max exposure of the Deep Sea Magic slot was slightly higher, but even so, the Drop & Lock feature makes this game highly enjoyable and fun to play.

Pros
• Drop & Lock feature for more wins
• Retriggering free spins round with multipliers
• Beautiful ocean life motifs

Cons
• Low max payout

Deep Sea Magic Slot Review

Explore the fascinating underwater theme as SG and Shuffle Master dive deep beneath the surface to bring you Deep Sea Magic, a worthy extension of their successful Lock It Link series. Central to the reels is the Drop & Lock mechanics with cash rewards for lucky players but there’s plenty more to catch in this game than just your breath. So tag along as we reveal all the features in our slot review below.

Deep Sea Magic Bonus Features

When playing the game of Deep Sea Magic, you’ll find that it focuses quite heavily on the Drop & Lock mechanics. That’s the game’s name after all. You’ll also find that the feature activating crystal bubbles drop frequently during both the base and the free spins game. And yet, given the risky nature of this slot, it won’t be an easy job to line them all up on an active payline.

Wilds

Instead of luring sailors and then smashing their boats with seductive songs, mermaids in Deep Sea Magic substitute for all symbols on reels 2, 3 and 4. They won’t, however, interchange with pyramid and crystal ball symbols. Also, as fantastical creatures, they can materialise as tall as three symbols high enabling improved winning combinations.

Scatter Symbol

Don’t ask us why there is a gleaming pyramid at the bottom of the ocean, but it’s necessary for unlocking that magical free spins round. The scatter only lands on the three middle reels, and you’ll need to land one or more of them to activate the free spins feature.

Another scatter, the crystal ball symbol that looks like a water bubble, will activate the Drop & Lock feature when 3 of them fall on the same row.

Free Spins

Hold your breath and dive deep to catch the free spins feature with 6 free spins available to begin with. On activation, you’ll also launch a multiplier counter which corresponds to the number of scatters landed. The more scatters on the reels the higher the multiplier. If you can hold your breath for longer, landing more scatters will give you 6 more free spins to enjoy with a restarted multiplier added to your wins.

Drop & Lock Feature

Perhaps the most exciting part of the Deep Sea Magic slot is the developer’s celebrated Drop & Lock feature. It activates with three or more crystal ball scatters landing on the same row. When triggered, a new set of reels comes into sight with only crystal balls falling onto the reels from above.

During the feature, the crystal balls, containing cash awards depending on their colour, will drop to the lowest row not yet occupied by these symbols. You’ll have 3 chances to fill the rows and collect payouts for a complete row of 5.

Deep Sea Magic Jackpot

The Drop & Lock feature in the Deep Sea Magic slot overrides any prospect of a jackpot in this game adding more thrills of winning cash prizes as you fill the rows with crystal balls. However, we found the max payout to be on the lower side which is slightly disheartening for a high-risk game.

RTP and Volatility

As per above, the Deep Sea Magic slot is a high-risk game indicating high levels of volatility which in turn means larger payouts at marginal intervals. And that’s great news if only the max payout could have been a tad higher. Nonetheless, you can still capitalise on your investment from the decent RTP of 96.1% if you budget well.

Where to Play Deep Sea Magic

SG and Shuffle Master games frequent numerous online casinos including Betsson and Videoslots, so don’t forget to check them out. And while you’re at it, be sure to explore the fantastic bonus deals available on some of the best online slots from both developers.

Deep Sea Magic on Mobile

Normally you wouldn’t be allowed to dive deep into the ocean on your own, but with the mobile version of the Deep Sea Magic slot, you can do so as and when you feel like. The slot is fully mobile-optimised to work on both Android and iOS, giving you the freedom to enjoy the deep blue waters on the go.