Route 777 Slot Machine
We’ve all heard of Route 66, the highway that runs across the United States, but now Route 777 is the subject of an online casino slot machine from Swedish developer Elk Studios. There’s no such highway in real life, but it sounds good and fits in with the fairly simple fruit machine style of this 3-reel, 17-payline game.
The highway stretches off into the distance behind the reels and there’s a Hells Angels theme to some symbols, with skull and cross-spanner symbols awarding free spins bonus games, plus there’s Overtake Respins where the chance of landing wins is given a boost, a Fortune Wheel and the unique betting strategies that help to make games from Elk Studios such an interesting collection.
The reels can be spun from a bet as low as 0.20, or raised all the way to a high limit of 100.00, although anyone wanting to test things out should have a few practice spins on the free Route 777 video slots offered by most casinos that carry the game. With just 3 reels in play, the standard winning combinations are created when all 3 spots on a payline are filled with examples of the same symbol, but the amount won depends on which one appeared and which betting strategy has been chosen.
Heading Down the Highway
This is an unusual-looking online slot machine, where a detailed picture of the highway, complete with a gas station, sandstone towers and cactus plants, is offset by some pretty plain-looking symbols. Above the reels is a pixelated screen that has tumbleweed and scorpions moving across it, and while it lights up to announce any awards, this manages to look a bit out of place as well, but we won’t worry about this too much and shall instead focus on the winnings that these symbols can bring in.
Before playing, gamblers can choose a betting strategy from 3 options. The Optimiser bet uses a percentage of the balance available, the Leveller raises the stake after 5 consecutive losses up to a maximum of 10x the starting point and the Booster strategy raises the bet after a single loss, but by a smaller amount.
Traditional symbols such as cherries, lemons and Bars share space on the reels with cactus pods, and the classic 777 symbols come in red white and blue for that All-American theme. Any time the multi-coloured 777 crown symbols land across a line, the top prize in the base game of 7,000 coins is awarded.
Overtake Respins and Bonus Free Spins
Five reel respins are awarded if reels 1 and 2 land matching symbols in all 3 positions. These are not straightforward spins though, as these reels move down 1 position at a time while only the right-side one spins freely.
If the skull and cross spanners symbol stops in any 3 or more places on the reels, 5 free spins will be triggered, but there’s some very special features in play during these, as not only will 2 more skulls award a random number of extra spins from 5 to 15, but if 3 appear at once, a fantastic Fortune Wheel mini game begins.
All symbols become 7’s of various values, from blues that pay out 100 coins to the triple crown 777 that’s worth the top prize of 100,000. The wheel spins until 3 matching symbols have been collected, or until the red Stop sign appears.
The Verdict
A slightly strange design, where no part quite seems to fit in with other parts, shouldn’t put anyone off this slot game. It mixes traditionally styled symbols with themed images against a unique backdrop, while the screen above the reels, with its over-sized pixels is there to display winnings and feature triggers but can be a bit of a distraction. All is forgiven however, when the reel respins, free games and Fortune Wheel are awarded, although it’s worth remembering that the Wheel is only accessed from within the free games when the right symbols turn up, so getting this feature isn’t particularly easy.
The Betting Strategies are something that punters need to carefully consider before choosing, but they are just options, and add a little excitement to proceedings and as long as players understand that they can also add some risk, these could be worth a try.
The Route 777 video slot by Elk Studios is a game that we are happy to recommend and can be played with no download needed at the growing number of sites that have adopted software from this company, and as it’s also mobile-optimised, it can be played across multiple devices.
