Aquatic Slot Machine
Water is fun, right? Not only is it one of the most important substances we can drink, but it’s also a bringer of good times, be that on a beach or at a leisure centre. It’s also the basis for this postmodern slot machine from iSoftBet, Aquatic (also known as Aquatic Star).
Plenty of the clear blue stuff is to be found here, but not in the sense you were probably expecting; as is common with themed games, there’s a lot of immersive and 3D imagery to dunk yourself into. Not here though. Even though images relating to life under the sea have been used, they’re not designed to give you a virtual reality experience, they’re there to simply facilitate the gameplay.
Think of this as a classic themed slot machine: you’re simply sat before a kooky looking game, spinning your way to as many cash prizes as possible. There’s no fish swimming about to break your concentration, and no pesky bonus rounds to get in your way and reduce the fundamental amusement of the title.
5 by 5
Aquatic is laid out across a 3x5 grid that consists of 5 reels and 5 winlines, hence the 5 by 5 Buffy the Vampire reference. What this means is that the game is quite small, all the symbols and their rewards neatly packaged rather than wedged inside the matrix; this is a game that doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t.
Just above the grid is the paytable, and as you can see from it, there’s not a lot to it at all; there’s seven icons in total that you can find several times over, with the ideal outcome being to get five of a kind. However, luck favours you more with this slot as you only need a minimum of two icons for a match to be made.
Then to the right hand side is the blaringly obvious control panel, arguably the ugliest part of the game, though a necessary one. This section will ensure you not only can set the totals you need to, but that you’re always informed about what you’ve won and what you’ve spent.
Bottom and Top of the Sea
In this mini slot machine, there’s a top of the table and a lower end of it, and with that comes a difference in wins. It’s more than easy to spot which symbols belong to which half, as they’re both marked by their value and separated off in the paytable display.
The small fishies and blue waves are the ones found in the depths of the sea, and between them all they can make as much as €500, which is a tidy sum of cash. However, they can also make as little as €2 each, which is about as appetising as a rotten serving of crab.
In stark contrast to this you have the top tier of the paytable, consisting of a shark, starfish and the Aquatic logo; these have a maximum payout between them of €5,000! Sadly however, the lowest of their returns is a very disappointing €5, which isn’t much better than the other tiles we’ve encountered. We expected a huge difference in the premium payouts and the normal ones.
Coin Slot
Users can play as many as five coins on each of the winlines, with the higher end of your wager closer to 10 credits. This is a sum that most people can gamble with, however should you need to, the paylines can be reduced as can the stake amount.
The Bet 1 button beneath the grid is where you can set the coins, and the numerical display above the coin slot is where you set the value of those coins. It’s well labelled and positioned out so you know exactly where to go and what to do. Aquatic has been designed to be as stress free as can be.
The Call of the Ocean
This slot machine doesn’t quite call out to you, but it does have a quality about it that entices you in, more so than any mermaid ever could. We actually prefer not having the heavy novelty theme, for it allows us to get intimate with the dynamics of the game, and thus devote more attention to them.