The Great Winaldo Slots
Do you believe in magic? Well, if you don't now then you might after you spin the 5 reels of this magician's slot machine by IGT. The Great Winaldo takes centre stage as the illusionist behind this 30 payline game, conjuring a series of fantastical tricks and japes as the reels spin. And what exactly can he pull out of the hat? How about some “Dynamic Stacks”, “Second Chance Stacks”, and some good old bonus free spins.
Let the Show Begin
The Great Winaldo takes its theme from the showbiz world of magicians and illusionists, with a game screen that is adorned in golden frames and circus style decorations. Upon the reels themselves, spinners will see a few of the staple props and tools that any good magician needs to put on a spectacular show, with icons depicting white doves, a top hat with a magic wand, and a beautiful assistant. Other symbols show a Siberian snow tiger – a familiar face from the IGT slot machine repertoire – as well as a scattered “Bonus” box and the magnificent magician himself. There is also a “Wild” symbol which will perform its own little magic tricks by appear on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5 to substitute all paying icons to complete win lines, that is except for the scatter symbol.
Visually, this slot machine may appear a little bit dated to some spinners, especially when compared with other contemporary games out there. The reels are predominantly black while gold and red decoration gives a traditional feel of showbiz glamour. The symbols are also quite traditional in aspect since they are presented in two dimensional illustrations; they are by no means unpleasant to look at but they won't inspire any awe with spectacular 3D animations like so many slot machines tend to do nowadays.
Pull Some Prizes Out of the Hat
The paytable of this slot machine isn't going to have many jaws dropping either since it presents a somewhat low range of prizes, the largest of which is a 250x line bet multiplier jackpot. That prize will be paid whenever players line up five matching Winaldo magician icons upon any of the 30 permanent paylines, while five matching assistants will pay 200x the line bet value, five tigers award 150x, five doves pay 125x and five hat symbols will fetch 100x. The remaining icons are represented by playing card values such as 10, J, Q, K and A, and they will provide a range of line bet multipliers from 5x to 50x, depending on how many of which symbol is aligned.
A Few Bonus Tricks
Indeed, that payout schedule may appear a little bit underwhelming, but do not fret because The Great Winaldo has a few tricks up its sleeves to ensure that lucky players are rewarded handsomely with some whopping wins. This trick involves the game's “Dynamic Stacks” element, which randomly creates stacks of matching icons upon the first three reels during any spin in the base game. This means that there is every possibility that spinners will trigger a multitude of winning lines at once, which in turn will result in some hefty wins.
What's more, the game also incorporates a “Second Chance Stacks” feature which will essentially guarantee a magical payout. This feature occurs whenever two of the first three reels are completely filled with a stacked symbol, causing the third reel to be transformed into the same matching icon, meaning that all 30 paylines will be triggered with three-in-a-row wins, if nor more. The great thing about this bonus feature is that wins are calculated before and after the transformation – so, you can expect a very healthy boost to your betting balance!
Conjure Up Some Free Spins
Players can also benefit from some free spins while they play this IGT slot machine. These are activated whenever two reels are filled with stacked “Bonus” icons, which in turn will trigger the Second Chance Stacks feature and reveal up 3 to 5 reels filled with the same bonus symbol. So, you will end up with either 9, 12, or 15 bonus cards on the game screen, and you will be awarded an amount of free spins to match.
Curtain Call
The Great Winaldo offers some interesting gameplay with its stacked reels feature and uniquely triggered round of bonus free spins. Aesthetically, the game delivers everything that you would expect from an IGT title without conjuring anything too surprising. The paytable on the other is quite surprising, but not for the right reasons since it offers a range of relatively low payout prizes. Nonetheless, players have every opportunity to set off some big wins with stacked symbols across the first three reels.