Moleionaire: Slot Overview
Sometimes a game title comes along that triggers a chuckle, and we've got one today from software provider Pragmatic Play. The name is Moleionaire and would suggest some sort of mole character who somehow struck it big and is now a cashed-up millionaire. It's not without precedent, actually, as Relax Gaming wedged together references to creatures and riches for its slot Beellionaires Dream Drop. From there, the similarities end, though, really, as Moleionaire is a non-jackpot, cluster pays slot, with a symbol to wild conversion mechanic as its headline feature.
Traipsing through a virtual natural world is something Pragmatic Play does on occasion, as seen in past slots such as Rabbit Garden and Country Farming. Moleionaire isn't the sort of countryside slot that is likely to make city slickers want to throw off the shackles of office work and business attire to leave the rat race, but it's pleasant enough. Our mole pal hangs by the 7x7 gaming grid, poking up out of a hole, smiling cheerfully. How he got his dough might be interesting to know. The rest of the view is pretty cheerful as well.
The playful theme might suggest otherwise, but Moleionaire is a highly volatile slot, and its maximum RTP comes in at 96.08%. It takes bets of 20 c to $/€240 per spin, and it is possible to skip the base game by making use of the free spins buy option. As a cluster pays slot, you'll need to land at least 5 matching pay symbols in horizontal and/or vertical directions to create a winning cluster and collect cash.
A bunch of natural items make up Moleionaire's paying symbols. From the least valuable to the highest, it's got leaves, cones, flowers, butterflies, carrots, pears, radishes, and berries. Clusters of 5 matching symbols payout 0.2 to 1 times the stake, while clusters of 20+ OAK are worth 10 to 250 times the stake. The gold coin wild symbol is able to substitute for anything except the free spins scatter. After every win, the winning symbols payout then are removed from the reels. Existing symbols in view drop down, and new symbols come in from above to close any gaps and provide another chance to win on the same spin. Tumbling continues until no more wins appear after a tumble.
Moleionaire: Slot Features
Moleionaire isn't the most complex of slots. Its features are tumbles, a cluster reaction as its USP, plus there are free spins and a free spins buy.
Cluster Reaction Feature
On each spin, before tumbles, 2 pay symbols are displayed on the screen in the mole's thought bubble. If these symbols are on the reels and are adjacent to each other at the end of a spin, they transform into wilds. At random, when transforming, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 wilds can be placed on the same spot. This amount of wilds is added to the symbol count for winning combinations they are part of.
Free Spins
In the base game, hitting 4, 5, 6, or 7 scatter symbols triggers 8, 10, 12, or 14 free spins, respectively. Moleionaire's pay table does not mention any rule change or addition that is not available in the base game – other than the 'Special reels are in play during the feature.' line that can appear in the rules section. Landing 3+ scatters while the feature is active retriggers the round with up to +16 extra free spins, respectively.
Bonus Buy
The free spins round can be triggered from the base game by buying it for 90 times the bet. When buying the round, 4 to 7 scatter symbols randomly land to activate it.
Moleionaire: Slot Verdict
Eh, okay, so Moleionaire happened. It was an average slot with little star quality. The mole guy adds a cuteness factor, but that's about it. The theme use was adequate, the features were adequate, and after seeing Moleionaire do its thing for a while, what novelty there was quickly wore thin. Reading the paytable before diving deep into the game itself did not spark masses of interest, and after Moleionaire ploughed on for a while, in practice, it didn't have a whole lot to strut either.
What's disappointing is that nothing is officially mentioned about free spins having something special to offer. It's sad when that happens. Maybe wild transformations in free spins are more likely to put extra wild symbols on the transformed spots compared to the base game? But since there's no mention of this in the docs, there's no guarantee. It's not the most potent feature Pragmatic Play has ever devised, anyway. Since cluster pay levels are capped at 20+ at the top end, even if oodles of wild symbols are added to the reels, they are quite limited. No multipliers are on hand to boost values, so picturing Moleionaire hitting its 5,000x win cap is a bit of a stretch.
How about we politely wrap up by saying Moleionaire is not Pragmatic Play's finest piece of work. Its features have a measure of promise, but they are lacking a certain something that might have helped make the game shine brighter. An extra complementary feature or chunkier cluster values, for example, might have prevented Moleionaire from feeling like such a throwaway title.
Moleionaire tries its best with what it has but lacks a certain something that might have helped prevent it from feeling like such a throwaway game.
