Alice in WildLand

Alice in WildLand: Slot Overview

When Lewis Carroll penned the original Alice in Wonderland back in the 1860s, what poured forth onto the page was sure to have blown his mind as much as it did its readers. However, there's a good chance Carroll would have tripped out even more, knowing how popular his bizarro world would be over a century later in online slots. This release is from Microgaming partner SpinPlay Games which has been busy in the year or so since we first crossed paths in Roman Power. The slot on the block here is Alice in WildLand which, as the title suggests, is a meetup of Wonderland with features that revolve around wild symbols.

Choosing Wonderland gives designers the excuse to flamboyantly fill their game with all sorts of weird and wonderful imagery – Play'n GO are good at this sort of thing, for example. It seems SpinPlay missed the memo because Alice in WildLand has a plain background depicting a forest, any old forest really, not the sort you'd expect to find much Lewis Carroll craziness in. The reels are a bit more out there, played as they are on two 5x3 reels sets, arranged one on top of the other. The symbols on the reels are bright too, yet there's a major mismatch with the rest of the view as if the tiles were overlaid from another game making a patchy impression.

Moving on to numbers brightens up the picture to an extent. RTP comes in two values, so be on the lookout for the more favourable 96.33% version, while volatility is medium-high. The hit rate is quite high too, and a frequency of 38.55% means a win more often than once every three spins - occurring when matching symbols land adjacently, left to right across the 40 fixed paylines. Any device is suitable for the Wonderland adventure, where bets of 20 p/c to $/€30 per spin may be set.

In the game, Alice seems to have been hitting the caterpillar's pipe a little too hard. Her expression looks as though she's holding it together, but glazed eyes betray a hint of vast paranoia bubbling away below the surface. Anyways, Alice is the most valuable regular paying symbol, joined by the rabbit and the caterpillar as the high pays. Lower down, a heart potion, a cupcake, and a mushroom are the mids, while the four card suits make up the lows. Landing a line of five high pays is worth a payout of 2-2.5 times the stake. Double that amount for Cheshire Cat wilds, who are also instrumental in Alice in WildLand's features.

Alice in WildLand: Slot Features

The main aim in Alice in WildLand is to land as many Cheshire Cat wilds as possible. This is because when an entire reel of wild symbols lands on a single reel set, the wild stack is copied over to the applicable reel on the other set. If a Copycat Wild covers a bonus symbol on the other reel set, that symbol position acts as both wild and bonus. One more point, wilds replace any regular pay symbol and pay 5x the bet for a line of five.

In addition, if an entire reel of wilds lands on the same reel of both reel sets, a Cheshire Multiplier is also awarded. Alternatively, a single Cheshire Multiplier can also be randomly awarded on any spin. All awarded Cheshire Multipliers are added together, then applied to any applicable line wins. It is possible to score multiplier values of x2, x3, x5, x7, or x10, so when combined, the maximum multiplier value is x60.

Golden pocket watches are the scatter symbols - landing 3, 4, 5, or 6 of them awards 10, 15, 25, or 50 free spins, respectively. During free spins, when wild symbols land, they nudge to fill the whole reels – then triggering the Copycat Wild feature after all Wilds nudge. If wilds nudge on the same reel on both reels sets, then a Cheshire Multiplier is awarded. Scatters remain on the reels during free spins, so the feature can be retriggered.

Alice in WildLand: Slot Verdict

On paper, Alice in WildLand doesn't sound too bad. There is loads of nudging going on; full reel wilds hit, wild stacks swap reels, plus multipliers on top. The game produced a couple of pretty thrilling results during rounds of free spins, and potential is impressive. And yet, most of the time, Alice in WildLand just feels too lightweight to take seriously. It has an almost childlike quality about it, partly due to the theme, but mainly from SpinPlay's representation of Wonderland. There's nowhere near the mystery, danger, or downright weirdness present in games like Rabbit Hole Riches or the daddy of them all White Rabbit Megaways.

The gaming side of things are slightly less juvenile than the theme treatment, though it's not without reservations. One of the main issues is the fixed ways, and low symbol values don't add up to much most of the time, even when random Cheshire Multipliers are awarded. On the other hand, the relatively high hit rate is there to compensate and might be enough for casual gamblers to just go with. Other things that might delight less demanding gamblers are the high number of free spins it is possible to win, and who would say no to a max win figure of 12,000x the bet? This is technically achievable when a grid covered in Cheshire Cats pushes out the full x60 multiplier.

Wonderland is one of those places that gives designers the chance to let their creative juices flow and come up with evocative scenery. SpinPlay has either missed the opportunity or weren't up to it for Alice in WildLand, making it about the flattest Alice game you'll come across. The Copycat Wild/Multiplier combo can be quite potent, but the kiddy looks and flimsy feel prevent it from being much of an enticing proposal.