Ballin’

Ballin': Slot Overview

Ballin', as defined by one entry in the Urban Dictionary, is 'to be well respected, high in status, wealthy; a "player".' We're picturing someone rolling up to the Monaco Grand Prix and watching it from the back of their mega yacht, lighting up King of Denmark cigars while knocking back bottles of Allsopp's Arctic Ale. Such ostentatious displays of wealth can come across as a little (or a lot) obnoxious, so to sidestep this potential issue, Blueprint Gaming has used anthropomorphised cats as its stars rather than human beings. The result is a game with big personalities, big features, and a big, ballin' world to experience it in.I

For the base game, this means a city street bearing a muscle car, a Lambo-type vehicle, palm trees and buildings, like a hip part of Miami or Monaco. The scene blazes with a dreamy, golden light as if ballers exist on some higher plane where it's always sunny, warm, and where non-ballers are constantly flicking them jealous furtive glances. Trigger the bonus round, and the scene shifts to a marina for what is called Big Balls Free Spins or Bigger Balls Free Spins; yeah, there are a lot of balls around here. There's a neat Beast Mode feel to the proceedings, and Blueprint Gaming has designed a fun-filled, humorous spot in which to let your inner baller loose.

Any device may be used to do so, such as tablets, mobiles, or desktops, where bets from 20 p/c to $/€10 can be placed. A medium volatile slot, wanna-be ballers can expect a maximum RTP value of 96.01% (lower values are possible) with no mention of whether that figure changes when buying free spins or activating the Ballin' Bet. The Ballin' Bet increases the cost of the bet by 25% when switched on, increasing the chance of triggering the bonus.

A semi-diamond-ish shaped game grid hosts the action utilizing 5 reels with a 3-4-4-4-3 symbol configuration. Zigging their way across the grid are 20 paylines where winning combinations are formed when at least three matching symbols land on one, from the left-hand side, on consecutive reels. Cracking open the winplan, pay symbols start with J-A card royals designed with a sort of dollar bill font, followed by gold watches, gold rings, and four character cat symbols, presumably all ballers or their entourage. Value-wise, hitting five non-character symbols is worth 0.5-2.5x the bet, whereas a line of cats pays 5 to 25 times the stake.

Star Wilds can help out here, landing on reels 2, 3, and 4 to substitute for anything except the scatter. Wild multipliers with values of x2 or x3 may also land on the middle three reels in the base or bonus games. In addition, a special Super Star Wild symbol may appear in the base game, too. When it hits, it converts itself and all symbols above it on the reel into wild multipliers. If a wild already sits on the reels above a Super Star Wild, then its multiplier is upgraded to x3 if it wasn't already an x3.

Ballin': Slot Features

Ballin' keeps things relatively simple in terms of features, offering Big Balls Free Spins and Even Bigger Balls Free Spins – sometimes known as the Super Star Bonus. Where available, both bonus round types may be bought.

Big Balls Free Spins

Landing bonus symbols on reels 1 and 3, plus a Big Balls symbol on reel 5 triggers 10 Big Balls Free Spins. When a wild multiplier hits during the feature, it sticks to the reels for the remainder of the round. Covering an entire reel with wild symbols awards an additional +4 free spins. This can occur three times only. Importantly to note, Super Star Wilds are not present in Big Balls Free Spins.

Even Bigger Balls/Super Star Free Spins

Landing bonus symbols on reels 1 and 3, plus a Super Star symbol on reel 5 triggers 6 Even Bigger Balls Free Spins. As before, wilds appear on reels 2 to 4 with multipliers and are locked in position until the feature ends. If all positions on a reel are covered in sticky wilds, +2 free spins are awarded which can happen three times at the most. The benefit here is that the Super Star Wilds are present in this feature.

Buy Free Spins

Clicking the bonus buy button if it is there lets players buy a round of Big Balls Free Spins or Super Star Free Spins for 100x the bet (which one you get is random), or you can guarantee the Super Star Bonus for 150x the bet.

Ballin': Slot Verdict

Sticky wild multipliers are a bit like pizza. Even if you're chowing down on lousy pizza, it's still kind of good. Fortunately, Ballin' is far from being a lousy online slot. Blueprint Gaming has diverted away from what they are perhaps better known for doing, like, say, Fishin' Frenzy, Goonies, Eye of Horus, or Bison, Megaways style of games. Ballin' is closer in spirit to The G.O.A.T., where both have been imbued with a 'hip' edge that might have been more cringey if they weren't populated with animal characters instead of humans. Quite the opposite actually, Ballin's 'Show me that cheddar' thing has been presented in a stylish and ultimately enjoyable way, the humorous attitude accentuated by the lavish quality of the game's visuals.

Ballin's base game has been padded out with wild multipliers and Super Star symbols, which help keep the pace going. However, triggering a bonus round is where the hand brake may be loosened, and the game can have its chance to shine. There's not much to say about sticky wild multipliers that hasn't been said before. They have the ability to go down a treat, as has been seen in classics like NetEnt's Dead or Alive 2 or later hits like Relax Gaming's hip hop slot Top Dawg$. Here, Blueprint Gaming has added an innovative twist in the form of the highly desirable Super Star Wild, which can instantly transform a reel, and potentially a bonus round in one fell swoop. Massive returns aren't necessarily guaranteed as a result, but decent wins are possible, up to circa 10,000x the bet.

Ballin' doesn't always bask in the glow of being a player on a warm summer's day, but there are a lot more positives than negatives. Ballin' displays a side of Blueprint Gaming that rarely sees the light of day while delivering what can be exciting sticky wild multiplier action in a stylish and, yes, ballsy manner.