Beriched

Beriched: Slot Overview

Pop on a witch or wizard hat and mix a few reagents with Red Tiger in their magically themed slot Beriched. That's not just a metaphor; Beriched (bewitched, get it?) is all about landing certain symbols on certain reels to turn them wild as part of its Recipe feature. Sounds handy, but it often feels like Red Tiger missed a key ingredient when they were brewing Beriched, so they had to substitute it with any old herbs they had lying around. As a result, Beriched can occasionally let off the odd magic moment, though most of the time it's a strange experience where frustration often outweighs the fun.

Set in a castle-like location, Beriched is played on a 5-reel, 4-row game panel, providing 20 fixed ways to win. Stacks of waxy candles illuminate both the reel set and the room, creating a warm environment, though not exactly dripping in witchiness. The music has been well selected to complement the visuals, which are pleasing without being overly special. Basically, it's a stone room with candles and a cauldron overflowing with green goop. Players will have to rely on the gameplay to provide the magic - if they're lucky.

Wins occur when matching tiles land left to right on adjacent reels starting from the left side of the panel. Potential is pretty modest, which means Red Tiger has opened up the stake range from 10 p/c at the lower end, up to $/€40 per spin for higher rollers. Volatility hovers around a high setting, while the default theoretical return value for players clocks in at 95.78%.

Symbols in Beriched aren't just used to create winning lines. They may also be mixed to make recipes, which we'll get to. A quick look at them first, where we come across 10 regular pays – five are 10-A card rank low pays, five are picture premiums. Amongst the higher value symbols are dolls, potion bottles, frogs, spell books, and green wizard/witch hats. Should a five premium symbol win line hit, players collect a reward worth 2 to 10 times their stake.

Beriched: Slot Features

Free spins and Recipes are the two main features in Beriched. At the start of a spin, a random set of symbols appear below the grid – one symbol beneath each reel. This is referred to as the recipe. Landing a symbol matching the one below it on a respective reel triggers the Symbol Lock mechanic.

These matching symbols are locked for one spin. If any new matches land on the following spin, they are locked as well and retrigger the Symbol Lock mechanic. If no new matching symbols land during a sequence, all locked symbols are unlocked.

If you manage to match one symbol on all five reels, then the recipe is complete. All matching symbols then turn wild for the current spin, and the recipe pattern is removed. After the win evaluation, a new recipe pattern appears on the next spin. This is the only way wild symbols appear in the game, plus a line of them is worth 15 times the stake.

Landing 3 scatter symbols on reels 1, 3, and 5 awards 10 free spins. During free spins, the recipe transfers over and remains throughout the bonus round. Any locked paying symbols from the triggering spin turn into wilds at the end of the first free spin before win lines are paid out. If the recipe is complete on the same spin as the bonus round is triggered, the wilds transfer to free spins, and a new recipe will appear. In the bonus round, any further matching symbols that land immediately turn wild. In addition, wilds stay locked in position for the duration of the bonus round. Scatters do not appear in free spins, so free spins cannot be retriggered.

Beriched: Slot Verdict

After surprising us with the pop-culture spectacle of NFT Megaways, Red Tiger is back on comfortable ground in Beriched. It's like the studio flexed, showed everyone they could be wildly creative, then slipped back into neutral gear to coast for a bit. Beriched has a recognisable Red Tiger look to it - pretty graphics, the clinking gold payline thing, and a novel feature for good measure. In all, Beriched functions okay, yet there's very little to no wow-factor here. Also, the Recipe Feature sparkles when a number of wilds fill the panel, but it has a tendency to really fizzle when it's not working out.

After playing it for a while, Beriched feels like a game that might have been dropped in other circumstances, freeing the team up to move on to other ideas. The Recipe feature comes together in free spins, but in the base game it can be a real pain. The main issue is that unless you manage to complete the recipe, everything seems to get in the way of everything else. When pay symbols are sticking to one reel (or more), they are highly adept at preventing anything else from happening.

For example, a sequence of spins may cause matching symbols to fill up on multiple reels, yet because they are different types, they easily get in the way of linking wins. There is a small chance you complete the recipe, and they turn wild; that's all good. However, most of the time, they just get in each other's way. As mentioned, free spins are where the brew starts to bubble since matching symbols always turn wild rather than block each other. Sticky wilds can lead to back-to-back wins, which is good for a laugh, though the game's potential tops out at 2754 times the stake.

Mix all the bits, and Beriched turned out to be a so-so game. Sticky wilds in free spins are a highlight, but for the rest of the time, the limitations noticeably outweighed the positives. Those into potions class might be enthralled; others may find Beriched leans closer to a parlour trick than David Copperfield flying over the Grand Canyon.