Guitar Quest

Guitar Quest: Slot Overview

Software provider Relax Gaming has flipped its tennis racket around for some air guitar action and designed a rock music-themed slot that leans heavily on the concept popularised back in 2005 by Guitar Hero, where players follow notes and riffs in time with the music to build momentum and rack up points. Guitar Quest translates that idea into slot form, with features and pacing that mimic hitting the right notes and gradually building a performance. Along the way, there is plenty of fist-pumping to go with a quartet of Equalizer features and two selectable bonus rounds, one of which can be a real white-knuckle ride.

Players are not thrown into a blinding light show or deafening arena crowd. Instead, the backdrop leans into that early grind. A guitar hangs on the wall, a hand stays raised mid-riff, and the music pushes forward with more ambition than polish. It's the stage where anything still feels possible, where musicians move from idolising their favourite rock gods to trying to become one themselves - or at least giving it a shot. Not to crush the mood, but plenty start down this road, and plenty don't make it.

Guitar Quest uses 1,024 ways to evaluate winning combinations across its 5x4 gaming area. Players can choose from two bonus rounds when they trigger, one of which is highly volatile, while the other is rated as medium. With an RTP of 96.1%, stakes range from $/€0.10 to $/€100, while further betting options are available at the SuperCharge menu and Enhanced Spins section.

Eavy metal J-A royals lead the paytable off, followed by graffiti-covered plums, watermelons, cherries, and bells, before being topped by a fiery number seven. Hitting a 5 OAK winning combination awards 1x for the royals or 2.5x-5x for the premium symbols. Wilds help create winning combinations by substituting for all regular paying symbols.

Guitar Quest: Slot Features

Guitar Quest creates music with a set of Equalizer Features, two bonus rounds, as well as various ante bet and buy options.

Equalizer Base Game Modifier

At the start of any base game spin, there is a chance 1-4 Equalizer modifiers trigger:

• Wild Jam: 1-8 wilds are added to reels 2-5 before any other symbols.
• Twin Riff Split: 6-10 random positions are highlighted before symbols land. Symbols in highlighted positions are doubled, so they count as two symbols in each position. Wilds from the Wild Jam can be split.
• Fired Up Multiplier: At the end of the spin, a multiplier of x2-x10 multiplies the win.
• Symbol Upgrade: The four lowest paying symbols do not land.

Bonus Pick

Landing 3 or more scatter symbols triggers the bonus pick. When 3 scatters hit, players may choose the Solo Mode bonus or the Backstage bonus. When 4 scatters hit, the choice is Backstage Super Bonus or Solo Mode Super Bonus, while for 5 scatters it is Backstage Ultra Bonus or Solo Mode Ultra Bonus.

Backstage

When chosen, players receive 8 free spins with persistent Wild Jam, 10 free spins with persistent Wild Jam, or 10 free spins with persistent Wild Jam and Twin Riff, when triggered by 3, 4, or 5 scatters. The persistent Equalizer modifier trigger on every new spin. Every power-up unlocked from the Equalizer stays active for the remainder of the bonus. Collecting 5 scatter symbols completes an upgrade, unlocking a new persistent Equalizer modifier and awarding +5 free spins. If all modifiers are unlocked, then +5 free spins are still awarded for completing a collection. Hitting 3 scatters on the same spin awards +3 spins. The order of modifier unlocking is Twin Riff, Fired Up Multiplier, and Symbol Upgrade.

Solo Mode

The Solo Mode round starts on level 1, 2, or 3 when triggered by 3, 4, or 5 scatters, respectively. Prizes drop from top to bottom in five reels and are awarded when they hit the one-reel-wide Collector Bar, which moves from reel to reel. Collectable coins come in four sizes and vary in value from 1x to 1,000x. Collecting a Guitar God Booster provides a temporary power-up that makes high-value coins appear more frequently. Collecting the Expander increases the size of the Collector Bar to cover all reels. After activation, it reverts to its normal size.

As the round progresses, it levels up to a maximum of level 10. At higher levels, the speed at which prizes drop increases. Power in the energy meter ticks downwards, and when it runs out, the round ends. However, collecting batteries which come in three different sizes on the reels increases the energy meter, extending the bonus round.

SuperCharge Buys and Enhanced Spins

From the buy menu, players can access 3 Equalizer Spin options. These are at least 1, 2 or all Equalizer modifiers for 10x, 50x, or 600x the bet, respectively. Bonus Reels can be activated for 10x per spin, which only lands scatters to increase the chance of triggering a bonus game. It is also possible to buy the bonus round for 100x or the Ultra Bonus for 400x the stake. When making use of the Enhanced Spins, the stake is increased by 50% to double the chance of triggering the bonus round.

Guitar Quest: Slot Verdict

How many bands have gotten stuck and fizzled out at the preliminary stage of their musical journey? A lot, no doubt, as even the leap from basement noodling to afternoon slot at a crappy club in front of a crowd of three disinterested people is a big one. But Guitar Quest hasn't gotten to the give-up stage just yet. It's got the gear and the attitude; now it's doing its darndest to funnel that energy into crafting decent songs and finding an audience. Will it? Well, there is interesting stuff here to discover for sure, even if rock or metal aren't your main musical preferences.

The headline act by a long shot was Solo Mode. That round literally evoked a laugh-out-loud response, helped by the way it pumped out a massive win the first time it was activated. For clarity, that result came from an Ultra Bonus buy, and other triggers could be far less exhilarating. Solo Mode is like Guitar Hero meets Joker Troupe's Hypermode or 12 Burning Baseballs' Blazing Train Bonus. Solo Mode can be a fickle ride. One moment laughing out loud, exhilaration when it's progressively getting faster and faster, the collector hitting big numbers and gobbling up extra time. Next, the opposite can occur, as it plods along at a crawl, dodging prizes and putting feebly out. Fair enough, Solo Mode is the higher volatile option, so anything can happen. Backstage has a decent progressive system in place as well, and even if it is the more trad option, it's a positive bonus alternative nevertheless.

Like a lot of albums, there are high and low points, but for the most part, Guitar God strikes a solid chord. Solo Mode is a must-see for gamblers who fried their dopamine receptors on what Push Gaming or Print Studios have done in this area before, while the rest of the game is able to keep a momentum going as it coasts through the hits and filler sections.