Munchies

Munchies: Slot Overview

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary's definition of the word 'munchies' was, 'a feeling of hunger', but that didn't quite cut it. Others may beg to differ, and that's fine, but when you've got the munchies, dunno, it's not like a regular feeling of hunger, but a hollowed-out desire to consume junk food in great quantities - chips, burgers, red rope liquorice, choc, sweeties, feel free to add your own here, often after or during a big night out. Munchies is also the name of an experimental slot developed by Nolimit City's game-making wonks, which allows gamblers to have a punt in ways they're unlikely to have seen quite like this before.

To help stoke the mood, Munchies comes with a back story about a carnival creature called Fluffers, which might appear charming and cuddly but is actually a 'blood crazed killing machine.' Fluffers looks a bit like Stitch from Disney's Lilo & Stitch franchise, but with sharper claws, all the better to shred the unwary with. Rammed in his mouth is the max win amount, which changes depending on how many reels are active. Fluffers' torn open torso reveals the active gaming area, with a selector just below it.

How the game functions on its most basic level is thus. Munchies' reel area lands one symbol per spin, which can either be a multiplier or a blank. A blank means no win for you. When a multiplier hits, it is applied to the base bet. Multiplier values are 1x to 10,000x. Moreover, special symbols may land, triggering various effects, as covered in the next section. Base bets range from 20 c to $/€100 on what is a highly volatile gambling machine, producing an RTP of 96% (though lower models are available).

Munchies: Slot Features

Munchies isn't as simplistic as first suspected. Well, the main rules around hitting multipliers or blanks are straightforward, but play is made more sophisticated by the inclusion of It's Alive! bonus rounds, Devour Spins, Linked Wins, Nolimit Boosters, and bonus buys.

It's Alive! & Devour Spins and Linked Wins

Hitting a Freespin bonus symbol in the main game awards 10 free It's Alive! spins. Basically, you get 10 free base game spins. However, landing a Super Freespin bonus symbol during It's Alive! triggers Devour Spins and awards +5 free spins per bonus symbol. The highest multiplier that lands in this feature gets locked above the reel area in a space corresponding to the reel it hit on. This value is awarded on each spin on the reel it is linked to unless a higher multiplier lands, in which case this new value gets locked above the reels.

Nolimit Boosters & Nolimit Bonus

At the Nolimit Boosters area, it is possible to activate 2 reels for 2x the bet or 4 reels for 16x the bet. It is also possible to buy It's Alive! on 1 reel for 55x, on 2 reels for 210x, or on 4 reels for 550x the bet. Devour Spins may be bought for 260x on 1 reel, or 1,000x on 2 reels, or 2,400x on 4 reels.

God Mode

Feeling especially daring? For 2,500x the bet, players can chase the Maxwin by landing the 10,000x symbol. Or not.

Munchies: Slot Verdict

Munchies has emerged from Nolimit City's lab like a xenomorph that human scientists, in their hubris, thought they could control, but which has acided out of its enclosure and is intent on devouring every morsel of biological matter it can get its claws on. Not out of a desire for heated revenge per se but due to a biological need to feed. Fluffers needs to feed, too, and players have numerous ways of jamming coins into him, her, it, whatever. From no-frills single reel spinning, through multi reels, to It's Alive! free spins, Devour Spins, and, gulp, God Mode. For those who like options, Munchies has got 'em, and it delivers its action in a very original way.

Whilst a new addition to Nolimit's experimental range of gambling machines, there's obviously a risk that games like Munchies might be too original for certain gamblers, maybe too bumpy a ride for others. It certainly isn't your typical hit-a-payline of matching symbols slot. Rather, you hit nothing most of the time, or you hit a bet multiplier. The number of dead spins might actually be a tad too demoralising for some tastes. It is possible to potentially alter the way the action unfolds, however, through the numerous buy options or by activating more reels. Interestingly, the more reels in play, the higher the max win is, as the 1 reel max is 10,000x, the 2 reel max is 20,000x, and the 4 reel max is 40,000x. But, keep in mind, the max win is calculated on the base bet, so it could be said a 40,000x hit is actually 2,500x when betting 16 times the base bet. Also, keeping in mind, the 40,000x top prize has a frequency of 1 in 131,026 rounds, which is an encouraging stat. Such is the level of surgical calculating that goes into the making and playing of a slot like Munchies, which has so many variables.

Putting the words 'blood crazed killing machine' in the same sentence as 'a Nolimit City slot' might be enough to have rational gamblers running for the hills. But, let's generalise here by saying that at least part of Nolimit City's fanbase is made up of players who are ready to throw being rational out the window for a moment to bet (responsibly) using the wildest new machines on the market. Love it or leave it, it's hard to deny Munchie's screaming originality, and the myriad ways it can be configured for taking a punt.