Outsourced 2

Outsourced 2: Slot Overview

Outsourcing isn't new; people have long paid someone else to do the work, but modern business has certainly figured out how to ship jobs thousands of kilometres away to save a few pennies. Software provider Nolimit City poked a bit of fun at the idea in its 2024 slot Outsourced, and has returned, two years later, to palm jobs off to another set of workers in Outsourced 2. Outsourcing provides two benefits for businesses that aren't mutually exclusive. As well as getting the job done cheaper, they've got someone to lay the blame on when it all goes wrong. In this instance, any blame gets laid on a group of southeastern Europeans - and their 'couzin', in a game that sees Nolimit City roll out the old blueprint before making a series of renovations and extensions.

Outsourced's base game had an indoor factory focus, where a multitude of consumer items were manufactured for humankind's consumption, yet Outsourced 2 has more of an outdoor atmosphere. Well, the base game begins in a sort of cluttered shed, before being lifted into the air when free spins trigger to enjoy some shoddy construction work. That's the joke, you see, a bit of fun to be had at Balkan builders' expense. Perhaps Nolimit had a bit of work done at the office that went awry and is now seeking payback? Maybe not; whatever the case, the studio has set out to have a bit of fun, and Outsourced 2 goes for the humour angle, through a bit of stereotyping and extra eccentricity provided by wacky tunes.

One of the first instantly obvious non-thematic changes is the extra row of symbols increasing the grid from 4x4 to 4x5, also increasing the default number of ways to win to 625. Volatility is 'Extreme' as before, both slots getting a 10 out of 10 rating, and the RTP is basically the same at 96.04%, while the stake range is $/€0.20 to $/€200 per spin.

Regular pay symbols are able to create winning combinations of 3 or 4 OAK. They consist of 10-A royals on the lower side, then cans, gaming controllers, hands, helmets, and a character symbol on the higher side. A 4 OAK royal win pays 0.05x, while a 4 OAK premium symbol win is worth 0.15x-0.5x. Wilds in various forms may appear, including a 1x1 regular wild, and they substitute the regular paying symbols. Wilds have the same payout value as the character symbol.

Outsourced 2: Slot Features

Outsourced 2's toolkit has Print Spins, a trio of special symbols, two free spins bonus rounds, Bonus Boosters, feature buys, and God Mode.

Print Spins

After winning symbols payout, they trigger Print Spins where the winning symbols vanish, making space for new symbols to land. The multiplier on those winning positions increases by 1 for each Print Spin. Multipliers count for regular paying symbols only, and Print Spins end when there are no more wins. If an Infectious xWays lands during Print Spins, its revealed symbol size multiplies with the increased multiplier on its position during payouts. The symbol multiplier on the winning xWays positions returns to the previous value plus 1.

Special Symbols

Special symbols include Infectious xWays, xNudge Balkan Wilds, and Elevator symbols.

• Infectious xWays - Reveal a regular pay symbol of size 2-4 or a value-less blocker. Infectious xWays also infect all occurrences of the revealed pay symbol into size 2-4. If more than one Infectious xWays symbol lands, they all reveal the same symbol. Multiple infections on the same symbol increase its size multiplicatively.
• xNudge Balkan Wild - Can land in any position and nudge 0 to 999 steps. Each step the xNudge Balkan Wild nudges, the wild multiplier increases by 1. When there are more than one xNudge Balkan Wild, their multipliers add to each other to make a total win multiplier. However, xNudge Balkan Wilds can malfunction, and when they do, they stay as a 1x1 wild.
• Elevator - Reveals an instant bonus mode or a blocker symbol in the base game. During bonus rounds, Elevator symbols award 1, 2, or 7 extra spins, or a blocker symbol.

Free Spins

Hitting 3 scatters triggers 4 Tilt Spins where any symbol multipliers from the base game are kept during spins. Players win Tiltier Spins when 4 scatters land, which are the same as Tilt Spins except 7 of them are awarded.

xTra Spin

Players may have the chance to buy an extra spin when a round ends, which keeps the multipliers of the symbols of the previous spin. The cost is calculated by the state of the grid and will only be offered if it is less than or equal to the win on the previous spin.

Nolimit Boosters, Nolimit Bonus Buys & God Mode

For 1.35x or 13.5x the bet, players can activate the Bonus Booster or Balkan Bonus Booster, making it 3x or 20x more likely to trigger free spins, respectively. Print Spins x3 cost 15x for a spin that started with x3 multipliers on all positions, Printier Spins x6 where the starting multiplier is x6 costs 200x the stake, or Printiest Spins x8 at 750x buys a spin with x8 starting multipliers.

Tilt Spins (4) cost 80x, Tiltier Spins (7) cost 390x, or a 50/50 lucky draw may be bought for 235x. For 999x the bet, players can buy 7 Filthiest Spins, which work like Tiltier Spins but begin with x2 multipliers on all positions. Lastly, God Mode, costing 1,111x, will award the max win if B, O, O, and M symbols land on the reels. These four symbols can also land naturally in the base and bonus games and award the max win when all four of them appear.

Outsourced 2: Slot Verdict

Nolimit City's Outsourced series of slots has been a peculiar one. First came the original; fair enough, it poked a bit of fun at globalisation and the interlinked economic web we've woven between states. Then there was the standalone Outsourced Slash Game, which faded out of existence, followed shortly after by Outsourced Payday, a condensed production line version designed by Nolimit City Labs. Instead of ploughing down the crazy experimental road, Outsourced 2 follows on from the first release, delivering much of the original gameplay. Some of the changes might not be super obvious until you dig deeper into the details, but there are a fair number of alterations to keep in mind if you're planning on having a go.

Updates include an expanded grid, which gives the game more space to land wins and for its modifiers to interact. While the central gameplay is close, Outsourced 2 adds extra layers through Infectious xWays rather than regular xWays, plus xNudge Balkan Wilds and Elevator symbols. xNudge Balkan Wilds are interesting in that they can produce huge multipliers or just break down and not do very much at all. Print Spins mostly function the same, but are able to also tap into those multipliers and bring the whole thing together quite well. Bonus rounds come with more spins, winning potential is significantly greater at 11,111x the bet, and the game is just bigger all around. Bigger disappointments if it all goes pear-shaped? Possibly, but bigger highs, too, should it all go to the wonkily laid out plan.

From a presentation standpoint, Outsourced 2 is coated in the eccentric humour and exaggerated style associated with Nolimit City, even if the stereotypes may strike some as needlessly offensive. On the whole, Outsourced 2 is a noticeably expanded slot, with appeal for those who enjoyed the original. It's not exactly a vehicle for the studio's brand new ideas, and it may feel like just more of the same, but there is quite a bit more here, and the quirky expansions make it worth a look.