Rabid Randy

Rabid Randy: Slot Overview

Hunting is one of those things people are sort of into, or they're really not. Stalking wildlife, blasting a critter between the eyes, eating its meat, or hanging a head on the wall - you do, or you don't. One chap who does enjoy the thrill of the hunt is a character going by the name of Rabid Randy. He plays the lead in an online slot of the same name designed by software provider NetEnt. Rabid Randy has been built off the bones left behind by Rome The Golden Age, meaning players get a repeat of the Frames/Active Frames action while attempting to build a multiplier of up to x1,000 they can take into the free spins round with them.

Perhaps to disguise the Roman background or just to trek off into new territory, NetEnt has chosen a Peter & Sons graphical style to paint Rabid Randy's picture. Maybe they even employed the services of the Armenian artisans, so similar is the style. A grim, dreary part of the woods is where Randy has chosen to get the carnage on, possessing an almost haunted atmosphere where animal symbols look particularly vicious. The trees are gnarled and bare, making this not the nicest place to chill. But who's here to chill? Rabid Randy is all about bagging beasts and attempting to bag some winnings.

Rabid Randy has progressive features which are connected to bet levels, so be sure to take a moment before picking a stake of 10 c to $/€25 per spin. These features are the free spins multiplier, collected symbols, Frame positions, Hot Paw symbols, and Active Frames. One of Rabid Randy's eye-draggers is its diamond-shaped 3-4-5-4-3 gaming grid. It looks ripe for a ways to win pay symbols, but no, it makes do with 20 paylines instead. Out the back of the woods is a highly volatile math model, generating a highest available RTP of 96.06%.

Bones have been knocked together for the low pay 10-A card rank symbols, while the premium pay symbols are 5 equally rabid, if not more so, animals. A line of 5 matching royals pays 0.4 to 0.9 times the bet, going up to 1.2-5 times the bet for the animals. Wild symbols substitute for anything except the Rabid Randy symbol. A line of 5 wilds is worth 5x the bet.

Rabid Randy: Slot Features

Players get their rabid on through a combination of Paw, Hot Paw, wild symbols, and Frames, a collect meter and free spins multiplier, as well as a hold 'n win free spins bonus round.

Paw, Hot Paw, Wild Symbols, and Frames

Paws, Hot Paws, wilds, Frames and Active Frames may appear in the main game. When a Paw symbol lands, it highlights its position with a trap-shaped frame. Paw symbols can randomly transform into Hot Paws, and when this happens, its Frame turns into an Active Frame. At the end of the next spin, all Frames adjacent to Active Frames (as well as the adjacent positions with Frames) convert into wild symbols. Frames and Active Frames remain on the reels until they transform into wilds or free spins start. Wild symbols vanish at the start of the next spin.

Free Spins Multiplier and Collect Meter

In the base game, each time a Paw symbol lands on a position without a Frame or Active Frame, it gets collected and is removed from the reels. This adds +1 point to the collect meter. If the Paw symbol lands on a position with a Frame or Active Frame, it gets collected and is removed from the reels, adding +1 to +4 points to the collect meter.

Each time the collect meter reaches 200 points, the free spins multiplier is upgraded from x1 up to x1,000 at various levels. After each upgrade, the collect meter returns to 0 points. If the meter collects over 200 points, any extra counts towards the next collection. The free spins multiplier can only be upgraded in the base game.

Free Spins

Hitting 3 Rabid Randy symbols on reels 2, 3, and 4 in the main game triggers the free spins feature. The round starts with 3 free spins. Before the feature begins, all positions with Frames and Active Frames that did not turn wild on the triggering base game spin convert to Trophy symbols having random values of 0.5 to 50 times the bet. Only Trophy symbols revealing a value of 0.5x to 50x or blanks land in the bonus round. Hitting a new Trophy symbol resets the spin count to 3, and sticks to the reels till free spins end.

The feature ends when all positions are full of Trophy symbols or the spin count goes to 0. The value of all Trophy symbols is summed and multiplied by the free spins multiplier before being awarded. If all positions are filled, an extra x2 multiplier applies. The collect meter resets to 0 and the multiplier to x1 when free spins end.

Rabid Randy: Slot Verdict

As per usual with a do-again slot, what your thoughts were on the original game will be a significant indicator as to your thoughts on the current offering. Rome The Golden Age was a slot that was quite well received during its review, and the main pros and cons carry over to Rabid Randy, too. One talking point is the artwork, which, whoever was responsible for waving the digital brushes has made a very different game world than Ancient Rome for players to tool around in for a bit. The other big change between this and Rome The Golden Age is a severe reduction in winning potential from the original's headline-grabbing 100,000x (well, in theory at least since we're yet to see a max win) to Rabid Randy's tempting yet more down-to-earth amount of 19,000x.

Mechanically, not much else separates the two games. The chase for the x1,000 multiplier remains on; Frames, Active Frames, and infectious wild transformations keep the base game alive while the Paw collecting takes place. Last but not least, crossing your fingers and hoping that free spins won't trigger while the lower, less desirable free spins multiplier is active remains the order of the day.

Rabid Randy provides an entertaining hunt, both figuratively as players can pretend they're joining Randy on one of his escapades and more literally as they chase down what can technically build into exciting multiplier values. Bag a big multi before heading into the free spins round, and Rabid Randy might become quite the thrilling hunt.