Steamin’ Reels

Steamin' Reels: Slot Overview

Toot toot, all aboard, Pragmatic Play partner Reel Kingdom is playing station master in its railway-themed online slot, Steamin' Reels. When you think about it, steam is pretty useful stuff. Not only did it power the Industrial Revolution, but it also remains an integral part of modern life in areas such as electricity generation (including nuclear), hygiene, and manufacturing. Now we get to see how it goes about powering an online slot that grants prizes from carriages when trigger symbols, such as a Station Master, alight.

Reel Kingdom isn't exactly well known for producing modern artistic masterpieces, and Steamin' Reels is another one that has the studio's trademark old-fashioned presentation about it. The game looks like it could have been released years ago; if it were a video game, we could even be talking 90s/early 2000s. Given the popularity of some of the studio's slots, this dated, quaintness must be all part of the charm for some gamblers. The location of Steamin' Reels is dust and rock country of the wild frontier, a part of the planet that really opened up with the invention of the steam engine, which cut the trip west down from months in a wagon to mere days. In Steamin' Reels, a middle-of-nowhere Wild West-type town finds itself connected to the rail network.

A traditional 5x3, 10 payline matrix is Steamin' Reels' play area. A low of just $/€0.02 per spin can be staked, up to a maximum of $/€250, covering an enormous range of gambler preferences. The math model will suit those who like their games highly volatile, and the RTP at the top configuration comes in at 96.53%.

Wild West looking 10-A royals are Steamin' Reels' low pays awarding 5x to 25x the bet for a 5 OAK hit. Then come cacti, boots, badges, and caps as the higher value symbols paying 50x to 250x the stake for 5-of-a-kind. The wild replaces all symbols except scatters, Station Masters, and Crossing symbols.

Steamin' Reels: Slot Features

Features are largely absent from the base game, so hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatters anywhere on the grid is needed to award 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. At random, when there are no scatters in view, a signalman may appear to change 3 or more symbols into scatters in order to trigger free spins. Also, randomly, when 2 scatters are present, a third one may appear after the initial spin result.

When free spins start, a train is shown holding 3 carriages, each carriage containing various prizes. Possible prizes are a Golden Ticket or a money value of 5x to 500x the bet. When 3 Golden Tickets are collected, players get +10 extra spins, and the total multiplier increases to x2 for the second level, x5 for the third level, and x10 for the fourth level. After the fourth level, the feature cannot be retriggered anymore. After prizes have been collected, the train advances and 3 new prizes are displayed.

Two special symbols may land during free spins - the Station Master and the Crossing symbol. The Station Master has a multiplier of x2, x3, or x5, which applies to the current and next set of carriage money values. When a Station Master hits, the prizes shown in the carriages are awarded. When a Crossing symbol hits, the prizes in the carriages are also awarded. Randomly, the Crossing symbol can change into a Station Master.

Ante Bet & Feature Buy

Two ante bets are available to augment play. Ante bet 1 doubles the stake in order to double the chance of getting free spins, while ante bet 2 costs 500x, which guarantees at least 4 scatters land. Otherwise, players can pay 100x to land 3-5 scatters to trigger free spins.

Steamin' Reels: Slot Verdict

Steamin' Reels is in many ways a classic Reel Kingdom production. Its graphics are dated if functional, though they do spring to life when free spins are active, and the studio has taken the opportunity to flex its parallax scrolling chops as the train rolls across the screen. Steamin' Reels probably won't win any beauty contests, but a good number of gamblers must enjoy this yesteryear approach because Reel Kingdom keeps on using it. The base game is about as minimalist as it gets, as well, since that phase of play offers little more than quite high 5 OAK line wins, but no additional mechanics to grip the attention, aside from random scatter effects.

Triggering free spins finally gets the train chugging out of the station, tempting passengers with its three carriages of prizes. Not guaranteed prizes, since Station Master or Crossing symbols must land to award their values. The Station Master, preferably, since he also brings a multiplier with him to increase payouts. Golden Tickets, too, are able to boost wins when levelling up occurs, though collecting them might be tough. The levelling up effect when enough Golden Tickets are collected gives Steamin' Reels a faint touch of Big Bass Bonanza, with the way each new level increases the multiplier. It sometimes feels like Reel Kingdom is so hitched to past glories that it struggles to throw them off in order to operate entirely free from its major fish-collecting cash cow.

Steamin' Reels isn't without a certain amount of charm, as well as a 5,000x max win, but it's a charm that may not appeal to gamblers who are not fans of the studio's old school, reactionary approach to slot design. The game is almost entirely bonus-centric, and rolling through the bonus round a few times might be enough to want to leap off this ride at the next stop.