The Robbin’ Gobblins

The Robbin' Goblins: Slot Overview

Exco is an up-and-coming casino game maker that's set out to raise a few eyebrows. This it managed to do in the trippy debut Vegascaline, and the team keeps the ball rolling with The Robbin' Goblins. This is a slot based around a 'neon-stained goblin heist' in an alternative version of the United States of America. The developer's mission is to polish each slot 'til it's ready to melt faces' and cause players to say, 'What the hell did I just play?', and whilst it's too early in the review to draw conclusions, The Robbin' Goblins gets off to a surreal start right off the bat.

The goblins in this game are doing their heisting in a city that bears resemblances to New York, which makes sense. If a goblin's going to rob, they might as well choose the world's wealthiest country as their target. However, this isn't the US of A we know, as evidenced by the well-fed Statue of Liberty, seated on a mobility device, selfie stick in hand. However, the goblins don't seem content just grabbing things that don't belong to them, because in the free spins round, mushroom clouds would suggest they also want to nuke the place up. Controversial.

Creating winning combinations from left to right, The Robbin' Goblins is played on a 5x5 reelset. The math model volatility has a 5-out-of-5 rating, and the RTP is 96% when betting $/€0.10 to $/€50 per spin. The value increases to 96.2% when using the Golden Bet, which lowers the bonus frequency from 1 in 261.25 to 1 in 85. When activated, the Golden Bet increases the stake by 50%.

The low pays on the paytable look kind of like dollar bills, ish, imprinted with J to A on them. They pay 0.5x the bet for a 5 OAK winning line. Next, we've got food items, monitors, barrels of radioactive sludge, and guns for sale. Premium symbols award 1x to 5x the stake when 5 matching symbols create a win. The green skins must have heisted the wilds because they do not land on the reels.

The Robbin' Goblins: Slot Features

As well as helpful Goblins, keep on the lookout for respins, The Power Bar's reel multipliers, free spins, and Hacks.

Respins & Extra Lives

Each win triggers a respin. The winning symbols lock, Extra Lives appear, and other positions respin. If a new symbol or a Goblin appears, the respin continues without consuming a life. Otherwise, a life is consumed. Respins end when all Extra Lives are consumed and no new symbols or Goblins land. Extra Lives can take the form of Goblin Lives, which also award a multiplier to the Power Bar.

The Power Bar

The Power Bar is displayed above the grid, holding multipliers that can reach x99 per reel in free spins mode 1, 2, and 3, or up to x999 in free spins mode 4. It can be increased by Goblins and Goblin Lives. Goblin and Goblin Life 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 add x1, x2, x3, x10, or x20 to the Power Bar, respectively, and keep respins going. A Goblin Life is consumed if no new winning symbol or Goblin lands.

Free Spins

Hitting 3 scatters awards 7 free spins. One of the free spins modes is randomly triggered. The Power Bar multipliers do not reset during the round.

• Free Spins Mode 1 - More Goblins on the reels.
• Free Spins Mode 2 - All Extra Lives are Goblin Lives.
• Free Spins Mode 3 - Always 3 Lives, all Goblin Lives.
• Free Spins Mode 4 - Additionally, more high-value Goblins and the Power Bar cap is increased from x99 to x999.

Hacks

Hacks are The Robbin' Goblins' name for feature buys. In this section, players can buy Free Spins Mode 1, 2, 3, or 4 for 80x, 120x, 250x, or 777x the stake, respectively.

The Robbin' Goblins: Slot Verdict

With The Robbin' Goblins, Exco continues to carve out space as one of the enfants terribles of the online slot world. If Vegascaline was the trip, then The Robbin' Goblins is the chaotic comedown that seeks to bring everyone else down to its level of catatonic despair via weapons of mass destruction. Showing bombs detonating in a version of New York City might be controversial, but if you've committed yourself to forging a 'face-melting' identity, then a few feathers are bound to be ruffled in the process. It certainly helps a game stand out in the crowded slot market.

The sticky respins concept is less of a talking point, perhaps, having been used in games from NetEnt's Jack Hammer to Nolimit City's Serial, and beyond. In The Robbin' Goblins, however, the mechanic gets a nudge of individuality from its reel-multiplying Power Bar. It's also not a straightforward process of landing more winning symbols to keep the respins coming, either. Instead, players get lives, making Goblin Lives extra valuable. As is usually the case, free spins juice the main features further by making multipliers persistent. Having four modes which randomly activate when free spins trigger throws an extra dose of randomness into the works, too; naturally, mode 4 is what you want with the tantalising proposal of its x999 multiplier cap - that might help crack the game's 10,000x max win.

In the end, The Robbin' Goblins does inspire some 'what the hell did I just play' thinking, as it continues on from Vegascaline, reinforcing Exco's willingness to experiment with theme and mechanical workings. The Robbin' Goblins may divide opinions, but it's a game that isn't afraid to go nuclear in order to fuel its maker's pursuit of becoming an industry disruptor.