Pragmatic Play and partners Wild Streak Gaming head outdoors for Firebird Spirit, an online slot that debuts a new Connect & Collect mechanism. It might sound like a fancy word the marketing team has dreamt up to disguise a hold 'n win type event, but it's actually quite a bit different. We'll take a look at it and everything else Firebird Spirit has to offer in this review if you'd like to hack through a bit of bush with us.
First off, we're guessing Firebird Spirit is an Aztec or a Mayan-themed slot, and since Wild Streak Gaming already has Mayan Ruby under its belt, let's go with Aztec this time around. It looks the part, with its 6-reel active panel covered in creepers and surrounded by carved stonework and what appears to be a step pyramid in the background. Next to the grid is a female character, perhaps a priestess or a queen, or a warrior holding a glowing orb, and that's about it for the visuals. They're not hugely atmospheric, but they get the job done okay.
>While the game comes with 6 reels, the first five are where regular symbols hit, and the sixth is reserved only for special symbols. In terms of regular ways wins, reels 1, 2, 4, and 5 hold five symbols each, whereas three pay symbols can land on reel 3. This system provides players with 1,875 ways to win, occurring when three to five matching pay symbols land on consecutive reels from the first reel onwards. Highly volatile (rated 5 out of 5), Firebird Spirit has been designed with three RTP models – 94%, 95%, and 95%, which at the highest level at least stays the same when buying free spins.
Taking bets from 25 p/c to $/€125 per spin, a total of ten regular pay symbols appear on the board, split between 6 lower pays and 4 premiums. The lower-paying bunch are made up of 9-A card ranks, worth 0.2 to 0.32 times the stake for a five-of-a-kind win, while the premiums are three jewelled animals and the female character. Hitting a five-of-a-kind premium win awards 0.4-2 times the stake. The Firebird of the tale appears on the wild symbol, present on the first five reels in both the base or bonus game. Wilds substitute for all symbols except the Connect & Collect tile.
>Connect & Collect symbols land on reels 1-5 in any of the non-special positions. Special positions are the top and bottom cells on the third reel. When Connect & Collect symbols land from the first reel onwards, are adjacent to each vertically or adjacently, and touch a symbol on the sixth reel or the special positions, whatever they touch is awarded. Symbols appearing on the sixth reel or the special positions can be:
Free spins use the Connect & Collect feature as well, and the rules are mainly the same as they are in the base game. One exception is that reels 1 and 2 synchronise their symbols, and reels 4 and 5 synch their symbols as well when they stop. It is possible to win additional free spins from the free spins symbol when Connect & Collect connect to them. As well as triggering free spins naturally, eligible players are able to buy them for the price of 100x the total bet.
Pragmatic Play's associates Wild Streak Gaming do like their hold 'n win style of play, as seen in a bunch of past releases, like Cosmic Cash, Gold Party, or Amazing Money Machine. As such, it was refreshing to see the studio branch off and do something different in Firebrand Spirit. It did feel a little fiddly at first due to things like the special positions on reel 3 splitting up the ways to win. Doing it like this allows for some of the special symbols to be triggered from the middle of the grid, rather than having to chain Connect & Collect symbols all the way through to reel six, though.
For the most part, the Connect & Collect feature worked alright. As mentioned, it was nice to see Wild Streak Gaming branch out and be daring. There are times when Connect & Collect symbols snaked their way along the board to hit something interesting. Cash prizes can technically be quite sizable, maxing out with the Grand prize, though hitting one of the bigger ones might be a challenge. At best, Firebrand Spirit is capped at 4,250x the bet, preventing all that connecting from getting too out of control. Wedging in a bunch of non-cash special symbols is a positive move too. They weren't exactly super frequent either, but hey, they're in there, mixing things up.
In the end, Firebird Spirit was a pleasant game to play, offering a rather unusual combination of features. In saying that, the gameplay might have made more of a splash if it was wedded to a more unusual theme, perhaps. Still, it's hard to be too critical since some original thought obviously went into making Firebird Spirit. Despite the overall okay-ness, Firebird Spirit wasn't a game that induced a major urge to play again, but there's stuff here which might light the right player's fire.
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