Goblin Heist Powernudge is a fantasy-based slot from developer Pragmatic Play and the second game to use their Powernudge feature. The first was Rise of Giza, an Egyptian odyssey which was a relatively safe way of showcasing the new feature. Goblin Heist pushes the boat out into deeper waters by utilising a more imaginative theme while pairing the Powernudge mechanic with a new and potentially intriguing nudging style Money Respin feature.
The intrigue begins the minute Goblin Heist Powernudge appears. Pragmatic Play has turned out an attractive, fairy tale looking slot, and its music adds a thick layer of mystery to the proceedings. Even more so in the bonus game when the soundtrack takes on a funky ska/metal mode. There is little in the way of a back story, but a devious looking goblin stands in the bottom left-hand corner clutching a bag of loot, so let's assume he's just burgled the picture book castle in the background and carry on with the adventure.
Hopefully, the goblin has left some treasure over for players to nab, which they can potentially do on a 5x3, 10-payline grid. Winning combinations require at least three matching symbols on a payline, though what's different is that wins can start from any reel. So, a three-symbol hit can land on reels 3, 4, and 5, for example. Also, when a win lands, the Powernudge mechanic activates. After the payout has taken place, all reels that contain at least one winning symbol nudge down one position, while the non-winning reels respin. Nudges continue like this until there are no more winning combinations on the screen.
To get the heist rolling, players pick a base stake of 20 p/c to $/€100 and decide whether to activate the Ante Bet option or not. Doing so increases the stake by 25% and adds more Mystery Money symbols to the reels, thus increasing the chance of triggering the bonus game. Playing in normal mode comes with a maximum RTP of 96.47%, dropping slightly to 96.44% when the Ante Bet is switched on.
The fantasy theme continues on the paytable, where we find seven regular pay symbols. From lowest value to highest, there are skull keys, scrolls, horns, goblin head-shaped bombs, chests, elven warriors, and goblins. When landing a complete five symbol winning combination, payouts range from 1 to 20 times the stake. Possibly to counteract the Powernudge respin mechanic, or maybe because it messed up the maths, but Goblin Heist does not feature wilds at any time.
The only other symbol to keep a lookout for in Goblin Heist Powernudge is the golden lion Mystery Money symbol, which appears on all five reels. When 6 or more Mystery Money symbols are in view, they trigger the Money Respin feature. When triggered, regular symbols vanish from the reels leaving just Money Symbols or blank spaces behind. Above the main reels, a line of multiplier values starting at x1 appears - one above each of the reels. During the feature, when the reels stop spinning, if Mystery Money Symbols land, they reveal:
After Money Symbols reveal cash values, they are multiplied by the multiplier above them before being awarded. They then transform back to their lion state and drop down one position while all other reels respin. The bonus round continues in this way until all existing Money Symbols fall off the bottom of the reels and no new ones land.
As well as waiting for six Money Symbols to land organically, if the option is available, players can buy the Respin feature for 100 times the stake. RTP when buying fee spins is 96.47%.
Despite the overhauled theme and completely new bonus round, Goblin Heist felt very similar to Rise of Giza, sharing many of the same pros and cons. On the positive side, Powernudge might not be a paradigm shift, but it's quite original and gives players looking for a cascades alternative something to consider. Try not to expect major windfalls from Powernudge, though, as the limited number of paylines, lack of wilds, and symbol values help keep it in check a lot of the time.
The same set of pros and cons go for the Money Respin feature as well really. It has a fairly novel way of going about the business of serving up, then reusing Money symbols, plus the addition of multipliers is pretty much always a good thing. Some players may be enticed by the simplicity of the whole thing, just as much as other players are bored by the lack of sophistication. We wouldn't exactly call Goblin Heist's main feature a massive roiling machine frothing with latent energy. At full power, Goblin Heist Powernudge can produce wins of up to 4,000x the bet; well, this is the win cap at least, and the feature will shut down if it reaches this point. While not the most exciting amount and quickly eclipsed by other bigger respin games, 4K feels like a decent-sized reward for those whom Goblin Heist is presumably aimed at.
Let's wrap up by saying the high production values make the game easier to enjoy than it might have been, and Goblin Heist is a decent Rise of Giza follow-on, keeping some things while branching off into new territory. Powernudge wasn't particularly astonishing the first time around, but those who enjoyed Rise of Giza's charms should have no trouble enjoying Goblin Heist's.
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