When a casino game maker pulls an Ancient Egyptian-themed slot out of the bag, does it sometimes set alarm bells ringing? Are they actually going to do something interesting with this, or did they pick one of the most common topics in slots as a fallback option? Let's see if we can come up with an answer while reviewing Nile Fortune from the fertile mind of developer Pragmatic Play. What players have to look forward to in this game is a neatly rendered Ancient Egyptian world where Mystery Modifier symbols land on the reels, either expanding the grid, adding wilds, bestowing multipliers, or combinations of all three.
Pragmatic Play does know how to draw an attractive scene from antiquity, of which Nile Fortune can count itself one. The studio does have extensive experience recreating this scene, though. Past endeavours include John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respin, Book of Golden Sands, and Queen of Gods (as well as others), which have a similar quality about them. That is, a detailed background layout, a similarly presented title on top, and a flourishing cornered gaming grid covered in shiny symbols. You could probably say the same for a lot of Egyptian-themed slots, though, no matter the provider. Short story, Nile Fortune looks the biz - sounds it too.
Nile Fortune's gaming grid may be encountered in two states. Most of the time, it will be in a 5-reel, 3-row configuration with 20 paylines, but on the occasions it expands, it grows to 50 paylines. Players are able to select a stake of 20 c to $/€240 per spin, though when activating the Ante Bet, the bet increases by 25%, upping the chance of triggering free spins. When betting normally, the default RTP comes in at 96.03%, with the Ante Bet on, it increases to 96.06%, and when buying free spins, it drops to 96.01%. Rated 4.5 out of 5, Nile Fortune is also highly volatile.
For pay symbols, J-A card ranks make up the low pay 4, while a blue piece of jewellery, eye jewellery, a golden bird, and a golden cat are the 4 high pays. Hit a 5-of-a-kind low pay win, and the payout is 1 times the bet, no matter the royal, while a 5 premium symbol win is worth 5 to 10 times the bet. Wilds appear on all reels, substituting for all pay symbols. Wilds have the same value as the golden cat if they make wins of themselves.
One key symbol to be on the lookout for in Nile Fortune is its Mystery Modifier, which appears on reels 2 and 4 in the base game. Each Mystery Modifier that hits transforms into a random modifier and awards a free respin with the triggered modifier(s) active. The modifiers are:
In the base game, when 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols are in view, players win 8, 12, or 20 free spins, respectively. During free spins, the Mystery Modifier symbol is present on reels 2, 3, and 4 and may trigger the same modifiers as the base game when they hit, though some effects differ. The Multiplier Wilds Modifier multiplies wins by x2 if it lands alone, by x3 if it hits along with Random Wilds, by x5 if it hits along with Expanding Reels, or by x10 if all 3 modifiers hit on the same spin. Players can extend their time in the bonus round by landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters, thereby winning +8, +12, or +20 free spins, respectively.
Free spins can instantly be triggered from the base game by buying them for 80 times the bet. When buying them, 3, 4, or 5 scatter will randomly land.
With the talent and experience a studio like Pragmatic Play boasts, Nile Fortune gave off the impression it was a game that the studio could have planned out on the back of a napkin. It's certainly not one of Pragmatic Play's centrepiece releases showcasing the considerable design expertise the studio has built up over its years of online slot service. Underneath the glossy exterior, there isn't a huge amount of depth to Nile Fortune, making it seem like a slot the developer could have made with one hand tied behind its back.
Even so, even when Pragmatic Play isn't putting its heart and soul into one of its creations, such is the polish it can inject, the team often churns out rather playable slots. So it was in Nile Fortune, which had a touch of the landbase effect common in Pragmatic Play's slots. Perhaps that's one of the main keys to its success. Not only does Nile Fortune have a slight physical feel, but its looks and sounds nicely recreate or reinterpret the Ancient World from an Egyptian perspective. Now we're done praising the audiovisuals, it's time for the features which have their up moments. As is just about always the case in a slot, more is better, meaning the more modifiers you've got cranking at the same time, the better the chance of potentially getting your hands on some of the fortune. However, don't expect masses of fortune since Nile Fortune cuts out at 2,500x the bet due to a win cap.
No, not a monstrous fortune. Maybe this section of the Nile has been so repeatedly worked over that its major riches have already been dredged up. The relatively low winning potential takes some of the shine off a game that has some cool stuff but struggles to be more than mediocre.
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