With the phenomenal popularity of football, it's a wonder there aren't more football-themed slots kicking around on the market. To be sure, players have a bunch to choose from, but still, football being the world's most popular sport, and the level of passion (and money) poured into the teams and players, it's interesting there aren't more. Helping rectify the situation, and to ride the wave of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, is software provider Pragmatic Play with an online slot based around the 'beautiful game' titled Spin & Score Megaways.
If you've ever wanted to run out onto the pitch to the sound of thousands of cheering fans, you can get a taste of this in Spin & Score Megaways. Okay, a small taste and a healthy dollop of imagination wouldn't hurt, but the game is set in the middle of a stadium, as confetti rains down on the crowd on a nice day for an outdoor sporting event. Unlike D10S Maradona, which came out around the same time, the players in Spin & Score Megaways are all made-up characters, captured in various poses as the high-pay symbols. Despite zero branding or name recognition, Spin & Score Megaways has a positive spirit, brought about in part by the bright visuals, and in part by the uplifting house track.
>Spin & Score Megaways is played on a Megaways powered game panel that has 6 reels and a 4 symbol horizontally spinning bonus reel at the top. With each spin, a different number of symbols can land, creating up to 117,649 ways to win when fully expanded. On to the math model, which has a 5 out of 5 rating for volatility, or high in other words, while producing a maximum RTP of 96.55%, though lower models may be available. Bets of 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin can be selected, and any device is suitable for use.
Wins are awarded in Spin & Score Megaways when matching symbols land on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost reel. The tumble mechanic removes winning symbols from the reels when they hit, allowing new symbols fall into the gaps, and if they create a new winning way, the tumble mechanic triggers again, ending when no new win is formed. Hitting six of the low-pay 9-A card royal symbols awards a payout of 0.6x to 1.5x the bet, while a six-of-a-kind premium win is worth 2-20x the bet. Premium symbols are comprised of four football players. Keep an eye on the top row for the golden ball wild symbol. It is able to substitute for anything except the scatter or the Big Wild symbol.
>Like the two related slots which preceded it, Spin & Score Megaways comes with tumbles, Big Wilds, and free spins with a pre-feature gamble option.
The Big Wild symbol appears only on the top row and takes up two horizontal positions. If the Big Wild is fully in view, it turns all symbols below it into wild symbols. If the Big Wild shifts position as part of a tumble and is still fully in view, it will trigger the wild conversion again. It does not trigger again if it is not fully in view or it does not move after a tumble.
Scatter symbols land anywhere, and hitting 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 of them awards 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, or 30 free spins, respectively. Before the round begins, if 10-18 free spins were won, players can opt to gamble them to win more. You cannot gamble if 26 or 30 were won. Gambles take place on a wheel, and if successful, +4 free spins are awarded, or if unsuccessful, all free spins are lost. You can only gamble up to 22 free spins. In free spins, a win multiplier starting at x1 is added to the proceedings. Following each tumble, the multiplier increases by +1 until the end of the feature. Big Wilds are still present, and landing 3 scatter symbols triggers +4 more free spins.
>We mentioned passion in the intro, but it's unlikely bucket loads of the stuff were poured into the making of Spin & Score Megaways. This is because it is, beneath the sporty surface, essentially a reskin of Power of Thor Megaways. Doubly interesting in a way because around the same time, we'd reviewed Legend of Heroes Megaways, which was also basically a copy of the Thor game, as well. Clearly, this formula is working out well for Pragmatic Play. Whatever the case, gamblers who enjoyed the style of play supplied by Power of Thor Megaways or Legend of Heroes Megaways can get a third helping here.
Football is a long way from Norse mythology or heroes, and the atmosphere is completely different. Gone is the weight that Thor naturally brings to a game, replaced by the airy lightness of football meets techno. The gameplay remains the same, where the thought of hitting Big Wilds in conjunction with a lofty win multiplier in free spins remains an enticing one. Like Legend of Heroes Megaways, the bonus buy option has been removed, which may dent desirability as triggering free spins organically might not be a walk in the park. In the Thor version, and presumably this one as well, free spins frequency was 1 in 510. Last but not least, potential in all three versions has remained constant at the decent, but kind of so-so for Megaways level of 5,000x the bet.
So far, the progression from Thor to homemade heroes to sports means if these mechanics are used in a fourth game, there is no telling what sort of theme it might have. As to enjoyment levels, Spin & Score Megaways is solid if football is your thing. The features perform as well here as they have on the two previous occasions, so it's hard to find too many faults in Spin & Score Megaways except perhaps its inherent unoriginality.
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