The Great Chicken Escape (Pragmatic Play): Overview

It didn't take many spins for us to see the signs and it likely won't for you either if you reside in a geographical location where Blueprint slots are available for you to play online. With many of Pragmatic's creations being plagued by a generic feel that has proven hard to shake, the company is not exactly known to be an advocate for innovation. Lately, however, the company has resorted to tactics uncharacteristic even for them, blatantly cloning other slots, with Montezuma-inspired John Hunter and the Aztec Treasure being a prime example.

Before pointing fingers, however, it's important to point out that Pragmatic Play themselves have been victims of the copy-paste approach. As it turns out, the perpetrator was none other than Blueprint Gaming whose game Wolf Legend Megaways shared too many similarities to Pragmatic's Wolf Run to be brushed off as merely a coincidence. With the release of The Great Chicken Escape, as you will see, it's safe to say that Pragmatic Play has decided to strike back.

With a prisoner-of-war theme to spin a tale of a group of chickens who break out of their farm, The Great Chicken Escape is a slot loosely based on the 2000 stop-motion animated comedy film Chicken Run, or so we assume. In this 5-reel, 20 payline slot powered by Pragmatic Play, you'll benefit from a wide range of features that include extra wilds, wild reels and transforming symbols - all available in the main game and triggered randomly on any spin. There are also five bonus games on offer with wins of up to 5000 times your stake for you to pocket. You can guide the chickens to freedom on all devices from 20 cents to 100€/$ per spin.

Highly volatile and with a default RTP setting of 96.5%, the action takes place in what can only be described as a concentration camp for chickens - a narrative told through cartoon style graphics, thankfully. With rows of hen houses in the background, symbols on the reels include rather generic-looking A to J card suits to represent the low-value symbols. More rewarding are the four chicken characters with the one wearing the red beret being the most valuable, giving you 25 times your stake for a combination of 5 on a payline.

The Great Chicken Escape (Pragmatic Play): Features

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The Great Chicken Escape is a slot packed with features. In the main game alone, there are three randomly triggered Modifiers for you to benefit from. These are:

• Guard Dog Wilds - the guard dog is knocked out cold, which leads him to add between 4 and 9 wilds in random positions.
• Chicken Run Wilds - the sergeant chicken attempts to climb the walls, potentially resulting in 2 to 4 fully stacked wild reels.
• Care Package - a wooden box is dropped on the sergeant chicken, cracking it open and spreading golden eggs onto the reels. Once the spin has been played, all golden eggs appearing on the reels are transformed into a matching standard symbol.

More features await if you manage to land 3 or 4 scatter symbols - this will activate a random Bonus feature that you can either claim or gamble in hope to upgrade to a better one. In total, there are 5 bonuses on offer:

• Secret Tunnel Bonus - With three chests visible on the screen, you get to pick one to reveal either a cash reward, the Mystery Tunnel feature or collect which ends the bonus. If the Mystery Tunnel comes up, you then get to pick one of four entrances with one of them leading you to any of the four features listed below.
• Poultry in Motion - Pick eggs to reveal the number of steps to advance along the multiplier trail. If "Collect" comes up, the feature ends. Reaching the end of the trail, however, will give you access to the Big Money Bonus round.
• Get Clucky Free Spins - Played with a total of 10 free spins, each wild symbol that appears on the reels increases the win multiplier by 1x.
• To the Other Side Free Spins - With 9 free spins to be played, all wild symbol appearing on the reels are collected and then added in random positions on a 10th and final spin.
• The Great Escape Big Money Bonus - A carousel of 12 barrels is displayed, each comprising a cash reward ranging from 10x up to a whopping 500x. You then get to pick a golden egg which will reveal either respin or collect. This feature is the most lucrative and can lead to a maximum payout of 5000 times your stake.

The Great Chicken Escape (Pragmatic Play): Verdict

Pragmatic Play has literally used Blueprint as the blueprint for The Great Chicken Escape, carefully studying its competitor to get everything right down to the very last detail. We have to say, it's a rather successful clone that could easily have qualified for inclusion in the Blueprint Gaming portfolio, although it doesn't quite reach the same level of quality in terms of visual design. If you're unable to play Blueprint slots and if you've been curious about games such as Thundercats, Beavis and Butthead, and The Goonies, The Great Chicken Escape is a decent alternative for you to try.

Interestingly, we have to add, the game is less generic-looking compared to the usual stuff, and it seems that much effort has been invested into its production, which only leads us to believe that Pragmatic Play has done all in their power in an attempt to beat Blueprint at their own game and to annoy them as much as humanly possible. We just can't wait to see Blueprint's response.