Riverboat Queen Slots
In the bad old days before online casinos, gamblers in certain parts of the US could only legally play games on riverboats. The laws stated that when the boats were on the Mississippi River, they were outside the jurisdiction of the state and therefore gambling was allowed. In truth, the boats very rarely left the docks, and this little detail was overlooked by the authorities. But it has led to the romantic image of paddle steamers chugging down the river, filled with happy punters and beautiful Western belles enjoying a few drinks and playing exciting card games.
The Riverboat Queen video slot from Everi brings that excitement to players around the world, with evocative images of poker chips, drinks, dice and the boat on the reels. A special roulette wheel invites you to spin up extra winnings, while the game logo can award some huge progressive jackpot prizes. Although there are just three reels to this game, there are 32 paylines crossing them. In this slot, landing matching symbols across any line is all that’s needed to claim a prize.
The game is set against a paisley-patterned background, with the large roulette bonus wheel to the right side. It’s an attractive setup, although we can’t help but wish that Everi had chosen a more suitable soundtrack to help enhance the theme. Instead, the game comes with a weird series of beeps and mechanical-sounding clonks as the reels spin.
Based in Austin, Texas, Everi has been providing slot games to land-based casinos ever since it was formed through the merger of Global Cash Access Inc. and Multimedia Games Inc. While Everi’s online presence is still very limited, it currently has over 20,000 machines in over 1,000 casinos around the world.
Sail Away
Wins are multiplied by the bet per line, with a line of Club symbols returning 15x, Diamonds paying 20x, Hearts worth 25x and Spades paying out 30x. Unique picture symbols are worth more, starting with a glass of whiskey that’s valued at 100x. The dice are worth 200x while a stack of poker chips pays 500x. The top prizes are paid out by the Riverboat Queen herself – a beautiful belle who is valued at 2,000x your line stake – and the paddle steamer. This will float your bankroll to the tune of 10,000x the amount wagered on each line when it crosses the reels.
The Riverboat Queen video slot doesn’t have any wild symbols, nor does it feature a scatter symbol. But there’s a special bonus icon that starts the roulette feature when it lands across payline seven, which is the one that runs from the top left to the bottom right of the reels.
Spinning Up Bonus Prizes
Once the feature is awarded, a click on the roulette wheel sets it spinning. You win multipliers of your total stake when it comes to a rest. Possible wins range from 200x to 5,000x, or you could land a Spin Again section along with a smaller payout. Whatever you claim, it’s a fantastic feature that’s guaranteed to pay you a big reward. This is because thankfully, there are no zeros on this roulette wheel, only winnings.
Instant Jackpots
Any four or more Riverboat Queen logo symbols in any places will land you an instant jackpot prize. If you are playing at the max bet, you win a progressive jackpot. This is built up by a small percentage of all wagers placed on the game being put aside until a single gambler lands the right symbols to scoop it all. The amount that can be won also depends on how many logo symbols triggered the jackpot payout.
If you are playing with anything less than the maximum stakes, you still win a prize, but it’s paid at a flat rate. There’s 120x your stake paid out when four logo symbols appear, rising to 20,000x when eight are seen at once.
Betting Options
Coin values can be adjusted from 0.01 per line to 2.00, giving you a low-limit stake of 0.32 per spin to a maximum of 64.00. It’s an easy game to learn, and within a few spins you’ll be up to speed on how it all works. You can still have a few practice spins if you want, as free Riverboat Queen video slots are provided by Everi. If you just want to sit back without having to click a button for each spin, why not choose the autoplay option, which gets them spinning on their own for between 10 and 500 times?
Wild, Wild Reels
If you are looking for a slot with an almost identical riverboat theme, then Mississippi Queen from Cayetano Gaming should be your first port of call. Apart from the style, however, it’s quite different, since it has five reels, ten paylines, and classic features such as free spins and wild symbol substitutions.
Casino chips and whiskey are also featured in this game, along with a beautiful woman and the cowboy. He’s worth up to 1,000x the line bet, while also acting as the wild symbol to complete extra combinations for you. The woman triggers 10 free spins with extra wild symbols on the reels, while the bonus symbol starts a shooting game. In this round, you first take aim at a playing card to reveal a win multiplier. Then the remaining cards are shuffled, and you get to pick another for a second payout.
The River Queen video slot from Novomatic is an online and mobile-optimized game that once again sees dice, casino chips, an attractive woman and a big boat on the reels. It comes with five reels and 50 paylines, along with a free spins round where a special wild symbol will appear. This wild symbol is an overhead view of the paddle steamer which sails around the reels at random throughout the bonus games. The young woman is also a wild symbol, and landing her on all 20 symbol positions will be worth the top prize of 10,000x the line stake.
A Game to Float Your Boat?
Although you won’t win a progressive prize at anything less than the maximum stakes, there’s still a big payday when the logo symbol lands in four or more places. Riverboat Queen is an attractive game that brings the atmosphere of a Western gambling establishment to casinos around the world, although the distinctly un-Western soundtrack is still a bit of a letdown.
Players will soon forget all about the soundtrack once the wins start coming in, as it’s pretty easy to land matching symbols across a line. Of course, anyone triggering the roulette bonus is in for another big payout, with prizes worth thousands of times the stake. However, because it promises such huge rewards, it’s not triggered very frequently. If you like to play Western-themed slot machines and the style appeals to you, we recommend that you take the Riverboat Queen’s reels for a spin to enjoy some high-quality gameplay.
