The Great Escape Artist Slot Machine
Follow the deeds of Larry Linguini, master escape artist in this, the thrilling new casino slot from Genesis Gaming. The Great Escape Artist is a mystical and mysterious magic slot game with a haunting, eerie soundtrack. Spread over 5 reels and 4 rows, and boasting no fewer than 50 unique paylines, the instant-play video slot furnishes players with free spins bonuses and stacked wilds. The aim, as the tagline points out, is to ‘escape with big wins’.
Released in 2015, The Great Escape Artist is all about the aforementioned illusionist Larry Linguini, who sells his soul to the Devil in order to become a famous circus escape artist. However, the enterprising Larry isn’t the only character in The Great Escape Artist: there’s also a fortune teller and a genie. In the bonus game, Larry must escape the water tank like Houdini before him – and it’s during this feature that you can make some serious wins.
Treading the Boards
The Great Escape Artist takes place on the theatre stage, as chattering audience members wait to be amazed. The reel grid occupies the boards, flanked by star-studded blue curtains. The audio is terrific, augmenting the sense of mystery that the game invokes with a peculiar little score. The giant reel grid sits atop a control panel where you can view your bet, lines, total bet and also regulate the Autoplay button. You can choose to play five, ten, 15, 20 or 50 automatic spins. You can also click Help to view the pay-table and all the rules of the game. The 50 paylines are unfixed, so you can play on however many you wish.
All wins pay left to right on adjacent reels, beginning with the leftmost reel. Wins on different lines are added together to get the total game win, and all wins are paid on lines played, except scatters, which are paid wherever you find them. At the outset, simply choose how many lines you wish to play and regulate the bet-per-line to suit your budget. Thereafter, it’s all about finding out if you can escape with a win.
The minimum bet-per-line is 0.25 (12.50), while the maximum is 125 (6,250).The theoretical RTP is 97.23%.
Kooky Characters
The cartoonised symbols that make up The Great Escape Artist have been rendered in excellent quality. There are several characters, each of whom has been illustrated in perfect detail. There is a female fortune teller, wearing a purple cloak; an image of the Devil, red face and all; a man’s head inside an orb; and a human skull with a candle placed atop it. There’s also a wild and a scatter. The wild, which takes up four squares on the grid, features Larry Linguini shackled inside a glass tank. Fish swim inside the tank and Larry looks to be having a bit of trouble, his eyes popping out of his head, his hair awry. The animations are fantastic. The wild can substitute for all symbols except the scatter.
The game’s scatter is The Great Escape Artist logo. Scatter wins are multiplied by total wager, and three or more scatters triggers the Great Escape Free Spins bonus. If you’re playing with just one coin, scatters pay 100 for five, 15 for four or two for three.
Other well-paying symbols include the Devil, which grants 1,500 for five and 500 for four. The fortune teller pays 1,000 for five and 300 for four. The head in the orb pays 750 and 200, and the skull pays 500 and 100. There are also six playing card symbols, the presence of which slightly detracts from the game as they are simply letters and numbers printed atop a wooden board. For a slot that boasts so much imagination, it’s a shame these symbols weren’t souped-up at all.
Can Larry Escape?
As stated, three or more scatters triggers the Great Escape Free Spins feature. The gamer is awarded ten free spins. During each, any portion of the four-symbol-tall wild will trigger the icon to move to fill the entire reel. Three or more scatters found during free spins will add another ten to your pocket.
Escape to Victory
The Great Escape Artist is a welcome addition to the Genesis Gaming suite. Not only is the slot original, but it features some nice pay-outs and a cool free spins bonus. The RTP is also pretty high for a game of this type. Check it out.
