2 Fat Cats: The Lost Ark Slot
A fun mix of cartoon cats and Indiana Jones-inspired adventure is found in Inspired Gaming’s 2 Fat Cats: The Lost Ark online slot machine, which has portly felines Chip and Ace hunting for treasures among some ancient ruins. They can uncover riches such as a choice of free spins round with extra chances to win, a golden scratching post game, an adventure in a snake pit and prizes for players who help them avoid the trapdoors.
It all adds up to an action-packed, mobile-optimised slot that plays out over 5 reels, across which, there’s a fixed number of 20 paylines. To start playing for real cash awards, punters will need to wager at least 0.20 per spin, although this can be raised to suit, to a high limit of 250.00. An interesting Fortune Bet option increases the stake by half, but doubles the size of a bonus symbol which will increase the frequency of triggering the extra rounds that are so prominent in this game.
Reels spin against a backdrop of a stone wall, with our 2 heroes standing in front, ready to help players with the bonus features, and between them, a golden ark sits below the reels. The animations are outstanding, and these characters get up to a series of little antics along the way, while there’s a fun sequence of Chip and Ace running down a corridor from a giant ball of stone that plays out as the game loads.
Off on the Adventure
High-card symbols 10, J, Q, K and A, in a range of bright colours, make up the lower value win-lines, and higher awards are paid out when the unique picture symbols of a hat, golden skull, bag of jewels and ornate cup land on sequential reels across a payline running from the left side.
The top payouts come from the game logo symbol, and unlike others, which need to be on at least 3 reels to create a win, it only needs to be on the first 2 to be worth a prize. A couple of extra symbols don’t actually pay anything on their own, but trigger extra features, with the wild being able to substitute for all standard icons and complete combinations if it stops in the right places.
Occasionally, the golden ark will open up and scarab beetles emerge, scuttling over the reels and turning random symbols into higher-paying ones, or the main bonus symbol. That bonus symbol can also land anywhere in view, with any 3 or more taking players to a second screen where they will need to pick from a box to be awarded a special feature.
Multiple Bonus Features
Ace and Chip each have free spins rounds based around them, with the Ace games consisting of just 5 spins, but wild symbols will wander around the reels throughout them. If the Chip spins are awarded, players will get 5 bonus games, during which a special golden multiplier symbol will move around the reels, doubling wins.
Another 5 free spins feature has both Chip and Ace involved, and any symbols that make up a win stick in place, guaranteeing that any further spins will be winners, while potentially adding more of the same type for even bigger rewards. Anyone entering the snake pit bonus will need to select prizes from baskets, deciding whether to keep any winnings or try to get a bigger prize in the next basket.
In the Golden Scratchpost bonus feature, players simply scratch away to uncover winnings until rocks fall down around them and the game ends. The Scaredy Cat feature takes place over a series of trap doors and players need to guide Chip and Ace around them, collecting real cash wins with each one avoided.
Feline Fun, or Cat-astrophic?
Quality animations and an enjoyable theme are an instant attraction to the 2 Fat Cats: The Lost Ark video slot, and of course those multiple bonus rounds are going to attract gamblers who like regular features to be triggered.
The downside is that wins in the normal run of play are a little less frequent than punters may be used to, and instead of the normal 3 rows of symbols, this game has 4 rows, making it harder to line things up across the reels. But we can’t have everything, and this is compensated for by the bonus features to give it an overall high return to player percentage.
Players can try it out through the free 2 Fat Cats: The Lost Ark video slots available at online casinos, deciding if it’s a game that suits their style before playing for real cash, but it’s a great adventure for those who don’t mind waiting a bit for a win.
