Snow Leopard Slot Machine
While some people may see it as bleak and unforgiving, there’s something immensely beautiful about a snow-covered landscape. Even in what might seem like harsh conditions, there’s an amazing diversity of wildlife to be found on these frozen tundra and frosty mountaintops, and there’s something mesmerizing about the way that the color white seems to go on to the horizon in every single direction.
It’s that cold environment that sets the stage for Snow Leopard, a new online slot from barcrest. This actually isn’t one of the company’s latest creations: it’s an adaptation of a popular live casino game, which means that it comes with a built-in reputation for success with gamblers. It’s easy to see why this game has done so well in casinos, as a fun theme mixed with an exciting free spins game is a classic combination that has entertained players for decades.
Let It Snow
The Snow Leopard video slot is a game that’s all about snowy scenery. That can be seen in the backdrop of the screen, which shows hills and mountains covered in white, and on the reels, where a mix of cold weather animals and a woman in white furs help keep the theme consistent. The graphics are sharp, with the high-paying symbols being particularly well drawn and animated. We also like how clean this screen is: the reels take up almost all of the display, with just a few buttons at the bottom of the screen to allow you to set your bet amounts and other options.
Speaking of betting amounts, these machines are often offered as penny slots, allowing you to play this as a very low limit game if you’d like. Other denominations may be available in some cases, and a play for free demo version should be offered at many online casinos. Like most games that are now being released on software by Barcrest, this game should be mobile-optimized, allowing you to play on any device with no download needed.
Cold as Ice
The Snow Leopard video slot uses a unique six reel format with expanded reels, leading to a large 4x6 layout that puts a lot of symbols on the screen at once. This allows the game to be played with 100 paylines at once. Still, the object of the game is exactly what you’d expect: you want to match symbols from left to right across those paylines. You’ll want to hit at least three in a row in order to score prizes, with six in a row necessary for the biggest payouts.
The smaller wins in this game come from the card game ranks (nines through aces), which don’t really fit in with the theme but are basically a staple of Barcrest machines. Larger wins come from the more thematic symbols: rabbits, squirrels, and leopards. The most valuable normal symbol is the woman carrying a sword and dressed in furs. She comes as a double-sized icon, making it easier to connect with her on multiple paylines at once.
Follow the Tracks
There are two special symbols that can appear on the reels. The first are the close-up leopard faces, which act wild symbols. These stacked wilds will always cover a random reel on each spin, and can substitute for any of the normal icons, helping you complete winning paylines wherever possible. Next up are the paw prints, which are scatter symbols. Hit three or more, and you’ll win some free spins: eight free plays for three scatters, or up to 100 if you can hit five scatters.
During these free spins, players will enjoy some pretty big advantages. First, the wild reel that was present on the triggering spin will remain locked in place for the entirety of the feature; how good that is depends on which reel that is, exactly. On each spin, however, a number of additional reels will also turn into stacked wilds – potentially up to the possibility of covering the entire screen with these valuable cats. The free spins can also be retriggered by finding more scatters during this bonus.
Coming in from the Cold
Snow Leopard shows that there’s nothing wrong with creating a game that has a simple premise, especially if you jazz it up with a few minor twists that provide a unique experience without seeming foreign to gamblers. At its heart, this machine is just a basic video slot with a free spins game, but the addition of a larger set of reels and ever-present wilds (with even more in the bonus round) give it a different feel than a typical slot. While this creates a fairly low volatility style of play that might not be for everyone, we still think most players will have some fun with this title.
