Play Venetia for Free

Venetia’s 5x3 reel grid is one of the most lavish we’ve come across. Bordered by ornate scrollwork, with symbols appearing on a red velvet background, the reels certainly hint at the riches the game contains. Behind the reels, we can discern an illuminated bridge arching over a Venetian canal, with the game title appearing in gold lettering in the upper left-hand corner.

You’ll find all the usual controls below the reels. They include tabs for Spin, Autoplay, Credits, Total Bet and Paytable. There’s also up and down arrows, which allow players to set their bet-per-line, stretching from 0.01 to 0.50 for a maximum total bet of 10.

The Autoplay setting, meanwhile, can be configured to play up to 500 automatic spins. Venetia is a Spin and Stop slot, which lets players dictate how soon after spinning the five reels come to a halt. The reels click and clack into place while you spin, and when you hit a winning combination, the symbols responsible are surrounded by a ring of gold dust.

There are 13 individual symbols in Venetia, with the vast majority of icons sticking to the theme. Symbols include a golden winged lion, a masked female, a pair of doves, two snaps of the city and playing cards, from 10 to A. There’s also a pair of special symbols, including a silver Venetian mask wild, which is framed by an ornate golden picture frame. The wild substitutes for all symbols in the game except the scatter, and it also doubles the pay-outs of wins it helps create.

At max bet, wilds pay 5 for two, 125 for three, 1,250 for four and 4,500 for five.

In order to win 15 free spins, you’re required to find three, four or five scattered gondola symbols anywhere on the reels. In this respect, scatters function differently from other symbols, as other symbols must be found on adjacent reels: scatters are awarded for icons appearing in any position, for any number of lines.

During the subsequent free spins, all wins are multiplied by three. The bonus feature can also be re-triggered during a round of free spins. While you’re enjoying your 15 free spins, just be aware that credits bet are the same as in the game that activated the feature. The 20 paylines remained fixed.

Scatters not only provide free spins, but they offer generous pay-outs in their own right. You can expect 20 for two, 50 for three, 200 for four and the 5,000 jackpot for all five. It certainly pays to find those famous gondolas!

After any regular pay-out, players are given the chance to double their winnings. A fresh panel will materialise, showing you a face-down card. All you need to do is guess whether the card is red or black. A correct guess sees your winnings double, an incorrect guess forfeits your bank roll. You can double up as many as five times in a row; just hit the Collect button to return to the base game. The gamble feature can be ticked or unticked by clicking on the gearwheel icon before commencing play.

If you’re looking to play a new non-progressive video slot, you could do far worse than Venetia and it does well in a genre where the main competitor is WMS's Hearts of Venice. I wasn’t able to find the return-to-player average for this GameArt title, but had some success playing in free mode. Certainly there are many high-paying symbols to aim for, and the game is very visually appealing, with lots of bright, vivid colours on the reels.

Of course, the proof will be in the pudding, but we have no compunction about recommending a game featuring wilds, scatters, free spins and multipliers, not to mention a cool 5,000 jackpot!