Play To The Rescue for Free

Visually, To The Rescue is a feast. No expense has been spared from a design point of view: the slot is colourful, vivid, sharp and entertaining. Behind the reels, a Gotham-esque city lies in ruins, orange flames licking the brick facades. Windows glow orange and smoke continually billows into the evening air. Ladders lay propped against some of the buildings, indicating the heroism of the brave firemen attempting to douse the flames.

The casino action, meanwhile, takes place in the foreground, on a 5x3 grid. Along the bottom of the screen, in front of a wall of bricks, are the controls, where you can set your coin amount, paylines and suchlike. There’s also an information tab which talks you through the game rules and the particulars of the pay-table.

On the reels themselves, icons include a fireman’s helmet, which forms a crest with a couple of short-handled axes, a fire hydrant, a fire extinguisher, a fireman’s badge, a gold bell and a grim-faced fireman spraying a hose. There are also stylised playing card symbols, from 9 to Ace. All of the icons are chunky and feature nice shading and detail. They certainly contribute towards the immersive feel of the game.

The aim of the game, as ever, is to form matching combinations on active paylines. The lowest-paying symbols available are the playing cards, which pay no more than 150 (for five of the ‘face’ suites), and as little as 5 (for three 9s or 10s). Don’t worry, though: that’s par for the course with such games. The true value lies in character symbols such as the fireman’s helmet. This yields a whopping 2,000 for five-in-a-line, though the value plummets thereafter; you’ll win just 150 for four.

The game’s best-paying icon is the badge, which grants lucky punters 5,000 if they’re fortunate enough to spot five across the reels. You can also win 500 for four-in-a-line.

If you’re having a winless game, scatters might well come to the rescue. The scatter is the ringing bell, and it holds the key to ten free games along with a 2x multiplier. All you need to do is hit three or more bells anywhere on the grid, and what’s more, the feature can be re-triggered a number of times. The scatter additionally provides decent pay-outs, particularly if you can hit five, whence the prize is 100 credits. Scatter wins are multiplied by the total amount staked.

The game’s wild is the square-jawed fireman spraying a hose. He appears only on reels two, three and four and substitutes for all other symbols save the scatter. When a cluster of firefighters shows up the reels, it means they’re ready for action. The question is, are you? The bonus game kicks in and you’ll be asked to select three windows in the burning building to douse the flames and reveal prizes. You’ll have three chances to save the trapped child, who lurks behind one of the windows; do this and you’ll win a significant reward. You can also be mightily proud of yourself, boasting to your colleagues and friends that you saved a child from a burning building (naturally it’s best not to mention where this act of heroism occurred).

Incidentally, the firefighter bonus round can be awarded during free spins.

To The Rescue is a fantastic video slot, a breath of fresh air in a market that’s often clogged with naff Ancient Egypt-themed cash-ins. It’s exceedingly well designed, and with bonuses and multipliers in the mix, everyone can have fun trying to win loot. Aim your hose and let rip.