Snake Rattle & Roll Slot Machine

Hallelujah! Finally, a Novomatic game that wasn’t predictable or boring – could this be some kind of illusion? No, you’re definitely awake, which means you’re about to get a generous serving of some great variance from a brand primarily known for taxing gameplay and limited paytables.

If we sound a little excited, that’s because we are; never before have we come across a real cash slot from this brand that delivers so many options. The interface may look like many of their other games, though the graphics are more streamlined, but get under the surface and you get the goods. Oh, and what goodies they are: there’s free games, mini levels, bonuses and so much more. We’re simply bursting to get started.

Without further ado, shall we begin? There seems a lot for us to sink our fangs into, and we don’t want to suffer a poisonous bite simply because we didn’t play soon enough. You know how fickle snakes can be.

Welcome to the Jungle

Where do you normally find snakes, we mean besides the pet store? That’s right, they’re usually in jungles, hiding among the leaves that cover the ground, in search of their next meal. Sometimes the location isn’t all that glamorous, for snakes are known to be all over the UK, but in Snake, Rattle & Roll, everything is about authenticity and adventure.

Novomatic haven’t changed their matrix design up that much, for you still get a mixture of traditional icons, e.g. card values, and then images exclusive to the brand. However, the imagery behind the 3×5 grid is most impressive: we see a dense array of leaves, their edges so crisp that they look touchable. Then you have a cheeky snake that pops up in the corners of the game, staring out at you, egging you on to play. And if that wasn’t enough, you then have a 3D snake charmer sat on the right hand side of the screen, occasionally moving about.

All in all, the brand have outdone themselves with this design, finally introducing some contemporary style into their slot machines, and boy oh boy does it make a difference. The level of class we feel coming from the game has increased tenfold, just because of the design. What a change in just one online activity.

Roll the Dice

Even though this title has a jungle edge, it is clearly based on the traditional board game of Snakes and Ladders, and so how fitting that one of the bonus rounds is of the original game. Spruced up to look and play much better, however. To activate the bonus, you’ll need to collect between three and five of the red dice; this is your equivalent of rolling them, the more you get, the more rolls you have.

You’re then given a virtual board to move around, with various prizes of value and size scattered throughout the – additional spins and cash being two of the most enticing. Should you be lucky and get a snake eyes (that’s a two across both dice combined) on your first roll, you’ll watch as the charmer attempts to speed along to the jackpot. Sometimes he’ll manage it and others he won’t, but part of the fun is in just watching him go.

Slip and Slide

The fact that there are wild symbols inside the gameplay will probably surprise no one, but what they do just might: they slide across the reels. Instead of merely subbing other icons and then disappearing, they slide about left or right, changing icons as they go (though the dice aren’t affected).

To make the feature more interesting, you have the random occurrence where the snake charmer will play his flute and unleash other wilds onto the grid, increasing your payouts once again. When we played, we never experienced it, but we did savour many sliding wilds, which we feel should be a characteristic in many other slot machines.

Expanding Winlines

You may have noticed that the paylines here are fixed, but what you may have overlooked is the fact that they change in size depending on what free games you’re playing. All gamers will start off with 20, a decent if not overwhelming amount of room to work with, but should you get yellow, blue or red free games, the number will change.

Yellow spins adhere to the 20 winlines rule, so you won’t notice any change, however the blue games increases up to 40, which should mean more ways to win. Then the red level comes and blows them both out of the water with 50 winlines, the highest amount possible in the entire game.

Rolling on

We loved Snake, Rattle & Roll, and why wouldn’t we? It has just about everything a video slot should have to keep its users coming back for more. And best of it, due to the high variance, you won’t tire of the paytable easily, allowing for longer periods of play (and winning). A definite five out of five stars from us.