Wonders Of The Deep Slot: Dive In For An Underwater Adventure

When we think of humanity and our place on Earth, it can feel like we have conquered almost all of it. From the highest mountain to the icy wastes of Antarctica, mankind has flourished across the globe and left its footprint almost everywhere.

Or have we? Seventy-one percent of the planet’s surface is water and only a tiny fraction of that water has been explored by man. The vast majority is a deep, dark, and an unfailingly beautiful realm that has inspired the Wonders of the Deep slot, which celebrates many of the denizens of this aquatic wilderness.

Overview: Wonders of the Deep

Wonders of the Deep is a 15-payline slot consisting of 5×3 reels and set against an azure underwater backdrop. Unfortunately, the backdrop isn’t animated, which is a shame as it would have brought the slot more life. Disappointingly, the reels are white, which looks a tad out of place against this marine theme.

The low-value symbols on the reels are the playing card lows, cleverly designed as driftwood. The high-value symbols are inhabitants of the deep, equally well drawn. Together with a wild symbol, a pufferfish scatter, and a bonus symbol (clam and pearl), they make up all the symbols you’ll see on every spin.

Who will the Wonders of the Deep slot appeal to?

Many players will like this theme. Underwater or aquatic-based slots are hugely popular, and there are a surprising number of them around. However, Wonders of the Deep will also appeal to beginning gamers as it doesn’t offer anything too complicated.

With the number of paylines available and the coin sizes available, this is most definitely a slot aimed at the low- to mid-stakes player. The maximum bet is $30, and the lowest is just $0.15. Higher rollers may struggle to see much on offer here, but free spins fans will certainly want to try their hand at this bonus feature.

Gameplay: Wonders of the Deep

The first thing you notice about Wonders of the Deep is that the reels look slightly conspicuous. A plain white background sticks out like a sore thumb against the azure aquatic scene. The reels look like a hastily added job, not an integral part of the scene.

What you can’t fault though is the design of the symbols. These are creatively done. The driftwood design of the playing card low symbols is a particularly nice touch. These symbols actually fit in with the theme, rather than standing out from it.

You can use the individual bet buttons to get the reels spinning for the selected bets, or you can select a bet with your first spin and then use the Repeat Bet button to spin the reels again at the previous wager size. Different sizes of bets can be found with the More Bets button.

When you click the button, the reels spin and you hear a nice, magical sound. Again, I’m not sure this really fits with the aquatic theme. It sounds more like the music you would associate with a wizarding or magical slot.

Wins are few and far between on this slot. It is most definitely a medium-variance game in the long term. Be aware though that short-term players can experience a huge difference in payouts, with some seeing very few and others seeing far more. Most are smaller, but a good percentage are bigger. Overall, budget well.

Features

Wonders of the Deep has what I would describe as a standard set of features. First up, it has a Wild symbol, a cheery-looking dolphin, which can be used to replace any high- or low-value symbol and create a winning payline. You can also use it in the biggest base game win — five dolphins on a payline pays out 10,000 coins.

In addition to the wild symbol, there is a Scatter symbol of a blowfish that offers payouts of between three coins and 50 coins depending on whether you land two, three, four, or five scatters anywhere across the reels.

Finally, there is the pearl and clam bonus symbol that activates the free spins round when you land three or more on a payline. When this happens, you simply click on the shells when the bonus starts to reveal, the number of free spins won, the multiplier in operation during free spins and the final shell starts the free spins round.

As you play through the bonus round, you can earn an additional set of free spins by landing the three bonus round symbols again across the reels.

Special features: Wonders of the Deep

Scatter symbol

The blowfish scatter awards prizes when you land two or more in any position on the reels. Two will award three coins, three will award 12 coins, four 25 coins, and five scatters wins the top scatter prize of 50 coins.

Free spins

Land three or more of the clam and pearl bonus symbols on a payline and you launch the free spins round. Select your first two shells to reveal the number of free spins and the size of your multiplier before clicking on the third to get free spins in operation. Free spins can be retriggered by landing the three clam and pearl bonus symbols again during the round.

Wild

The dolphin wild symbol substitutes for all high and low value symbols to help create winning paylines. Land five on a payline and you trigger the largest possible base game win of 10,000 coins.

What works?

Medium variance

If you are a fan of slots that reward you well when they pay out, rather than smaller wins more often, then Wonders of the Deep will certainly suit you. You do have to work at getting your rewards, but when they come it feels like you have earned it.

Wild

The wild symbol is vital in making the base game more enjoyable as it often is the reason you will trigger those critical low and mid-level wins that will help keep your bank balance topped up. Plus, it can offer much larger wins when several land on a payline.

Free spins

It can take a while to trigger the free spins round so patience is required, but if you are patient you can be richly rewarded. It’s especially true if you can land a good number of free spins and a decent-sized multiplier at the start of the feature.

What doesn’t?

Presentation

I’m really not a fan of the presentation here. With a name like Wonders of the Deep you expect something spectacular. White reels, no animations, and a poor choice of sound effects all combine to leave you feeling cold.

Lack of ‘wow’ factor

Wonders of the Deep is a passable slot, but it really doesn’t offer anything beyond the ordinary. A scatter symbol, wild symbol, and free spins round are now the bare minimum most new slots offer, and most try to offer a slight tweak in these to make their game appealing. That just doesn’t happen here.

No high roller option

Wonders of the Deep has a decent-sized 10,000 coin jackpot, but with top price spins of just $30 a turn, there isn’t much available that will attract the higher rollers.

The scores

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Graphics and soundtrack: 1/5

There was huge potential to do something spectacular, but Wonders of the Deep is very poor in terms of presentation. It gets one mark for the cleverly designed symbols, but the rest of the slot isn’t up to much at all.

Originality and creativity: 1/5

Nowadays, any slot that offers free spins, a scatter and a Wild usually has some other kind of hook to draw people. There’s no such thing on Wonders of the Deep, and it lacks a startling amount of creativity. Even if you haven’t played this slot before, you’ll feel like you have.

Play value: 2/5

This is a medium variance game so it is never going to score hugely on play value, but it is a very variable slot, especially in shorter sessions. It can easily wipe out a sizable bankroll if you don’t play at the right level.

Jackpot potential: 3/5

One of the positive aspects of the slot is a 10,00- coin jackpot available in both the base game and free spins. That, multiplied by higher value coins (say of $2 per spin) does equate into a nice jackpot, although not super massive.

Repeat play: 1/5

There’s really not a lot to get excited about here. The jackpot is attractive, and you may want a few additional spins to try and trigger the free spins game, but there’s better and more interesting slots you can try for the same price.

Total score: 8/25

Wonders of the Deep is a slot that promises a great deal but delivers only the very basics. It’s less a David Attenborough documentary about the deep sea, and more like a quick dip in the swimming pool. Perhaps beginning players could cut their teeth here, but there’s not a great deal for more experienced players to get excited about.