Carnival Queen Slot Review
Mardi Gras brings forth images of fabulous costumes, beautiful masks, heady music, and unending party fervour. Carnival Queen video slot by Thunderkick represents this festival theme very well in this 6-reel game.
Pulsing techno music soundtrack does seem a bit off-theme, and would probably be better suited for Amazon Queen, but then again, probably not. Sharp graphics and 3D effects pull players in, so the question is if it is worth the attention. Read on to find out.
Carnival Queen Slot Setup
Carnival Queen sets the party scene from the start. The 4×6 game window is set against a backdrop of colourfully decorated and fairy light-festooned buildings, and a crowd of people on what appears to be New Orleans street looking up in the foreground. The soundtrack is upbeat techno music that gets even more frenetic during the bonus round with the crowd cheering as ghostly skeletons join in on the celebration. When the game starts, the player will see that instead of spinning reels, the symbols drop down in cascades. This is an important part of the action of the game because this activates the Avalanche feature that allows a player to win multiple times on a single spin. The Avalanche feature is similar to Gonzo’s Quest by NetEnt (which also has a multiplier) and Tidal Riches by Novomatic.
Symbols in a winning combination winks out, and the symbols above will fall or “avalanche” to fill the gaps and new symbols will appear. Only when winning combinations are no longer forming will the player have to make the next spin.
The symbols in the game are as colourful as the background. It includes the typical alphanumeric playing cards 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A. Other symbols are costumed characters in different colors, the King Carnival crown, a glowing W wild card which substitutes for other cards to complete a winning combination, and the Carnival Queen scatter emblazoned with the word “Bonus.”
Carnival Queen offers 4,096 ways to pay for matching symbols, and the paylines run both ways, or left to right and right to left. The playing cards are low value, while the costumed characters take on medium values. The King Carnival crown has the highest value for regular symbols.
Payout
The regular symbols of the game have different values for successive levels of matching combinations. The King Carnival crown is the only one that pays for just two matching symbols on a payline. For two, three, four, five, and six matches on a payline, the crown pays 1, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 times the wager, respectively. For the other symbols, 3, 4, 5, and 6 matches on a payline multiply the wager by the following, respectively:
- Red Masked Lady = 1, 2, 2.5, and 7.5
- Orange Unmasked Man = 0.50, 1, 1.5, and 2.5
- Green Masked Man = 0.4, 0.7, 1, and 2.2
- Blue Masked Lady = 0.3, 0.6, 0.8, and 2
- A = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 1.7
- K = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 1.5
- Q = 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1.3
- J = 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1.2
- 10 = 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, and 1.1
- 9 = 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, and 1
On the face of it, the payouts seem on the low side. However, Carnival Queen more than makes up for this with its special features.
Features
As explained earlier, the Avalanche feature makes it possible for players to land winning lines on a single bet. However, that is not the best thing about this feature. That would be the multiplier, which levels up every time a winning line comes up in a spin.
For example, if a player lands three winning lines in one spin, the multiplier will go up three times, tripling the payout for the last win line before resetting to 1x on the next spin for the base game. In the bonus round, the multiplier levels up with each win and does not reset in a losing spin until the free spins run out.
As for the bonus round, the player can activate it by landing three or more Carnival Queen scatters on a spin. The player gets 12 free spins for three scatters, 16 free spins for four scatters, 20 free spins for five scatters, and 24 free spins for 6 scatters. This is a retriggerable feature, which means that landing scatters during the free spins can give the player additional free spins. Two scatters add three free spins to the pot, and additional scatters add three more. In other words, a player gets 12 more free spins if a free spin lands 6 scatters. That would require quite a bit of luck to pull off, but it is possible.
A final feature in the bonus round involves the wild symbol. When in a free spin that produces no win line, but lands a wild, the wild removes all the symbols in the reel it is on and rows on the left and right of it and replaces them with new ones, giving the player a chance to get winning lines.
Carnival Queen Slot Review Verdict
Carnival Queen is visually satisfying and a lot of fun to play, but more importantly, it has real win potential. Progressive multipliers and theoretically unlimited free spins are largely the reason for this, although medium variance and an RTP of 96.1% also have something to do with it. That said, a low minimum bet and enjoyable action makes it a great choice for players that have more than statistics and winnings in mind.
Overall, Carnival Queen is a pretty good video slot for both casual and serious players. It is one of the better offerings from Thunderkick that is sure to become a popular choice for all kinds of players.
