Vegascaline  (Bigwinboard.com)

Vegascaline: Slot Overview

'We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive."' So wrote gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson in the psychedelic adventure 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', a journey into, well, take your pick - the heart of America, a critique of 1960s counterculture, a hedonistic freak out in Sin City. It might also be, you never know, the inspiration for Vegascaline, a debut slot from brand new software provider Exco, launched by Yggdrasil Gaming co-founder and former CEO Fredrik Elmqvist, where 'Each release is crafted to feel fresh, hit hard, and last longer than a week on the homepage.' Admirable goals, buckle up.

No, really, Vegascaline, a mix of Las Vegas and mescaline, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain cacti, begins on the open road, speeding physically and perhaps mentally though canyon country of rock, sand, and cacti. A big open-topped vehicle provides the thematic ride, while a mix of expanding mystery symbols, respins, and multipliers produces the mechanical trip. If the blurry base game visuals have you on the verge of a meltdown, prepare for free spins, where rows of physical slots, heck, actual time and space might be bent out of shape in odd, psychedelic ways. It's… weird, not in a bad way, and while not everyone wants to bend the laws of reality when having a punt, Vegascaline does, and it puts on quite a sensorial trip for a slot.

Clicking the left button in the group of four to the right of the 5x5 gaming grid is where players may choose a stake of $/€0.20 to $/€30 per spin. On the other side of the screen is where a bunch of possibly contentious bonus buys are located; all are optional, of course. Stats, or as they are called here, KPIs, reveal a 4 out of 5 rating for volatility, making it rather high, while the RTP clocks in at 96.1%.

Landing 3 or more matching symbols on a payline on adjacent reels from the leftmost reel produces a winning combination. Doing so with 5 matching J-A card royals pays 0.5x the bet, while hitting 5 matching hats, fly swatters, or the 4 character symbols pays 1x to 50x the bet. When wins are evaluated, wild symbols replace any of the regular paying symbols.

Vegascaline: Slot Features

Opening Vegascaline's stash of features, we find Wrapper Stacks, free spins, and feature buys.

Wrapper Stacks

After wins have paid, Wrapper Stacks nudge to cover the entire reel. These are stacks of mystery symbols which all reveal matching symbols. Wins are paid again, and a respin is awarded with all mystery stacks sticky, providing a chance to land my mystery stacks to repeat the effect. Respins continue as long as new stacks land, or until the entire grid is filled with mystery stacks. Line wins involving Wrapper Stacks pay from all positions, meaning they do not have to be adjacent to each other.

Free Spins

Players win 6, 9, or 12 free spins when 3, 4, or 5 scatters, respectively, land. Free spins have an incremental multiplier that increases by +1 for each spin and respin.

Hacks and Super Hacks

Hacks and Super Hacks are the names given to Vegascaline's feature buys. The options are 6 or 9 free spins with a max win of 30,000x or 12 free spins with a cap of 40,000x, costing 75x, 150x, and 300x, respectively. Other options are 12 free spins with a 50,000x win cap where no low pay symbols appear, or 12 free spins with a 100,000x cap with random wilds and double the multiplier increment for each spin and respin. Both of these cost 777x to buy.

Vegascaline: Slot Verdict

Well, have to say that Vegascaline succeeds in feeling fresh, hitting hard, though whether it lasts longer than a week on the casino shelves remains to be seen. If a good chunk of gamblers are into psychedelia, flowers, and mind expansion, then Vegascaline could be sticking around longer term. In terms of theme, it's hard to think of many, if any, slots to compare Vegascaline to. It's a real gonzo treat, of turning on, tuning in, and dropping out, as Timothy Leary sort of said, made in this next-gen slot style pioneered by software developers like Nolimit City, Print Studios, and Shady Lady. The features, when broken down into individual components, might not be quite as far out, but combine them, and freaky things can happen.

How to sum up the gameplay? Book of Ra meets Mystery Museum, meets multis and a heroic dose of mescaline? Something like that, and while crumbs of the game's potential are sprinkled about the base game, it's during free spins when the chemicals really kick in. On the subject of potential, the win cap figure is put at 30,000x the bet, but eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that far greater amounts are possible via feature buys, otherwise known as Hacks or Super Hacks. Not so sure that will go down well with gamblers who may feel left out, especially those who reside in territories that restrict feature buys. But, 100,000x is an eye-catching stat that should get people looking at, and talking about Vegascaline.

As a debut slot, Vegascaline aims a clenched fist at the betting industry and takes a darn good swing at it. The respins can feel a bit sluggish at times, slowing the pace to near-frustrating levels, but overall the game is fresh, different, and not without its share of controversy. The features, meanwhile, are the sort that can go from zero to the outer rings of Saturn in a moment. Naturally, Vegascaline won't be every gambler's cup of San Pedro cactus tea, but it's an attention-grabbing debut that's set to put the industry on notice about the new game studio on the block.