White Rabbit 2: Slot Overview
One release that helped put Australian-based slot maker Big Time Gaming on the map was its psychedelic 2017 hit White Rabbit. With its Expanding Reels system and innovative Feature Drop (often cited as the first true bonus buy slot), it had gamblers lining up to leap down the rabbit hole. Eight years have passed, and the studio has returned to Wonderland to design White Rabbit 2, a slot that brings back the Expanded Reels in free spins system, while adding further components such as a Hold and Spin round and Megapots prizes. Will it satisfy the hopes of fans who have been waiting patiently for a follow-up or suffer from the curse of the sequel?
White Rabbit was a Megaways slot based on the fantastical writings of Lewis Carroll’s literary nonsense novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. As such, it took on a number of characters from the story, placing them in a fantasy world of colour and splendour. White Rabbit 2 largely does the same, and makes extensive use of the infamous characters during its Hold and Spin round, where each one of them has a special modifying ability it can apply. The rest of the visuals are about on par with the previous slot, mushroomy, colourful, and wondrous.
Played on a 5-reel grid, White Rabbit 2 makes payouts when matching symbols land on adjacent reels from the leftmost reel onwards. Reels can be up to 7 positions high in the base game, where there are 16,807 ways to win, or 12 positions high in free spins, meaning there can be up to 248,832 ways to win. Stakes of $/€0.20 to $/€20 may be selected, in this highly volatile game where the RTP is 96.36%, solid, but noticeably less generous than White Rabbit‘s return value.
Starting the paytable off are 9-A playing card royals, paying out 0.6x to 1.5x the stake for a 5 OAK winning combination, followed by four gem symbols worth 2x to 25x the stake for 5 OAK. Only one type of wild lands in the game on any reel except the leftmost to substitute for anything except Coins, Cupcakes, and scatters.
White Rabbit 2: Slot Features
Some of the features here have links to the previous game, others are addons. The list includes a Hold and Spin round, free spins, Megapots, and bonus buys.
Hold and Spin
Landing 6 or more Coin symbols triggers 3 respins. During the feature, each position on the grid may land Coins, which go on to reveal a Bonus Prize, a Character, or a Megapots icon. Each time one or more Coins land, the number of respins resets to 3. Landing 3 Megapots icons awards the corresponding Megapots prize. If the grid is full of Coins, the round ends, and the total Bonus Prize amount is doubled. When Characters are revealed, they act like so:
- White Rabbit – multiplies the value of one Bonus Prize by up to x10.
- Alice – gains the value of all Bonus Prizes.
- Red Queen – collects the value of all Bonus Prizes.
- Cheshire Cat – reveals a prize of up to 5x the stake and adds it to all Bonus Prizes.
- Dodo – collects the value of all Bonus Prizes on that reel.
- Mad Hatter – gains the value of one random Bonus Prize.
- Twins – awards two Bonus Prizes of the same value, up to 20x the stake each.
The Bonus Prizes that can be revealed during the Hold and Spin depend on the number of symbols on the reel – up to 6x for 2 or 3 symbols, up to 2.75x for 4 or 5 symbols, or up to 1.5x for 6 or more symbols. Landing a Cupcake symbol expands the reel it hit on up to 12 high.
Free Spins
Scatters only appear in the base game. Hitting 3, 4, or 5 of them awards 12, 16, or 20 free spins, respectively. Free spins start with 5 to 7 symbols per reel, which carry over to the next spin. However, landing a Cupcake symbol expands the reel it landed on up to a maximum of 12 symbols per reel. These extra positions are included in the Hold and Win. When a reel reaches 12 symbols high, between 3 and 12 additional free spins are granted. Up to 5 retriggers may be awarded.
Megapots
The three Megapot prizes are displayed above the reels, and change values on each spin. They may be won only during the Hold and Spin. The Mini can have values of 100x to 300x, the Midi from 1,000x to 8,888x and the Mega 20,888 to 88,888x the bet.
Bonus Buy
The bonus buy menu comes with two choices. One is to buy the Hold and Spin round for 35x the bet or 12 free spins for 100x the bet.
White Rabbit 2: Slot Verdict
If ever an online slot had mountains of hopes lavished upon it, it’s got to be White Rabbit 2. Almost a decade has passed since this one and the original, providing plenty of time to fire imaginations as to how a sequel might evolve. White Rabbit 2 has arrived with the weight of expectation on its shoulders, as it attempts to follow in the footsteps of its iconic predecessor. While the original significantly boosted Big Time Gaming’s reputation for innovation, the sequel more timidly builds on that legacy with some fairly common features. Visually, it retains the whimsical, psychedelic charm of Wonderland, and the inclusion of beloved characters such as Alice, the Cheshire Cat, and the Mad Hatter adds a layer of appeal, but the question is whether White Rabbit 2 does enough to satisfy those who were longing for a sequel.
The supposition is no, maybe not entirely. Or at least, not to the level as White Rabbit did. The ‘new’ parts aren’t as innovative as the original slot’s features were, breaking down to a hold ‘n’ win round and some jackpot prizes. To be fair, the Hold and Spin feature does possess an abundance of interesting Character symbols which can do pretty cool stuff, and the Mega Megapots prize has an enormous top value, of 88,888x the bet – far in excess of White Rabbit’s potential. Mix in BTG’s generally reliable maths, and there is no doubt White Rabbit 2 is able to blow hair back. Having said that, the addition of Megapots, as with other sequels it’s been grafted onto, is likely to be a make-or-break feature, a true divider that might draw in mainstream players while alienating some of the hardcore fan base.
And so, there’s that little nagging voice which was expecting a bit more. What’s here is totally fine, the stats are sturdy, the features are able to fire, and it’s a beautifully crafted slot, but compared to the original release, White Rabbit 2 lacks the same level of beguiling wonder. Still, fans of the first game and newcomers alike can both find a sturdy slot, even if the trip into the rabbit hole doesn’t feel as deep this time.