Developer Novomatic is inviting players to join Rio’s famous carnival in its new Samba de Janeiro slot. Available to play on all devices, it’s a bright, 5 reel, 20 payline game. The highlight is the bonus feature that awards 12 free spins complete with 3 nudging wilds. Play from between 40p and £50 per spin.
Novomatic isn’t renowned for its high-end design but the visuals in Samba de Janeiro are decent enough. The A to 10 playing cards the lowest value symbols on the plain black reels. More rewarding are the maracas and hand chimes that pay up to 20 times your stake and the samba drummer who pays 40 times your total stake if you land 5 on a payline.
The best of the standard symbol is the carnival queen – sporting a revealing gold costume she pays 5, 25 or 100 times your stake if you land a 3, 4 or 5-symbol combination. There’s also a wild (the 5 dancing girls). It doesn’t offer any awards in itself but does substitute for everything bar the scatter. The wild comes into its own during the Free Games feature.
To trigger it, you’ll need to land 3, 4 or 5 of the silhouette scatter – as well as a payout equal to 2, 10 or 50 times your stake you’ll also get 12 free spins. Before the feature begins, 3 wilds will be added to reels 2, 3 and 4: 1 will be at the top of the reel, a second in the middle and a third at the bottom.
On each free spin, the wilds nudge down 1 position. When they drop off the bottom, they appear again on the top of the same row. You’ll have 3 wilds in play on each free spin.
Novomatic’s tried and tested formula is to keep things simple. That’s certainly the case in Samba de Janeiro. The visuals are better than some Novomatic games but still aren’t from the top drawer. They’re decent enough though. As is the samba percussion that hails winning spins and the bonus round.
The gameplay is all about the bonus feature. There’s little to set the pulse racing in the base game. The extra wilds in the feature can quickly have a big impact though.
If you’re not usually a fan of Novomatic games, Samba de Janeiro won’t win you over. If you enjoy the usual combination of simple design and volatile action then this is one party you won’t want to miss. If you want some samba action, Playtech’s Samba Carnival is a good game to play.