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It is fair to say that the tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights have provided us with some of the most famous stories of our time. They have also inspired a number of other stories, notably the story of Aladdin, which was made into a blockbuster Disney cartoon many years back and was recently re-made this time using real actors.
So with a lot of fondness for this theme and when I heard that Realtime Gaming's new release in March 2020, 5 Wishes, was about to hit casinos, I was intrigued to see what it had to offer.
Well, my first impressions are detailed in the review below and the first thing you should note about this 5x3 reel slot, which starts at bets of just 0.25 per spin, is that it is a high volatility game. A very high volatility slot in fact. Which means that you are not going to win anywhere near as often as you would on even a medium volatility slot, let alone a low volatility game.
However, these games can also produce some seismic wins too, which really appeal to fans of this particular type of game, so will they love the 5 Wishes slot? Let's take a closer look to find out.
Overview
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Presentation
The presentation of the 5 Wishes slot is rather nicely done. The backdrop of the slot is a very ornate cityscape which looks like it could have been taken from Persia itself. The sound is also very nicely done, mixing influences of Arabia with a more modern westernized score to produce a very pleasing mix and one that you will not want to hit the mute button to silence.
The reels are set in the middle of the screen and they animate very nicely. The progressive jackpots are shown at the top of the screen and they are the Minor and Major jackpot prizes. There are some very nice animation and cut scenes used when you land some of the better value wins or trigger a bonus feature and these all enhance the look and feel of the game.
What's on the reels?
There are some interesting symbols on the reels and as you would expect from a slot based on the Aladdin story, there are plenty of characters from it on the reels. The premise of the slot is of course the genie and his ability to grant wishes to those that awaken him. It's a simple premise, and one used in other slots too, but Realtime Gaming have produced something very pleasing on the eye here.
The lower value symbols on the reels are the playing card symbols and they range from the 9 through to the Ace. Rather disappointingly, they seem to have just been ported over from another game and they don't really have the flourish or ornateness of some of the better value symbols.
These symbols include items such as a rather splendid looking palace, Aladdin's pet monkey, the Princess Jasmine and of course Aladdin himself, who is the highest paying of the standard symbols in the base game. There are also a couple of other symbols to note on the reels, the Scatter and the Wilds which we will look at in more detail below.
Wild features
There are two different types of Wild symbols in the 5 Wishes slot. The first are the standard Genie Wilds symbols. These only appear on the first reel of the slot and they are used solely to substitute for other symbols. However, the good news is that any win that a Wild is part of, will automatically qualify for a 2x multiplier, doubling the value of the win.
However, there is another Wild in the game and that is the Genie Magic Wild. This can occur when any of the Genie Wilds lands on the first reel and when it does, at random, a Genie Magic Wild may occur. When this happens, other symbols on the reels can be transformed into other Wild symbols. The higher value character symbols, monkey, Princess Jasmine and Aladdin are the symbols that will be turned into additional Wilds for this feature. So obviously, the more of these symbols you have on the reels when the feature triggers, the better the outcome will likely be for you.
Free Spins features
The Scatter symbol is the key to the Free Symbols bonus in the game and this is the Magic Lamp. If you can land three, four or five of these across the reels in any position, then you will be rewarded with either 10, 20 or 100 Free Spins respectively, based on how many Scatters you landed.
One nice touch is that you can re-trigger the Free Spins bonus round from within your Free Spins by landing more Scatters on the reels during a bonus spin. One other positive is that the Genie Wild is much more in play on your Free Spins, which offers you a better chance of landing a win on each spin.
Other bonus features
The other bonus feature of the slot is the progressive jackpots. These are randomly awarded on any qualifying spin and there are two that can be won. The Minor is the smaller jackpot of the two, which is generally started at around the $250 mark, while the Major jackpot is the larger and is typically worth around $1,000.
One thing to note, depending on how much you play on each spin, it is possible that the in game top jackpot prize of 5,000x your bet could be worth considerably more than the progressive jackpot prize, which is something worth keeping track of.
Best feature of the 5 Wishes slot
There are a number of nice features on the 5 Wishes slot. They include some fine presentation, excellent sound and graphics and a very generous Free Spins bonus round, which can see you land up to 100 spins (which can be re-triggered). For me though it is the Wilds that are the star of the show as without them the base game could be extremely difficult to land some of the better value wins from. The Genie Magic Wild is key to keeping the base game interesting and although it doesn't trigger often, when it does you can be rewarded handsomely.
What does the 5 Wishes slot lack?
It would be churlish to suggest that the game lacks base game wins given that it has been designed as a much higher volatility slot, but if you are a fan of lower volatility games, then 5 Wishes is probably not for you. However, if you like games that offer bigger value wins when you hit a winner, then this is a slot that will definitely have lots of appeal.
Conclusion
As high volatility slots go, the 5 Wishes slot from Realtime Gaming is an absolute cracker to play in terms of how the game looks and plays. Yes the base game is tough and it can take time and patience to hit some of the better value wins in the game, but that is precisely how a more volatile slot should work. With smooth animations, great sound and the potential for some excellent top value prizes, plus two progressive jackpot prizes, this is a game that will have real appeal for fans of higher variance gaming.
Ratings
Good Luck!
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