Ned and his Friends Pokie Review
This is a 5-reel 30-payline video slot with a quirky theme. It tells you the story of Ned and his friends, domesticated mice. With the unusual thematic approach, Betsoft filled the game with some nice bonus features such as free spins, Rat Tail Click Me mini bonus and an admirable Ratty Doo-Wop feature where you will see a group of lovely rats performing a song and dancing. Ned and His Friends is a perfect video pokie for those who love Betsoft’s distinctive graphics and extraordinary features with a twist.
Ned is a common guy. He lives in a low-key apartment and leads a mundane life. But Ned has a secret: singing and dancing rats. He conceals it even from his girlfriend. On the pokie screen you will see a part of Ned’s apartment with cheap furniture, empty boxes and an old chair. Ned is seen sitting in the chair, looking at the reels when they are spinning, sipping tea from a glass and clicking a remote control. The graphics in the game are designed to resemble an animated cartoon for children, in which Ned and his rats play the key role. Betsoft use here their standard 5×3 configuration with 30 paylines in which symbols need to align left to right on adjacent reels in order to award a paytable cash prize.
The bonus content in the pokie is average. The features are OK but the game lacks a wild symbol, which is a rare occurrence today. Nonetheless, the absence of a wild does not seem to hurt the quality of the gameplay because other bonus features eke out the lack. Another thing to note is that the pokie has no Double Up feature.
Symbols and payouts
The game has 7 regular non-feature symbols, most of which display domestic rats. This might seem a bit boring if the rats were not pictured with individual traits that differ the animals from each other. Symbols include a front door ($250 at the maximum stake), rat #1 ($500), rat #2 ($750), a rat eating a cookie ($1000), rat #4 ($1250), a white rat ($1500) and Ned himself ($2500). Four different symbols pay out if two of the same appear on a payline, while three symbols award for three of a kind (and greater). Wins are animated perfectly with superb cinematic graphics and short videos tied to each individual symbol. For example, there is a one-second video showing a rat sneaking nimbly into a chair, and so on. The visual design in the pokie is certainly up to the mark!
Bet options
The pokie provider built the game with the widest audience of gamblers in mind because Ned and His Friends has flexible bet sizes. First of all, the 30 paylines are not fixed and you can deactivate any number of them. Coins are present in a few reasonable denominations from a cent to $1. Besides, you can choose to place 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 coins per line, therefore the minimum and maximum bets are $0.30 and $150 per spin. Combos in the video slot occur on almost every spin, which makes it a typical low-variance game with frequent but small wins.
Singing Rats free spins
The feature is triggered by hitting three Group of Rats symbols in any position. This is a spectacular feature that will make you smile when you are having a bad day. You are awarded 5 free spins. Before they start, five rats wearing straw hats will run on the wooden floor below the reels and begin dancing and moving every time you have a winning combination. This looks really funny and entertaining. The feature can be retriggered if three scatters land again during free spins.
Rat Tail Click Me feature
This is a simple on-reel feature that runs on the same screen as the reels. You awarded this feature when three symbols depicting a rat’s tail in a mousehole land in any position. You will be asked to click on any of the three rat’s tails to reveal an instant cash prize. The feature gives you only one click so this is a very quick bonus that lasts for just a few seconds.
Ratty Doo-Wop feature
A doo wop is an old-time favorite dance that was highly popular around 60-70 years ago. Ned’s girlfriend is young so she has hardly seen anyone dancing doo wop in her life, say nothing of dancing rats. Needless to say that she went off into a faint on seeing that extraordinary performance. The bonus feature starts when three or more of Kate’s symbols land on the screen. You will see a table where five rats are standing, and Kate lying on the floor unconscious. Your task is to choose a soloist to sing her a tune until she wakes up.
You may choose Franklin, Sweet Pea, Mack, Denny or Charles, and the selected rat will sing a groovy song. When the poor girl comes around, the rats will high tail and you get a bonus award. The exact bonus amount is random and it depends on your bet size in the triggering base game.
Bottom line on Ned and His Friends
This 5-reel pokie from Betsoft is themed around an average guy who has five domestic rats at home. The pokie has three bonus features including free spins, a click me instant bonus and a second-screen Doo Wop mini game. Bet sizes are adjustable between $0.30 and $150, and the maximum regular prize reaches $2500. The game is compatible with most iOS/Android devices with no quality compromised.