Once upon a time Pokie Review
This is a 5-reel 30-payline video slot inspired by fairy tales about princesses and dragons. Adding fun are six features including free spins with greedy goblins, instant bonus cash, a click me feature and a bonus round with sticky-fingered goblins. The game is perfect in terms of graphics and animations, and the maximum prize in regular game is $2500 up for grabs.
This is the storyline of the pokie released by Betsoft: Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess and a brave warrior. The princess was kidnapped by a sinister dragon and was kept in a big cage. Only the courageous knight could save the poor princess. Your objective is to help him beat the beast and deliver the beautiful fiancée back to the castle safe and sound. In Once Upon a Time, Betsoft use their signature 3D graphics and a popular 5×3 reel layout with 30 adjustable paylines.
The graphical ambiance fits the theme, since every smallest detail is designed as a nod to some heroic fairy tales, for example, the reels are encased in a stone frame, interface buttons are made as massive stubs or wooden barrels, and each symbol conveys the story perfectly. When you have a win, the symbols that contribute to it animate in a short video sequence. To sum up, Betsoft made an excellent job with this pokie in every respect.
Symbols and payouts
On the reels you will come across the following non-feature symbols: a shield and swords ($400), an axe stuck into wood ($500), a catapult ($750), a sword in stone ($1000), a big fried turkey ($1250), a messenger ($1500), treasures ($2000) and the princess ($2500). The cash prizes specified in brackets are for five of a kind, provided you have wagered the maximum stake for that winning spin. The pokie utilizes a standard model in which winning combos should line up from left to right on adjacent reels.
Bet options
Users who prefer betting low amounts will like the bet options offered in Once Upon a Time because the minimum bet is as low as $0.30 per spin. By using the Select Lines button, the player can decrease the default number of 30 lines and bet even less than 30 cents. Coins are available in a few denominations between $0.01 and $1, which translates into the maximum bet of $150 per spin.
Fire Starter feature
Surprisingly, the pokie has no wild symbol. This is somewhat strange because there are very few games today that would lack this kind of symbol. However, the gameplay is so balanced in the pokie that one would hardly notice the absence of substitution symbols. Anyway, Once Upon a Time has the Fire Starter special bonus that introduces a wild feature under certain conditions. Once you see a green goblin at the top of the central reel, a dragon will breathe fire on that reel, making it wild. Furthermore, if a regular treasure symbol lands on the reels when the wild reel is active, you will see the same wild reel on the next spin as well.
How She Loved the Knight feature
This is an instant bonus giveaway that activates fairly often in base game. When the princess and knight symbols appear next to each other on neighboring reels, they will kiss each other and pay you out a random money prize that is determined by your total bet.
Click Me feature with frugal goblins
Get three sacks of gold in any place to activate the click me feature. You will be prompted to click on any of the three sacks, each revealing instant cash. The feature continues until the sack of your choice reveals the bonus amount with the word “Collect”. The Click Me bonus has a repeating nature meaning that you are allowed to pick the sacks that you have already chosen in the current bonus session, thus you can have 5, 10 or even 15 attempts during the same feature.
Free spins
A tree house symbol depicting crazy goblins is another scatter that counts in any position. You should receive three of these symbols to get access to free spins. Before the feature begins, you get an instant reward of 300 coins and can win more free spins when the feature is active.
Save the Princess feature
This is the most spectacular feature of all, which is triggered by three Knight symbols in any position. Here you face a challenge of saving the princess from the bloodthirsty dragon. Your first step is to pick the most efficient weapon that you believe will kill the beast. There are four options to pick from: a hammer, a trusty catapult, a sword and a piece of fresh meat. By using the powerful arms, you fight back the dragon and release the princess from the cage. The bonus award is random like in other pokie features and it can reach astounding values of $6000 and higher.
Help Goblins Steal Treasures
In this feature triggered by 3 goblins in any position, you will be a goblin’s assistant in their attempt to pinch some valuables from the royal treasure room. You will not interact with the surroundings; instead, you will just watch the greedy goblins filching gems, goblets and other things to win you some bonus money.
Bottom line on Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time is a feature-packed video slot with 5 reels, 3 rows and 30 changeable paylines. There are a total of 6 bonuses to enjoy, including free spins, second-screen games and on-reel features, all triggered at short intervals. The maximum regular win in the pokie comes out at $2500 but bonus features still offer something extra for you to enjoy the game.