The bees Pokie Review
The Bees is a 5-reel 9-payline video slot themed around bees as the name implies. Designed and decorated with flowers, clouds, bees and honey pots, the pokie makes a cheerful impression that will become even more decisive when you unlock bonus features. One of the most captivating features is played on the second screen where you have to use keyboard arrows to control a flying bee and collect perks. Besides, the video pokie has a wild symbol and scatters. Finally, a Swap feature can provide you with a needed symbol and lead to great money wins. The maximum potential win in the pokie is $2500.
The game graphics seem to have been created in MS Paint software and made by a child who had a week-long experience in picture drawing. At first glance, you will be surprised greatly with the simplicity of visuals that were designed in an offhand manner. However, this simplicity and carelessness is deliberate, not because of lack of skills, because Betsoft’s artists are top-quality professionals who have released state-of-the-art pokies with mind-blowing graphical solutions. Anyway, this childish graphics with pencil-drawn bees and flowers looks sweet and endearing.
In terms of game model, Betsoft utilizes here a standard 5×3 arrangement with 9 paylines. Winning combinations pay from left to right and you need to get no less than three matching non-feature symbols to get a reward.
Symbols and payouts
There are seven normal symbols that are comprised of a red flower ($40 at the maximum stake), orange flower ($60), pink flower ($150), Maxwell, a male bee ($150), bee house ($250), Beatrice, a female bee ($500) and a star with the pokie title on it ($1500). The payouts above are specified for five of a kind, provided the maximum bet has been placed on a winning spin.
Bet options
The game is focused on low-rollers and casual players – high-rollers will hardly find the bet sizes interesting. Anyway, there are three options to set. First, the number of lines is easily changed from 1 to 9 (9 is set by default). Then, you have a coin denomination that varies between $0.01 and $1, which is a traditional range for Betsoft titles. Finally, you can place up to 5 coins per line. Therefore, you can place a bet anywhere between $0.09 and $45 per spin.
Wild symbol
A pair of bees flying over a meadow acts as a wild icon. This symbol performs a substitution function, meaning it behaves like a joker card, acting as any other regular symbol when needed to complete a winning combination. Wilds cannot create their own payable combos but five of them stopped on an active line activate an interesting feature. The reels will change and the five wilds take the form of five other symbols and grant you a cash prize.
Scatters
Pots filled with honey are scatter symbols. They do not need to fall in a payline pattern to be counted towards a combination. Whenever two or more scatters appear in any place in view, you receive a relevant payout as per the paytable. When two scatters appear, you receive x50 times the line bet ($250 at max), while five scatters can bring you a hefty $2500. No bonus features are awarded in the wake of it – you just receive some profit to your pokie credit balance.
Bee Flight bonus feature
Normally, bonus features are mini games of chance in which the player has to rely on the law of probabilities. In these games, an outcome of the bonus game is determined by random and the player cannot affect it. In The Bees, on the contrary, there is a bonus feature that requires some skills, dexterity and fast reaction. If you use your best efforts, the bonus prize will be great. If for some reasons you fail to do your best, you will get nothing or very little.
The Bee Flight bonus round is triggered on hitting Maxwell, Star and Beatrice on reels 2, 3 and 4, in that exact order. You will then see an information page with instructions on how to play the mini game. In brief words, you should use arrow keys on the keyboard to move the flying bee up, down left and right. Your task is to fly Beatrice or Maxwell across the hillside and collect flowers. Some flowers award instant coins, while others unlock some bonuses, including a time bonus that extends the length of your mini game. There is also a Bee-Gone poisonous flower that slows you down. When the time limit has elapsed, the bonus game is over, the credits are tallied and awarded, and you return to base game.
Swap feature
This Swap feature can play out if you have caught a Swap flower during the Bee Flight bonus. Once hitting a winning combination in a base mode, you are invited to swap any two symbols to possibly get more winning combos. Note that using a symbol swap feature deducts a bet automatically from your balance, which is equal to your current spin bet so be careful when thinking over which symbols to pick for a swap.
Bottom line on The Bees
The Bees is a funny and colorful 5-reel pokie with endearing bee symbols and cheerful visual design. Bonus features include a wild with an added feature for five of a kind, a scatter and a unique arcade-styled bonus game where you move the bee and collect flowers to earn coins. The maximum prize in base rounds is $2500, which is awarded for five scatters.