Bolt X UP Slot Machine: Review & Demo
Microgaming keeps launching multiple new slot machines each month, and they’re mostly developed by exclusive suppliers. It’s the case with Bolt X UP as well, a game made by Alchemy Gaming. The basis for its gameplay comes from the X UP mechanic, which we’ve seen a couple of times before. Chronicles of Olympus X UP, along with Africa X UP, are the other two we’ve played so far.
Bolt X UP proposes a setup that we’ve seen many times before, but it’s powerful and fun to use. I’m talking about its 5x3 reels, and the 243 ways to win available on them. Thanks to the X UP scatters, Multiplier Meter, free spins, and the expanding wilds, this slot machine can pay an impressive top prize of 10,935x the round’s wager. What makes it impressive is that the volatility is only medium in this case, and the RTP is also good at 96.22%.
Bolt X UP Betting and Prizes
Your wagers in Bolt X UP may start from a minimum value of just $0.10, and from there they could go up to $20.
Bolt X UP is capable of making its players happy, without actually making the action as volatile as we’d see in other cases. Medium volatility is announced for it, and yet its top prize goes up to 10,935x the total wager. Add the RTP, which is at 96.22%, and we have all the elements that would attract a player to this slot in the first place.
Slot Features
There are only two feature symbols that can land in this game, but they’re both quite powerful, and they contribute to you getting closer to the top jackpot.
First, we’re seeing the W expanding wild, a substitute that always ends up occupying the three positions on its reel. It is a replacement for the other symbols, and this can help you get paid more in the long run, even if the combinations formed this way aren’t as valuable as its own. A combo of up to five wilds brings you a prize of up to 4.5x the stake per line/way to win. You need only 5 expanding wilds at the same time, and all ways to win would pay, a total of 1,093.5x the total stake (boosted by up to 10x during free spins, to get the top jackpot).
The second feature symbol is the X Up scatter from the reels 2-4, which can be used when it lands just twice, to fill up an X token from the Multiplier Meter (left side). The higher up the ladder you go, the more tokens you need to get to the next level. Get a total of 23 tokens, and you could reach the top, where you would find a 10x multiplier. These multipliers are only useful once you reach the free spins, since they apply to all wins there.
Whenever you get all three X Up scatters to appear at the same time, you get access to 8 free games. You start off with the Multiplier Meter value that you collected during regular spins, so the wins should be better already. You can improve the multiplier further, and get 2 free spins as well, whenever scatters appear on the 2nd and 4th reels.
Theme & Design
While the previous X Up slots weren’t too impressive when it came to their stories either, I’d say that the themes are getting worse. In this one, we’re seeing a fruit theme. They didn’t add fire, like others would’ve done, but they did include electricity in most of the symbols and the background image. It sort of looks like a laboratory where experiments are being made.
As for what we see on its reels, there will be the standard 10 to A Royals, but also classics ranging from cherries and bells, to the Bar logo, diamonds, or Sevens. An X Up logo serves as scatter, and an expanding wild shows up with a W logo on it.
Conclusion
Bolt X Up does come with a couple of advantages, at least compared with many of the other medium volatility slots we see around. With above average rewards, and some interesting mechanics, it could be a fine option for someone interested in a modern game, but with classic roots when it comes to its graphics.
