Cairo Link & Win Slot Machine: Review & Demo
The latest collaboration between Games Global (Microgaming’s platform was acquired by them) and Gold Coin Studios, is an Ancient Egypt-themed slot machine, called Cairo Link & Win. It’s obviously going to deliver the popular Link & Win respins as its main feature, but luckily that’s not all it has to offer.
Cairo Link & Win will spin 5 reels, with 3 symbols present on each one. A total of 20 paylines are active each round. Expect to get several features from it, such as expanding reels, stacked wilds, scatters, Link & Win respins, or free spins. All in all, when everything goes right in this highly volatile slot, a jackpot of 10,000x the round’s wager could be paid. The RTP looks alright, if you get the highest value from the range, at 96.21%.
Cairo Link & Win Betting and Prizes
Cairo Link & Win gets a common betting range, with a starting point at $0.20, and a maximum level reached at $25.
As for the payouts that players can claim, it’s through the Link & Win respins that the best ones are available. At that point, it’s a possibility to claim a Mega Jackpot worth up to $250,000 (10,000x the stake).
While you can expect the high volatility nature of this game to be an issue for plenty of players, at least it can be considered fair if you find a version that has the 96.21% RTP (lower options are also possible, so it’s something to watch out for).
Slot Features
One of several interesting features that you’re going to encounter in this case, is the stacked wild. Showing Scarabs in each position they occupy, these wilds are excellent substitutes, which make it much more likely that you will form combinations when they’re around.
Another interesting feature, and the one part that feels unique about this slot, is the Expanding Reels mechanic. It just requires certain symbols with the Eye of Ra on the first two columns, at which point you will find that the next three reels will all expand to 5 symbols each. At this point, getting money symbols to appear on the last reels will grant you their prizes, provided that you have at most 5 of them visible.
You can get 10 free spins as well, but you will need the Pyramid Scatter to appear three times at the same time. For one, you get only money or wild symbols on reel 3. Having money symbols that cover the 3rd reel, will result in them being copied to the nearby reels as well (2 and 4), so there is enough present to trigger Link & Win. Another advantage is that the premium symbols are the only ones left on the reels, along with the feature triggers.
Most will consider Link & Win respins to be the main strength of the slot. The 3 respins that trigger here will require the presence of 6+ money symbols first, each one with a different random prize. Land additional money symbols, to get them sticky as well, and to reset the respins. As the feature ends, you can claim a 10,000x jackpot when all positions are filled, but you also get smaller wins from each money symbol that was collected. Smaller fixed jackpots are also a possibility through this feature.
Theme & Design
You’re going to discover a common theme, that of Ancient Egypt, but there are some modern graphics as well, so it’s not unpleasant. Expect some of its symbols to be the less impressive Royals, five of them from 10 to A. You then get the premium symbols with Bastet, Horus, Anubis, and Cleopatra. Wilds, Pyramid scatters, money symbols, you also get some help from these.
Conclusion
Cairo Link & Win has a new mechanic that allows some of the reels to expand, but otherwise, it’s going to be a common slot machine in most respects. It works well enough, but it’s not something you’d play for a longer period of time.
