Designed by NextGen Gaming, Dolphin Reef was created in order to show off the beauty of the ocean and the creatures which inhabit it. The topic chosen in this case is by no means original, it’s quite common actually, but that shouldn’t matter if it’s a well designed slot machine. Is this a game that you absolutely must play? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have its own advantages and things that might convince some players.
Players that try out Dolphin Reef place bets on a maximum of 20 lines and they experience a re-spin feature, wild symbols which can expand on occasion, plus scatters. The big prize of the game is valued at $10,000.
Features of Dolphin Reef
If you’re looking at the features of Dolphin Reef, you will find that there are two types of symbols with special abilities, a wild and a scatter. The wild is the one responsible for the slot’s only other feature, the re-spins.
Like in plenty of other slots from NextGen, the wild symbol is not available on all the reels. Instead, you’re going to find it on the 2nd and the 4th ones, from where it can substitute for any other symbol, being only one exception to that rule, the scatter. Since only two reels can hold the wild, there are no payouts that can be won directly from it. The image shown on the wild is that of the Dolphin.
The Treasure Chest is another image that many ocean themed games will use, and in this case it is used as a trigger for some very special prizes. Winning up to 100 times the amount you wagered that round is possible if enough of these scattered Treasure Chests are present on the reels, though if you have only the minimum of three then you only get 3x the bet.
Re-Spin Feature
The re-spins are activated when you have the wild Dolphin on both the 2nd and the 4th reels simultaneously. The Dolphin wilds expand and cover the reels they’re on if that happens, while the other three reels will re-spin for a total of 5 times, without any cost to you.
Betting options and jackpots
The game doesn’t make it too difficult to you, asking only for 20 coins to start the game. Each coin has a value of $2 at its highest, while the minimum is at $0.01. You can spend $40 each round.
The prizes you can get from it go up to 5,000 coins, which is often a value that is available in slots from NextGen. The value of the coins goes up to $10,000.
Design and symbols
While it has a decent enough design, the game isn’t one of the best marine themed titles I’ve seen. There are plenty out there that did a better job both with the background image and with the symbols on the reels. The background shows you a view of the plants found at the bottom of the ocean, but with no living creatures swimming around. As for the symbols, they have among them the poker cards that you see in so many slot machines, and they’re not fun at all. The themed symbols are of good quality though, it’s just a shame that there aren’t more of them.
Symbols: Dolphin (wild), Treasure Chest (scatter, 100x total wager), Fish (5,000 coins), Turtle (1,000 coins), Starfish (500 coins), Seahorse (500 coins), Ace (250 coins), King (250 coins), Queen (150 coins), Jack (150 coins), Ten (100 coins) and Nine (100 coins).
Is It Worth Playing?
Marine themed slots are quite common these days, and the game doesn’t have the best graphics out there, so the main thing that could make you want to give it a chance would be the re-spin option and its expanding wilds.
The Dolphin Reef slot machine is offered through the NextGen platform, so if you want to play it for real or just to practice, look out for casinos that use it.
