Fruit Fiesta Slot
Fruit Fiesta sounds like a rather obvious (and by obvious, read corny) title for a slot game. All the same, this 5-reel casino title from Microgaming does what it says on the tin, its reels inundated with fresh, fruity symbols. It also lures punters in with the promise of a colossal progressive jackpot. Providing you win big, the game’s name will be etched forever in your mind – whether you think it blows or not.
A sequel to the popular three-reel Fruit Fiesta, this old-fashioned game offers 15 paylines across its 5x3 grid. The title features scatters, wilds, multipliers and an autoplay option, but dispenses with any free spins bonuses. In fact, there’s no bonus game to speak of. Evidently Microgaming are hoping that the progressive jackpot alone will tempt gamers to take some action especially with UK casino brands given their base of operations is there and the progressive jackpot feature is popular with UK players.
A Welcome Upgrade
If you loved the 3-reel version of Fruit Fiesta, you’ll probably fall head over heels in love with the 5-reel incarnation. This upgraded edition boasts a mammoth jackpot that is hit, on average, every ten days. There are no fewer than 34 winning combinations, so even if you don’t scoop the grand prize, you can still bolster your bankroll in base play. Those who are dab hands at the game may want to take advantage of the AutoPlay function; if this sounds like you, be sure to select the Expert mode button on your game screen.
The symbols will be familiar to players of the 3-reel game, or indeed gamers who whiled away their late teens in a slew of fruit machine-bearing pubs. The icons include an apple, a melon, an orange, a lemon, a pineapple, a watermelon and a plum; there’s also a bell, a Fruit Fiesta logo, a BAR symbol and a number seven.
The Fruit Fiesta logo is the game’s wild, meaning it can substitute for other symbols to create winning combinations. It can’t, however, replace the melon. Those aiming high will be looking to hit five Fruit Fiesta symbols on the 15th payline to land the progressive jackpot. Five Fruit Symbol icons anywhere else pays out 9,000 coins.
No Free Spins On The Scatter
In online slot games, the scatter almost always yields free spins. This isn’t most slot games, though: it’s Fruit Fiesta, an old-school pub staple. Consequently, three or more melons on any reel provides nothing but a standard pay-out. Five-in-a-line yields 400 credits, with wins multiplied by the total number of credit stakes.
Other high-paying symbols include the 7s; five of these gives you a 750 kitty. Five BAR icons, meanwhile, pays 400.
All of the symbols are bright and clean, though a cynic might say that making a fruit machine colourful deserves no plaudits. Let’s just say, then, that the graphics are what you’d expect from a game of this nature.
Wanna Gamble? Too Bad
Some software developers – Novomatic, for example – chuck a gamble option in there as a matter of course. The gamble function appeals to some gamblers, although it appeals more to opportunistic developers, who realise the odds are stacked in their favour. Anyway, it’s a moot point since Microgaming have eschewed such a function on Fruit Fiesta. If you wanna double your winnings, then, there’s no quick way of doing so: you just need to play the game and hope for the best. With 34 winning combinations to hit, we’d wager you’ll find no difficulty in putting together a half-decent bankroll if your luck’s in.
The Verdict
Fruit Fiesta is a lazily named slot machine, but it plays just like you’d expect. It’s one of those slot titles that’ll either leave you charmed or unmoved, and that probably depends on your prior relationship with fruit machines. If you’ve had a good experience, you’ll extoll this title’s merits until the cows come home. If you’ve squandered your life savings in just such a machine, I’d ask: why are you returning to the site of your grim failure? One thing’s for sure, those succulent fruits and resplendent BAR symbols work just as well in the digital conversion as in their initial analogue versions. Everything, from the graphics to the sound, accurately recreates the age-old fruit machines of past. Give this one a shot and see if you can hit the progressive jackpot. You never know…
