Balthazar Cortes Slot Machine

Set sail to the New World where there is an abundance of gold waiting to be won. This Balthazar Cortes video slot machine from Playbetter takes punters back in time and half way across the world to experience the conquest of the famous Aztec Empire and, if you spin the reels right, you could end up pocketing a share of the spoils!

If there’s one thing that we’ve come to expect from pokies that were designed with software by Playbetter, then it is that the graphics are usually going to be a bit hit and miss. As such, this game probably won’t appeal to punters who are after the cutting edge in slot machine design. Then again, there is still plenty of merit in having a spin with cascading reels, win multipliers, free spins, wild wins and a special bonus side game.

The Riches of the New World

Long before Europeans had even set foot on the continent of America, there had been many glorious civilisations in the Mesoamerican world. One of the greatest (and last) was the Aztec Empire which dominated large parts of modern day Mexico from the 14th to the 16th centuries. Famed for their vibrant culture and religion that was reverent of the natural world, not to mention a few unsavoury traditions, the Aztecs finally met their demise when Hernan Cortes and other Spanish conquistadors conquered the region.

These free Balthazar Cortes slots give you a very brief impression of the historical moment with a quick intro video which shows a conquistador character running up the steps of an Aztec pyramid before rolling around in heaps of gold (we imagine it was a bit more difficult than that in reality!). This little video gives you a perfect taste for the slightly silly-looking 3D graphics that are used throughout the slot machine and on other Playbetter slots. With that in mind, it’s safe to say that you can find more impressive designs on most recent online slots.

Go for the Gold

With 5 reels and 10 paylines, you might think that this is just another ordinary video slot. However, the game does play a little bit different from other games out there at online casinos thanks to its unique cascading reels gameplay element. This essentially means that the symbols will fall into position from above with any icons involved in a winning formation disappearing so that new icons can drop into the empty spaces. Each time a consecutive win is won, the win multiplier will increase going up to a maximum of x4.

All of the wins can bee seen in the game’s paytable but the high-paying combination of five golden blocks will return a top line bet multiplier worth 2,000x. Considering that the top line bet on offer is worth 20.00 coins, this makes for a rather substantial jackpot prize of 40,0000 coins. Overall, the high limit wager is 200.00 coins while the low limit is just 0.50 credits.

Plenty of Bonus Fun

Not only does this slot machine shake up the spinning action with some cascading reels for consecutive multiplier wins, but it also promises plenty more more bonus prize offerings. Beginning with the wild icons, this golden face will appear on the reels to potentially complete prize-paying sequences on the reels. This wild symbol also acts as a scatter icon which can appear 5, 10 or 20 free spins whenever three, four or five appear in any position on the reels. During this free spin feature, there will only be three symbols involved for more likely winning formations.

Punters can also get involved in a bit of extra bonus action by collecting 10 bonus coins to fill up the metres by the sides of the reels. A coin will be added whenever a combination of 5 symbols is found and it will eventually take players to a special side game whenever 10 are found.

More Cascading Reels

The cascading reels feature of this slot machine is perhaps one of its biggest attractions. However, it isn’t the only online casino game to offer the feature with many other titles out there serving up some similar gameplay. Take a look at slots such as Gonzo’s Quest by NetEnt, Valhalla by Wazdan and Gems of Isis by Galewind.

Dodgy Design but Well Worth a Spin

While the graphics in this video slot might seem a little bit on the basic side of things when compared to other new slots on the market, we can’t deny that the game has plenty to offer in the gameplay department. With cascading reels, increasing multipliers, free spins, wild wins and a bonus game, we reckon that you might just be able to overlook dodgy design!