Lucky Unicorn Slot Machine

Lucky Unicorn isn’t the most thrilling of slot machines you’ll ever come across. There is no funky layout, big prize incentive or exciting story behind the game. In fact, it’s all done for free and you can’t win any actual money.

But with all that, is it still worth taking this 5-reel, 3 row, 11-line video game out for a spin?

Dazed and Confused

Let’s be honest: unicorns aren’t real. And unless you find their mythical status charming, you’re unlikely to find much to be excited about the game. Alongside the numbers that go down from ace to nine, are unicorn heads, four leaved clovers, horseshoes, gold coins, a pot of gold and a mysterious scramble button. In case you were curious, there aren’t any lucky leprechauns, dragons, rabbit’s foot or number sevens.

Now, that wouldn’t be so bad if the game were easy to understand. The assumption is you want to get at least three identical symbols in a row but it’s never made clear what the overall aim of the game is. There are no rules clearly seen to explain. The question mark that presumably gives details goes to a dead link. It all gets rather confusing.

There’s no way of holding any of the five rows down that you might feel confident will come up in the next spin. There’s also an autospin button which reminds you how little influence you have on the outcome; surely taking all the fun out of it.

If you try to find out more from either sidebar you’re going to be disappointed. Opening the left directs you to different games played for real money whereas the right one offers you the chance to register for extra bonuses. Neither of which is likely to appeal, even if you overlooked the garish colour combinations.

Look for the Unicorns

With a little perseverance you will find the rule book. If the win lines happen more than once in one spin, the highest win is given. Coinciding wins are added together. The 11-line winnings can’t be changed so it is extremely rigid

You’ll be rooting for a unicorn sighting. As you’ll have guessed by the game’s title, it is a magical symbol. It can take the place of any icon in order to make a match, except for the scatter button. If you get those two together the points are doubled.

Fifteen new games can be unlocked by three, four or five scatter symbols; with the stake used as a winbase. During these games, winnings are worth three times more than usual. To be honest you’re unlikely to want to get to that stage. It’s a bit like being offered more sandwiches at a cafe when you didn’t like them much in the first place.

Is This Just Fantasy?

The makers try to set the scene of a virtual fantasy land and the game contains a lilac background and sparkling pictures. The visuals fail to be charming as the colours are too bright. The picture icons have no warmth or personality.

If Kings, Queens and Jacks were in fact picture icons rather than just K, Q and J it would be nicer to look at. It would also benefit the game as the non-real prizes are actually pretty low and it can be rather naff to look at and boring to play.

The tiny numbers at either side of the slot machine feature numbers from one to 11 are unnecessary. They can’t be clicked on and it’s unclear why they’re there.

The buttons that can be pressed only have a limited benefit. The paytable page is difficult to work out, only really indicating that the unicorn and scatter images are the ones that have any worth. Indeed, apart from the rule book and winnings list, the only other worthwhile option gives you the chance to mute the standard music accompanying the icons being selected.

Could Do Better

If you are after the thrill of playing the latest in slot machine games without the risk of playing for real money, in theory, this should be the one for you. Even if you took out the disappointing visuals, uninspired prizes and complications in finding the rules, when it comes down to it, it just isn’t fun to play. Sorry, LIONLINE, but you could have done much better.