Cirque du Cheval Slots

If you can recall your school days – and if you actually paid attention in French lessons – then you might be savvy to the fact that Cirque du Cheval translates into English as “Circus Horse”. So, you can be sure to find some flamboyant spinning action straight from the top drawer of extravagance in this Novomatic slot machine.

There are 5 reels and 40 paylines for punters to play with, not to mention a special “Carousel” feature which will shift the reels for extra winning potential before a set of free games is played.

Round and round the merry-go-round

Cirque du Cheval presents an oddly charming novelty slot machine to the spinning public. The theme is quite unique by depicting a carousel that is made up of a variety of creatures, all of which appear to be taken straight out of a Beatrix Potter story or some other far-away fairy-tale kingdom. There is a frog wearing a red waistcoat, a galloping hare, a bright blue seahorse, a pink ostrich and, the centre-piece of the merry-go-round, a white unicorn with a bold blue mane. So, it's not your average set of critters, that is for sure.

As you can imagine, this Novomatic slot machine is suitably designed with plenty of vibrant colours and circus style theme music to send players straight into the heart of the entertainment. The reels are encased in golden frames to emulate the upright poles of the carousel and even the generic playing card icons – 10, J, Q, K, and A – are all shown in the typical font of the circus for extra showiness. That said, Cirque du Cheval isn't exactly going to knock your socks off with any particularly impressive 3D animations or special side characters, like so many modern slot machines are prone to have nowadays.

Take a punt on the horses

Even though this slot machine may not be right up there with the most visually stunning of games, it still packs a powerful punch when it comes to the prize winning potential. That is because punters can feasibly win up to 100,000 credits on a single spin, providing they play with a line bet that is worth 200 credits.

Plus, spinners can opt to play with anywhere between 1 and 40 lines, meaning that the total maximum bet is a fairly hefty 8,000 credits – perfect for high stake players. If you're not that adventurous, then you could just play with 1 credit on 1 payline to limit your losses.

All of the payouts in Cirque du Cheval are made up from rows of three or more matching icons upon active paylines from left to right, a scenario which will award a line bet multiplier from the paytable below:

Players can boost any winning spin by playing a simple 50/50 gamble game. Guess the correct colour of a playing card to double your wins. But be careful, because every wrong guess will result in the original win and any accrued gamble wins being lost

Carousel bonus

What would a fairground themed slot machine such as this one be without any special bonus features to add some fun to the proceedings? Well, luckily for us, Cirque du Cheval has plenty of extra gameplay features to break up the normal spinning action. For a start, there is a wild symbol – depicted by the game's logo – which will substitute for all other line paying icons, helping to form successful line bet combinations.

There are two icons that won't be replaced by the wild symbol – a carousel and a set of tickets – both of which combine to give players some extra special rides of the slot machine. In fact, should a stack of four ticket symbols appear on the first reel while a carousel icon appears on the fifth reel, the reels will shift along to reveal even more ticket symbols and players will be treated to 12, 16, or 20 free games. The number of free games which are awarded depends on how many times the stacked icons on the first reel are shifted along.

Worth a spin?

Novomatic slot machines tend to play it fairly safe when it comes to design features, and this game is no exception. Because, for all of the bright colours and extravagance of the circus theme, Cirque Du Cheval is somewhat underwhelming when compared to other games out there with 3D animations and special narrative-based bonus features. However, with 40 paylines and a potential jackpot of 100,000 credits, this is a slot machine that high-rolling players will no doubt enjoy having a ride on.