Pollen Party

Seeing Pollen Party for the first time was both a hit of nostalgia and amazement that a slot like this is being released in 2017. This release is special as Microgaming tackles its first 720 ways to win game with it, but while the format of the reels is new and different, you will find a lot of things that aren’t new with the title. People who followed the developers for a while will recognize it as a facelifted Pollen Nation. So get buzzing and let us see how Pollen Party holds up.

As already mentioned above, this is the first time Microgaming has made a slot with 720 ways the player can win. It has 5 reels, but its hive-like appearance truly makes it eye-catching, standing out in gameplay even if the graphics are not quite as modern as they could be. If anything, playing this game is a nice throw-back to how things used to be.

While most titles nowadays focus on finding new and exciting ways to unleash the various special features on the player, Pollen Party goes with the tried and true method of hiding them behind Scatters, but increasing the number of bonuses you can gain from it. However, one jump from the old style of gameplay is a great Autoplay feature. You have a wide range of options in how many spins you want the slot to do, and you can adjust a win limit if you so choose. The lack of a loss limit, in turn, feels somewhat bizarrely out of place.

The wide betting range present in Pollen Party was truly impressive to behold. Going all out for their new game, Microgaming allows you to tackle what lies within for $0.50 up to $250 if you so desire. Paired with a unique reel format, it has great potential to deliver some fantastic wins. But potential is not always realized. Especially when compared to other slots which have 720 ways to win, this Microgaming release seems somewhat lacklustre compared to them. If you have never tried a game with this particular setup, it is a good place to start, but we imagine profit-orientated gamblers who want to bet big and win bigger might seek out greener pastures due to this.

Pollen Party splits the symbols it has on offer in two categories. Regular, low paying icons, and high paying ones. While we complained earlier that they look a bit dated, we have to commend the developer for avoiding the temptation to use gambling symbols. And so, we can find various honey orientated goodies in the lower bracket. Moving up to the higher paying icons means moving up in the hierarchy!

Worker bees, fierce guard bees, a bee doctor and finally the Queen bee herself all buzz about the reels, intent on making sure the operation runs smoothly, and that sweet honey money slips in your pockets without trouble. As far as special features go, the slot does simple yet effective bonuses. It has two, as a matter of fact, and both are activated by Scatters. One Scatter is a baby bee, and you need at least three of them to trigger the bonus. In it, you simply click to open parts of the beehive until you run into a symbol that will stop you from progressing further. The second Scatter is a working bee, and three or more will award you twelve free spins. While the extra rounds are present, you can get a Wild shaped like a flower, which, if it gets a central place on the reels, makes even more Wilds appear. Three different Wilds, as a matter of fact. But I suppose it is a good thing that they all equally replace each other, even if they do not do the same with Scatters.