Fortunium

History is a boring subject for some, but others studied it religiously, learning about all the big battles, the political plays between nations, the advancement of technology and how the world changed from the simplest times to today, when you can pull out a smartphone and play whatever games you like at your leisure. And with such fascination, it’s only a matter of time before people dip into alternate history, imagining how different things would be if certain things changed. What if we never went to the Americas? What if JFK survived his assassination attempt? What if electricity was never invented?

The world can be changed in so many ways, but for many people, the answer for that last one is steampunk, a universe in which steam powers everything instead of electricity. It’s a fun genre that’s criminally underused, but it seems that Microgaming is making strides to do so, in their latest release that’s launching soon, called Fortunium. The game was originally presented at the 2018 ICE event and we have all the information ready so you can go and maximize your profits.

The slot is impressive visually. The steampunk theme is awesome and the symbols follow the quality you would expect from a title developed by a big name like Microgaming. And yet, the most impressive thing is the user interface. We don’t often go into detail about mobile versions here, but the way the developers handle having a 5×5 playing field is by forcing the game into portrait mode, and designing the interface around that. It works really well, and we wouldn’t be surprised if other developers choose to copy it going forward.

On the gameplay side of things, we have 5 reels and 40 paylines, a medium volatility and several bonuses that are used to boost the wins. The big draw of Fortunium is in the treasure chests, which act as the mystery symbol. These can contain any icon within them, and this is also present in the free spins, where entire reels will be covered in mystery symbols. To maximize player investment, Microgaming helpfully adds a win booster that lets you remove any of those pesky lower paying icons from the reels, with the price of paying 50% more per spin, which is plenty at higher wagers.

And yet, there’s no denying that Fortunium’s core loop, and by extent, valuables, lie within the free spins and getting good luck with the mystery symbols. It brings up the value of any win you will get, but it does pose the question as to whether or not you’re willing to pay more cash to get better rewards. From the time we spent playing the slot, we can tell you that the win booster dramatically impacts the wins you get when the free spins come. However, not every free spin bonus is a dramatically positive winning spree, so it comes down to you making your own risk versus reward, and having the potential of finding yourself stuck without the booster when the free spins come.

There are some familiar symbols such as clubs, hearts, diamonds and spades, as well as icons that fit the unique setting like plasma guns, airships, treasure chests, and Maximilian and Victoria, two characters that appear stacked, covering 5 reels worth of height. Free spins are activated by winning three, four or five Scatters. Depending on the amount that triggers the special feature, it rewards one, two or three mystery reels to be active at once. Regardless of how many Scatters activate the bonus, it always rewards 10 free spins, with no way of getting more for a single round.