Leagues of Fortune

Have you ever felt the call to dive beneath the waters? Sink beneath those blue waves into the darkness below, to find long forgotten treasure chests whose gold is worth in the millions? To answer the call of adventure, grow an awesome beard, put on a Captain’s hat and chuff on a pipe while you send hapless suckers to go beneath the waters and fight giant squids in submarines? Well, maybe underwater adventuring isn’t quite so glamorous, but the treasure in Leagues of Fortune is more than worth it. The 5-reel slot with 1,024 ways to win was released all the way back in 2012 with a formula that works rather well. The base game is somewhat boring, admittedly, but the two special features make up for it. One of which is a regular free spins bonus, and the other being a random choice as to what you win – with the option of banking some cash rather than risking all or nothing.

While the graphics are hardly something we’d be impressed with today, they were pretty good for the year that this slot was released. The animated backdrop certainly helps to immerse someone into thinking they’re beneath the sea waves, and most of the symbols are in a good position for that as well, save for poker card icons that rather obviously stand out. In recent years, we’ve seen developers at least work to make them fit with the rest as time went on, but not here. On the other hand, this title still uses an older user interface than what we see with Microgaming today. It has a slight issue of hiding certain aspects from view – such as Autoplay being only visible with the Expert setting, for some reason.

However, as far as gameplay goes, it sticks to the classic formula of chasing special features. There are two fronts to this – the first being the free spins bonus, and the second being a point and click feature in which you get to set aside some cash each time you try your luck. So while there’s not much uniqueness or innovation here, it certainly does a good job of being a medium volatility game that you would enjoy playing.

Leagues of Fortune allows gamblers to bet as little as $0.50 to as much as $50 on each spin. With an RTP of 96.49% and a medium to high variance, the slot certainly seems balanced around the bonuses if you’re looking to carry off any decent wins. While occasionally, normal gameplay can produce something fun, we haven’t turned a profit that didn’t happen through either the free spins, or getting frighteningly lucky on the gamble feature.

We have mixed feelings on the symbols. The unique ones are certainly great and almost seem to be telling a story. An ambitious captain, a treasure chest at the bottom of the sea, a map leading them to said treasure, a diver who was sent to retrieve it, as well as a thrilling escape in a submarine as an octopus tries to wrestle free their bounty from them. This contrasts with the poker card symbols, which seem extremely out of place here.

There are two bonuses to mention. The first is a free spins special feature, and it works just as you might expect it. It’s activated by getting three or more Scatters, and you can win up to 35 free spins with it. During the bonus, all wins work with a 5x multiplier, which means you can shoot up much higher than the single jackpot mentioned in the stats.

The other special feature boils down to a guessing game, much like coin flips or card picks in other titles. However, you can choose to save up a portion of your wins and adjust the odds for increased or decreased reward.