Venice Magic

Venice is a city with a rich and ancient history. While it existed for the longest time, it’s most prominent period was during the Middle Ages, where it’s might as a trading republic was unmatched, and it had enough pull to eventually steer a holy crusade off course and aim the blade against its rival, the Byzantine empire itself. And while Venice remained rich and bountiful, as colonialism rose, it simply no longer had the pull and splendour as before, and eventually fell into various empires, to today being part of Italy. And despite all of this, a separate, Venitian identity persists to this day, as the city has a national party that seeks to establish a city state like in the days of old. And that culture, the history and the great splendour and wealth are what makes Venice a great tourist attraction to this day – not to mention an attractive looking slot made by NextGen Gaming.

It looks rather pretty, and gives off the feeling of being at the Venetian carnival. An affair for the rich and well off, they would don their finest jewellery, put on masks and go out for a fun night with fireworks, drinking, and games put on by the city’s leadership. And it seems clear from the symbols that the carnival was exactly what the developers were going for – as the unique blend of masks and Middle Ages clothing meshes so well, not to mention the proud visage of the golden lion of Venice that is the highest paying symbol on the playing field.
On the gameplay side of things, Venice’s magic takes on a few different forms. The boring reel spins of the basic game are interrupted by two different sorts of Wilds. Joker Wilds that appear randomly on the reels, up to four at a time, or Tower Wilds, that erect large towers that cover entire reels, which can only appear on one or two locations at the same time. These Wilds break up the monotony of regular gameplay, and alongside the free spins special feature, provide a good way to change things up and to bring your rapidly declining budget into the green.

Playable for $0.25 up to $250, this slot caters from the budget gambler to the high roller ready to sweep all the prizes, or go bankrupt trying. While we wouldn’t quite call Venice Magic high variance enough for the second option, it certainly benefits gamblers who don’t mind waiting out a bonus or two to see some generous wins with understanding that those wins can probably be a nice boost for a night, and nothing more. The value is somewhere in between, as it’s mostly dependant on what sort of free spins bonus you get, and how much Wilds off set your losses until you triggered those. We have no doubt there will be an occasional screenshot of some massive win from Venice Magic, but those will be very rare, and few and far in between.

The symbols are a call back to the famous Venetian carnival – from the different coloured gemstones shaped as poker card shapes, to the exquisite jewellery and a well-designed red face mask. Then, you have several people dressed in masks and enjoying their evening under the romantic moonlight, and to top it all off, the golden lion of Venice watching carefully over its subjects during the fun evening.

Venice Magic has only one special feature, but it executes it rather well. This NextGen Gaming release waits for you to get three Zodiac Wheel Scatters in the second, third and fourth reel, before expanding them to determine how many free spins you get, as well as what multiplier will be applied, and what sort of Wilds will be present – whether the Tower or Joker variant. While both work as you’d expect, the Joker Wilds also act as a 2x multiplier on their own, making them an added bonus.