Nitropolis 3

Nitropolis 3 is our slot of the month for April. It’s a six reel slot and the third instalment in Elk Studio’s dystopian trilogy. We’ve already covered the game briefly in our new slot games section but thought it a good idea go into a bit more depth here – the reason being that the game’s crammed with features that continue to prove a big hit with players. These include avalanche wins, five modifiers and the hit Nitro Reels mechanic. You’ve also got a potential max win potential of 50,000x your stake – a huge improvement on the 10,000x of the previous two games.

Theme/Visuals

Once again, the theme is post-apocalyptic with the Nitro gangs escaping to the beach in order to evade the evil clutches of Sergeant Nitro Wolf. The 6 x 4 game area is framed by a garbage compactor. This is set against a nicely-drawn tropical beach complete with straw parasol, jungle foliage and a toxic waste drum. A thumping, high-tempo funk soundtrack accompanies play that’s interspersed with meows and barks.

How to Play Nitropolis 3

The goal is to land three to six symbols on adjoining reels. As ever, low value symbols are represented by playing card symbols. Medium value symbols are signified by the four clan member emblems: Rogue Rats, Pug Thugs, Gritty Kitty and Dirty Dawgs.

High value symbols are represented by the leader of each clan. The most valuable of these is the Dawg Boss who pays out 5x your total stake when you land him six times in combination. There’s also a toxic wild symbol that substitutes all others apart from the both-ways, re-drop, bonus, super bonus and nitro feature symbols.

Avalanche Wins

Each winning combination triggers an avalanche mechanic. Every symbol that formed part of the winning combo explodes and new symbols fall into the empty spaces. In addition, an extra row of symbols appears at the top of the game area that can expand up to eight. To activate the maximum eight row grid expansion, you’ll need to land four consecutive avalanches.

Nitro Reels

The franchise’s staple feature, Nitro Reels are once again in play. However unlike the other games there are two types. The usual small nitro reels are present, which cover two symbol positions and can contain 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 1 x 1 payout symbols. But there are now large nitro reels too – these cover six symbols positions and comprise 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 2 x 2 payout symbols.

Modifiers

• Additionally, there are five special symbols (mentioned above) that appear are random intervals and offer the following benefits
• Re-Drop – all scatter symbols and Nitro feature symbols remain in place and all Nitro reels spin
• Both Ways – as the name indicates, wins are possible from left to right as well as right to left
• Nitro Match – Nitro reels on the same or adjacent reels as a Nitro match symbol mimic another symbol on an adjacent reel
• Nitro Upgrade – Nitro reels on the same or adjacent reels are upgraded with additional symbols
• Nitro Wild – all Nitro Reels symbols on the same or adjacent reels are replaced with wilds

Bonus Game

The bonus round is activated by landing 3, 4, 5 or 6 blimp scatters. As well as being awarded 8, 12, 16 or 20 spins (depending on how many triggering scatters you managed), all Nitro reels become stick for the round’s duration. Should a new Nitro Reel appear, it will stack on top of any existing one on the same reel. Furthermore, it’s possible to retrigger up to 40 spins.

Helpfully, the bonus round includes a safety level – this advances one row for every new free spin resulting in a spin. Although the grid can only expand to a 6 x 8 layout, you won’t have to start the expansion process all over again as is the case in the base game. Instead, the number of rows will either remain the same or increase.

Super Bonus Game

A super version of the bonus game can be activated by landing a combination of bonus and super bonus symbols. This plays at a maxed out 6 x 8 configuration with the both ways modifier also in play. Activating the super bonus game can have an enormous impact on any potential payouts.

Conclusion

The Nitropolis games are well-known for their many features. And the new grid expansion mechanic is a welcome, albeit occasionally confusing addition that takes play to yet another level. Other extras worth a mention include the Nitro Match and Nitro Reels modifiers, but also the Big Nitro Reels upgrade. The latter feature offers up 1 million ways to win. On top of this, you’ve got a 50,000x max win ceiling – ELK’s highest to date. Another thoroughly entertaining slot of the month, then.

RTP: 95%, Minimum Stake: 0.20

Dale Shelabarger

Freelance Contributor, creating content since 2003

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