Ways Of Fortune

Adding little quirks here or there to existing ideas and structures for slots can lead to a novel experience that isn't too far out of the box to be of interest to players. This is essentially what has happened with the Ways of Fortune slot, a title produced by Habanero Systems.

Between their format and the way that the whole game is structured over to the feature set and how that interacts with the layout, you'll have a ton of action and some strong visual appeal that combine to give players a great time regardless of what type of games they typically prefer.

A Large Format

The first thing you'll notice here is that there are five reels, but the last three have four symbols instead of just three. That actually plays a bit part in the gameplay with the matching symbols feature, which we'll detail below. However, what you need to know for now is that this is an all-ways title with 576 ways to get paid on each and every spin. You'll be wagering multiples of 28 coins with the ability to bet up to 280 per spin. With coins starting at $0.01, the minimum bet size is $0.28 per turn.

The win sizes that we're going to talk about here are based on a bet level of one with $0.05 coins. You'll have to scale things up or down depending on if you use bigger or smaller wager sizes, but since this comes in at $1.40 per spin total, we think it's a reasonable benchmark for the average player to get an idea of what their prizes will be like.

Ways of Fortune Matching Symbols Feature

The top symbol in each of the third, fourth and fifth reels make the game's format a bit bigger than usual. Whenever you have any spin, whether it's in the regular game or the bonus feature, you're going to get all of them turned into the same symbol, chosen at random, but it can't be the bonus symbol. This makes it easier to get five of a kind wins since all you have to do is get one of that symbol anywhere on the first and second reels.

Free Spins Mode

The horse is the bonus symbol, and it only shows up during the regular game mode. Three or more, no matter where they show up on the game board, mean that you'll get a set of free spins. Players earn 10, 15 or 20 free turns for three, four or five of this symbol.

Wild Symbols and Top Payouts

The man is the wild symbol, and he gives you a payout of 25x for five of a kind. This is the only payout for just the wild symbols, and you won't get a special one for four of a kind or three of a kind. Instead, it'll just substitute for the best possible winning combinations that they can make on their own.

From there, the next-highest paying symbol is the Komainu symbol. Most people might not know what that is, but it's a special type of Japanese combination of a lion and a dog, and it's seen as a type of guardian for sacred places. It has a paw up on a glowing blue orb, and five of a kind is worth 20x in this game.

Prizes drop to 12.5x for five of the dragon and 10x for five of the helmet. The sword earns 6.25x for five of a kind combinations as well. Things drop down to gem-based card suit symbols from there, and that includes 3.75x for five of the red heart, 2.5x for five of the green spade and 2x for five of the blue club. The yellow diamond gets you 1.25x for five of a kind to round out the bottom of the pay table.

Overview

We really like the visual appeal of the Ways of Fortune slot, but that's not surprising considering how good Habanero is at the aesthetic side of their games. They really bring it with gameplay too, however, and there's not really much missing from this game. The only complaint we have is that some other features would have mixed things up a bit, but with the forced matching symbols on the last three reels, we can't really complain about that because of the value you're getting on each and every spin as a result.