Fantasini-Master of Mystery

The world of stage magic has been the focus of tons of movies, television specials and Broadway shows. Along these lines, Net Entertainment developed the Fantasini: Master of Mystery slot around the general themes that you typically see from these types of stage performers. This is really a feature-packed game that will bring some real magic to the reels in the process, but it also has a graphical feel that's a bit different than what NetEnt typically has. This game is a bit more gritty, which reflects the time period during which stage performers like this were the most popular.

Format and Layout

The format of this game is a five-reel, three-row video slot (read more) with 243 ways to win, a pretty common layout. There's an auto play option here as well as the ability to customize how the auto play option works. During normal play, you can use coins that start at the super-low $0.01 apiece, and they range up to the $0.50 level. Players always have to play with 243 ways to win since they're locked in, so the minimum bet size is $0.25 per spin, but you can also play with as many as 10 coins on each payline to give players much larger betting options.

It's important to note that the volatility of this game is lower than average by quite a bit. Along these lines, you might feel comfortable playing with slightly larger bet sizes than you normally do because the swings are going to be smoothed out more than usual. You'll get plenty of small and medium payouts along the way that will keep you afloat while you shoot for the larger pays, and that dynamic really defines the experience players can expect with this particular title.

Linked Reels Feature

Most of the regular gameplay is driven by the Linked Reels feature. This feature connects two adjacent reels each spin so that they always show the same three symbols in the same order. This makes it easier to make winning combinations, but what's more is that this feature can expand to cover three or even four reels. It's easy to understand why this adds a ton of value to the normal gameplay, and it really fits the magic motif.

Important Symbols

The wild symbol is Fantasini himself. Unlike some other games by Net Entertainment (click here for more), the wild symbol doesn't have its own payouts. Instead, five of the woman assistant pays 1,000x, which is the largest regular win in the game. The other important symbols include the locked chest with chains all over it, which pays 500x for five of a kind, and the glowing orb, which results in a 400x win if you line up five. The chained cuffs and knife through cards both pay 250x for five.

Minor symbols

Because of the way the Linked Reels feature works, and because it adds so much value to every single spin, even the minor symbols in this game are pretty important. The A, K and Q symbols all share the same payout of 40x for five, 15x for four and 4x for three. These drop a bit when you look at the J, 10 and 9 symbols, which also have the same pays. These bottom three symbols pay 25x for five of a kind, 10x for four, and three will get you a 3x win.

It's worth noting that these six minor symbols are colored and stylized in a way that matches up with the marquee signs that used to accompany stage magic shows and that were one of the main ways of advertising the shows in the first place.

Overview

Fantasini: Master of Mystery is a game that's driven completely by the Linked Reels feature. Because of this, you can expect a pretty high-paced game here with a relatively low volatility. This game seems to be targeted towards players who are fans of the genre but who care more about strong gameplay than having a shot at a huge, life-changing jackpot like most progressive games. The swings are low thanks to the low volatility of the game, but there are still wins that are big enough to give you a bit of excitement, especially if you line up multiple payouts thanks to the Linked Reels feature.