In the online slot Wins of Nautilus Megaways, created by Fantasma Games and based on the works of Jules Verne, players will embark on a trip that will take them 20,000 leagues beneath the sea. In case you were wondering, 20,000 leagues is around 80,000 kilometers, or little more than twice the diameter of the Earth. Captain Nemo, a self-styled millionaire who wants to live outside of and beyond the jurisdiction of any government, charters the submarine Nautilus at the beginning of the novel. This means that Nemo has a lot of freedom to do anything he wants when underwater. Thankfully, his motivations are more comparable to those of a budding scientist than those of a Dr. Evil plotting to destroy civilization.
The Wins of Nautilus Megaways slot machine transports players to the Nautilus when it is submerged in the water. Portholes in every wall show a murky underwater landscape with sunken ships, seaweed, and a plethora of fish. Wins of Nautilus Megaways has a rousing atmosphere overall, reminiscent of the 19th century; there’s a lot of brass lying around, and the music is sure to get the blood pumping and inspire any intrepid souls. While a larger Jules Verne influence would have been welcome, the direction Fantasma chose still has plenty of guts.
Played on a game grid consisting of a 6-reel main panel and a 4-position horizontal reel running along the top, Wins of Nautilus Megaways follows a pretty basic Megaways layout. Each spin can result in anywhere from 324 to 117,649 possible combinations of winning symbols on the main reels. In terms of numbers, there are no complaints to be made. The RTP of 96.1% is respectable, with 69.59% going to the main game and 26.51% to the free spins. Because of the relatively high hit frequency of 30.76% and the subsequent Avalanche feature, time spent underneath the waves is rarely dull when playing this game.
A winning combination consists of three or more of any of the 10 pay symbols, counting from the leftmost position on the panel. Payouts range from 0.75x to 1.25x the wager for J-A card tiles, to 1.5x to 2x for anchors, shells, and diving helmets, and from 3x to 5x the wager for six of a kind for three uncommon characters. Let’s go on to the features.
Nautilus Megaways’s Rewarding Slot Machine Features
The most prevalent supplementary feature in this underwater adventure is an avalanche; other features include Countdown Bombs, Full Reel Wilds, Respins, and Deep Sea Free Spins.
Avalanches
The Avalanche feature begins to clear the reels of winning symbols after each successful combination. When a slot is vacant, the remaining symbols will fall down and fill it, offering the player a new chance to win. When no new winning combination can be formed, the avalanche stops.
Wild Reels with a Countdown Timer and Bonus Symbols
Reels 1 and/or 2-5 may have a Countdown Bomb symbol. A number between 1 and 4 is printed on each one. All visible Countdown Bombs have their remaining time reduced by one once an Avalanche is triggered. When a counter hits zero, it bursts to form a wild symbol covering an entire reel and multiplying wins by 2. If this happens on the same reel with two Countdown Bombs, the beginning values of both are combined together and the result is multiplied by 2 to create a complete reel wild.
Respins
The Respin feature is activated when the shark Respin symbol appears on reels 2, 3, 4, or 5. Each Respin symbol triggers an Avalanche by erasing itself and anywhere from two to ten random pay symbols.
Free Spins Under the Sea
In the main game and during free games, scatter symbols can occur on any reel. If at least three of these are accumulated on the Bonus Meter during an Avalanche sequence, then 12 Deep Sea Free Spins will be granted. Each additional bonus symbol beyond the first three awards an extra five free games. During the bonus round, the same actions might retrigger more free spins. The majority of the earlier rules for free spins continue to apply, with the addition of a win multiplier that begins at x1 and rises by +1 after each Avalanche.
Money for Spins
For a wager equal to sixty times your initial wager, you can begin a gaming round that will assuredly trigger Deep Sea Free Spins. The resulting return on investment (ROI) is 97%.
Slot Review: Nautilus Megaways and Its Payouts
After getting a little bit sidetracked by Caravan of Riches, Wins of Nautilus Megaways has us back on track. Fantasma is back with another excellent Megaways slot packed with features. While Wins of Nautilus may not be as immersive as Flower Fortunes or Heroes Hunt 2, it still offers a fun and rewarding experience. It was suggested that the studio may have benefited from being more “Jules Verne-y,” including things like a Kraken or more exotic underwater landscapes. Some of the Steampunk itch is scratched by the presence of brass gadgetry and electricity. There are already a ton of Kraken-themed video games available.
The added features that Fantasma has implemented work well with the game. Full Reel Wild multipliers that result from Countdown Bombs in Avalanches add an exciting element, and may be quite rewarding. Free spins with a progressive win multiplier and newly generated Wilds performed the best in the test. It’s a fun idea to have more than one at time, but it never happened when we were playing. In Wins of Nautilus Megaways, the maximum win is 10,000 times the wager, thus having access to double wilds would be like finding wrecked bullion for Nemo.
It’s true that Wins of Nautilus Megaways isn’t as out there experimental as something from Fantasma may be, but it’s beside the point. The game is a solid example of the Megaways genre, providing solid performance in a visually appealing environment.