Steaming Reels

Steaming Reels (Pragmatic Play) Review

Steaming Reels is the newest online slot to be released by Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom. The exact wide release date is still not certain, but it will be by the end of March. The game is based on old-school mechanics, and it’s almost entirely bonus-centric. In other words, there are multiple ways to trigger the bonus game and plenty of upgrades to experience within it.

Reel Kingdom is not exactly an experienced studio when we discuss railway-themed casino games. On the other hand, Pragmatic Play has released more than one successful title in the category over the years. Majestic Express Gold Run, Runaway 7s, and Gold Train are just some of the slots in the provider’s repertoire that deserve attention. It is interesting to see how this experience affected the new machine.

Steaming Reels does not surprise anyone with its standard layout of 5 reels and 3 rows. The payout engine includes 10 paylines, starting from the far left reel and continuing to the right on adjacent columns. The game offers a number of technical features, a pair of special bets, and a bonus buy. A couple of scatter effects can trigger randomly in the base game, but the rest happen in the bonus. You can use the Steaming Reels demo to get more insights into the slot, or continue with my dedicated review!

Steaming Reels Slot - Reels Screen

Steaming Reels is packed with 9 regular symbols and a wild that substitutes for all of them. It can land on all the reels and doesn’t have power over the bonus symbols only! Regulars pay quite solid prizes for 5 of a kind, and you can collect cash for also landing 3 and 4 on a line. Signalman’s Cap is at the top with rewards between 25x and 250x the bet.

Badge pays from 10x to 100x, Boots and Cacti - 5x to 50x, Aces and Kings - 1x to 25x, and Queens, Jacks, and Tens pay between 0.50x and 5x the bet. As you can see, pretty much all the symbol prizes are worth spinning the reels. Still, that is no recipe for guaranteed success! The betting range is quite wide, as usual for these providers - €0.02 to €250 per spin up to a gigantic €125,000 via Special Bets.

The Steaming Reels RTP ranges and reaches a solid rate of 96.53%, which feels great even for a slot with high levels of volatility. I would avoid the alternative variants of the games, as rates like 95.51% and 94.53% do not combine well with a low hit frequency. You can expect line wins on every 5.50 spins on average or 18.18%. The Steaming Reels max win is 5,000x the bet!

Steaming Reels Features

Steaming Reels has its own charm, and if you are a fan of trains and online slots, this one is a must-try. However, seasoned punters and slot enthusiasts will recognize a familiar structure relatively easily after activating the bonus. The Big Bass Bonanza shadow continues to be seen in lots of Pragmatic Play-powered games and here, you will see another variant.

Free Spins Bonus

You will need 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols at the same time to trigger the bonus round with 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. If you end a spin in the base game with no scatters in view, a feature may randomly activate. Signalman may appear and change 3 or more of the symbols on the reels into scatters. Also, randomly, if you have 2 scatter symbols in view, a 3rd one may appear to trigger the bonus.

Free Spins starts with a train arriving beneath the grid and 3 carriages carrying random cash prizes or Golden Tickets. The possible money values are 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 50x, or 500x the stake. Golden Tickets are collected in a meter next to the reels. When you collect 3 of them, you win a new batch of 10 free spins with an x2 multiplier.

The meter will be reset for the second level, and when you collect 3 Golden Tickets, you’ll get 10 extra rounds with a multiplier of x5. The next and last level of the feature awards 10 free spins and brings the multiplier up to x10. Two special symbols may appear on the reels during Free Spins to collect the cash prizes and Golden Tickets:

• Crossing Symbol - collects the prizes shown in the carriages. It may randomly transform into Station Master.
• Station Master Symbol - can apply a multiplier of x2, x3, or x5 to the cash prizes in the carriages before collecting them. If so, the multiplier will be applied on the cash prizes of the next set of carriages, too.

Steaming Reels Slot – Free Spins Gameplay Screen

Special Bets & Bonus Buy

Special Bets are ante bets, and Steaming Reels offers a pair of them. The first one will double the selected bet and will increase the chance of activating Free Spins by x2. The second Special Bet comes with a price of 500x and guarantees 4 or 5 scatters on the following spin. Buy Free Spins costs 100x the bet and guarantees 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols on the next spin. Given the fact that the bonus triggering probability is 1 in 122.03 spins on average, using these tools makes sense.

Theme & Graphics

Steaming Reels is an old-fashioned Train slot game that takes place in the middle of nowhere. It seems the time period selected by Reel Kingdom is in the late 19th century. Railroads connecting different sides of the US, with massive areas of literally nothing if we don’t count the dust, cacti, sun, and small town stations. The quality of graphics is crisp, but the artwork is a bit dated, just like the generic audio set.

Steaming Reels is rad to impress audibly and visually, but in fact, it works just fine. The animation effects are smooth, and the game is relatively light. This means it will run on older devices as well, with the only mandatory condition of a secure Internet connection. You can enjoy it on your desktop PC or on any Android and iOS mobile.

Steaming Reels Free Play

Scroll up to the beginning of my review and find a Steaming Reels free play link to the slot’s demo. Enjoy a practice session with no time limits and the full support of SlotCatalog. The free mode will provide you with all the stake levels, technical features, and bonuses to build your ultimate strategy. If you feel confident about a real money play, check out the casino sites verified by our experts and play with a bonus!

Pros And Cons Of Steaming Reels Slot

Our Verdict

Steaming Reels presents a new way to play the BBB mechanic with several upgrades. Although it is far from being impressive during the base game, the bonus is worth the spin. The wild symbol is always available, too and it's not linked to the Cash Collect feature. But still, the fishing vibes are too strong even if the action is taking place in a completely dry environment with no chance of finding ponds or rivers.

Reel Kingdom has added random scatter modifiers, just like in the BBB slots, and they can be quite handy. Yet, every player would have appreciated a base game feature or two. Perhaps the generous symbol payouts level the scales more or less, but 5-of-a-kinds are usually quite rare. So, in conclusion, the title will deliver a decent experience to all fans of Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom’s work. Nevertheless, that doesn’t change the fact that Steaming Reels is one of the least unmissable releases in this category.