Nolimit City have become well known for introducing themes that other providers haven't approached before, or if they have – it's been lighthearted, and cartoonish. The Nolimit team are frequently bringing us themes of a more mature nature, with some of their recent releases focusing on one of the most dangerous prisons in the world, a historic hip-hop rivalry resulting in multiple deaths, a darkened cavern housing a mining dwarf, and most recently an asylum where only doctors and nurses dare to go – there really is no limit for this team. Now, hot on the trail of the Mental release, the team are tackling a World War 2 era and bringing out the big guns. Forget naughty themes, this time we're going all out nautical in Das xBoot, a highly volatile (10/10) release with up to 75,712 ways to win, a default RTP of 96.05% and wins up to 55,200x bet on offer.
Das xBoot Base Features
Taking place across 6 reels, wins are formed on Das xBoot by matching symbols in any position across adjacent reels, beginning at the leftmost reel – resulting in 576 ways to win, although this can increase as high as 75,712 ways to win thanks to the host of features available. Helping to form wins are a host of symbols beginning with the lower paying 10, J, Q, K and A, rewarding players with wins between 0.2 and 0.24x bet for 3 of a kind matches, increasing to values between 1.4 and 2.8x bet for 6 of a kind wins. Next up are character symbols – each with various jobs ranging from chef to captain, however more easily identified by their main colours. Blue, green and purple character symbols will reward players between 0.28 and 0.32x bet for 3 of a kind wins, whereas landing 6 of a kind matches pays between 3.2 and 4.8x bet. Next, red characters pay 0.4x bet for 3 of a kind, up to 10x bet for 6 of a kind. Finally, yellow captains are the highest paying symbols – paying 0.88x bet for 3 of a kind, up to an impressive 20x bet for 6 of a kind.
Bonus symbols can appear on reels 2-5, and there are no ‘regular' wild symbols in play – rather, we are treated to features including xNudge Wilds, Periscope Wilds, and xBomb Wilds. Let's dive in…
First up, we have xNudge Wilds. On any spin at random, a 4 row high wild symbol can appear, and if it lands, it will always nudge into place to be fully visible, with a multiplier attached that will increment by +1 for every nudge. xNudge Wilds can land on reels 3 and 4 during the base game, or just on reel 4 during Silent Hunter Spins (more on those below). All multipliers add together before being applied to any wins.
xWays symbols are up next – capable of landing on reels 2 and 5. Once it lands, it will reveal a regular symbol at random, with the size ranging from 2-3 symbols. If more than one xWays symbol lands on the reels, all xWays symbols will reveal the same symbol.
Finally, xBomb Wild symbols can land in any position on the reels, and substitute for all symbols except Bonus symbols. xBomb Wild symbols explode all symbols that are not part of a winning combination from the reels, except Bonus symbols and other Wild symbols. After the xBomb explosion all remaining symbols drop down, allowing new symbols to collapse in and fill the reels up again. xBomb also increases the win multiplier by +1 before the next collapse, and if it occurs during a triggering spin the xBomb feature will carry into Silent Hunter or Wolf Pack spins.
Das xBoot Bonus
Landing 3 Bonus symbols triggers 8 Silent Hunter Spins. During the feature the middle reel will grow, expanding to 8 symbols high. xWays symbols and xNudge symbols will continue to work as normal during Silent Hunter Spins, and any time an xBomb symbol lands on the reels it will increment a sticky win multiplier by +1, with any available multipliers adding before wins are calculated.
Additional bonus symbols can land on the reels – awarding an extra +2 spins for every one in view.
Periscope Wild Symbols can now land on reel 3. If matching symbols land on reels 1 and 2 alongside a Periscope Wild Symbol on reel 3, a torpedo launch sequence will begin. A target will be found in the periscope, and a torpedo launched. If the target is not hit, there is no change and the Periscope Wild will be treated as a single wild symbol.
If the target is hit, the Periscope Wild in view will move to the topmost position on reel 3, then nudge down to the bottom, awarding a +1 multiplier for each nudge. Each time the torpedo hits its target, a sticky win multiplier is incremented by +1 for the remainder of Silent Hunter Spins.
Landing 4 Bonus Symbols awards 8 Wolf Pack Spins. During the feature, a torpedo tube appears under reels 2-5 and Torpedo Wild Symbols can now land on these reels, substituting for all symbols except Bonus Symbols.
- On reels 2 and 5 the Torpedo Wild will drop a +1 xWays symbol into the torpedo area – the first of which will be a +2 xWays symbol.
- On reels 3 and 4 the Torpedo Wild will drop a +1 xWays Wild symbol into the torpedo area – the first of which will be a +2 xWays Wild symbol.
Once the torpedo is filled across reels 2-5 it will activate, starting a torpedo launch sequence. All xWays symbols will be revealed behind the torpedo in the size of the collected parts on each reel. The maximum size of the torpedo xWays symbols is 9 symbols.
On reels 2 and 5 symbols will transform into a regular symbol and split into the respective number of ways collected within the torpedo. On reels 3 and 4 symbols will transform into wild symbols and split into the number of ways collected within the torpedo.
Each time the torpedo launch sequence is initiated, a sticky win multiplier is awarded which increments by +1 for the remainder of Wolf Pack Spins. If an xBomb symbol lands on the reels it will also increment a sticky win multiplier by +1, with multipliers added together before being applied to wins. If an xBomb symbol lands at the same time as a torpedo part it will increase the xWays addition to the torpedo by +1.
Additional bonus symbols can land on the reels – awarding an extra +2 spins for every one in view.
Players in appropriate regions can buy their way into the feature for a cost:
- 8 Silent Hunter Spins: 75x bet (96.57% RTP)
- 8 Wolf Pack Spins: 350x bet (96.56% RTP)
Das Gold Des Roter Teufel, translated as The Gold of the Red Devil, occurs when the maximum win has been reached – 55,200x bet.
First Impression
It's become pretty obvious by now that we aren't ever going to receive the same game twice in a row from the team at Nolimit City, and this seems to be exactly what is winning them such a warm reception from players. The themes they do choose to use, although extreme, are well thought out, and executed to a level that is second to none. More importantly, if you don't like a theme – you know you'll get something different the next time. In this edition, we step out of the Mental asylum, and go straight to war, in a WW2 battle aboard a submarine.
Das xBoot is the first example from the team of a nautical themed release, and they've done a fantastic job of not just attaching some anchors, but rather creating an entire experience – with reel shapes, symbols, features, characters and music which, as usual, is mesmerising. With 3 of their licensed mechanics in use (xWays, xNudge and xBomb), Das xBoot still does an impressive job of not being too busy. It's almost like the team have chosen to peel back the dazzle on this one, with less happening overall, and only 2 feature buys available. And yet, even without the dazzle – it dazzles. Das xBoot is not only a great addition to a truly unique catalogue from the team, but would stand on it's own two feet as an impressive release even without the weight of the Nolimit name behind it.
By this stage in the game, if you aren't sure how the ‘x' mechanics work – what are you doing?! It's become very obvious these mechanics aren't one hit wonders. They're here to stay, and with the growing popularity of Nolimit City, it's best to brush up on your knowledge – which you can do here.
If you're planning on going to war for huge wins, be warned – Das xBoot is as volatile as they come (rated high [10/10]) particularly for those capable of, and brave enough to, buy the 350x bonus feature. Although considerably less extravagant than the 2,000x buy of San Quentin, results still rendered us speechless. At the lower end, we saw returns that would make us retreat and wave a white flag, but at the higher end Das xBoot can produce wins up to 55,200x bet.
*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.
