Gopnik

“Gopnik” may sound like a Soviet Union, space-roaming satellite back from the 1950’s, but it is also the title of the latest online slot game from youthful studio Sneaky Slots, who may still be the new kids on the block where our online casinos are concerned, yet show little sign of easing into the waters gently!

After stunning players with a grizzly insight into the world of the cosmetic surgery industry in “Nip Tuck“, the Sneaky team returned swiftly, delving into the dark side beneath the Big Top with “Freak Show Revelation“, and it became blindingly obvious that these guys aren’t the type to be put off by both close-to-the-edge, stereotypical satire and feisty features alike.

Gopnik Base Game Play

And here we have Gopnik, a 5 reel 4 row masterpiece, and although there isn’t even an ounce of space tech included, the theming around 1980’s Russia is largely apparent, as the war-torn, industrial streets house nothing more than youthful delinquents donning tracksuits, listening to their hippety hop, and generally causing as much anarchy towards Western culture as humanly possible.

It’s clear that some serious inspiration has been taken from Nolimit City here, not just through the game’s intrinsic range of graphical prowess, but its extensive list of features too, with a host of Wild symbols making the list, including those infamous xNudge variations, win Multipliers, additional reel opportunities, a littering of enhancing mini-bonus games and, of course, both a Bonus round and Super Bonus round taking on a Free Spins and Hold & Spin style concept.

The end result is a punchy little number of highly volatile nature, boasting a 95.64% RTP and max win potential capped at 6,666x bet, admittedly the lowest of the bunch thus far, yet with no substitute for exciting action.

Let’s venture into the intimidating streets as we check out all of the rules and features in more detail…

Gopnik Offers Players 30 Fixed Paylines

Gopnik Base Game and Features

Win spins are formed by combining 3 or more matching symbols from left to right, across adjacent reels, over any of the game’s 30 fixed paylines.

9 regular paying symbols have been included, consisting of 5 low-paying symbols worth up to 1x bet for 5 matching symbols across, and 4 high-paying Gopnik characters paying between 3x to 20x bet for 5 matching symbols.

Wild symbols are also included and substitute for any regular paying symbol, being worth up to 20x bet for a line of 5.

A Variety of Wild Symbol Features are Included with Gopnik, Including xNudge Wilds

Wild Symbols

As well as substituting for regular paying symbols, Wild symbols can land in multiple varieties and unleash a range of features into any given game round.

• Babushka – acting as a Wild, the Babushka symbol may only land on the left-most reel.  Upon landing, up to 4 positions on any other reel become randomly marked, and should a Gopnik character symbol land within a marked position, it adopts a “balaclava for big business” and multiplier between 5x to 50x.
• Burner Phone – when the Burner Phone symbol lands on the right-most reel, it rings, and any active pay symbols that answer the call transform into Wild symbols.
• xNudge – xNudge Wilds are Wild symbols of 4 rows high, able to land partially or fully in view on a reel.  Upon landing, xNudge Wilds always nudge until fully in view on the reels, with each “nudge” increasing the win Multiplier by +1.  When multiple xNudge Wilds form part of the same winning combination, all values are first added together before applying to the win.  xNudge Wilds may land on any reels other than the far left or far right, and a maximum of 2 xNudge Wilds may land during the same spin.

Scratch Card Bonus

Landing 3 Scratch Card Bonus scatters triggers the bonus game.

Scratching the card positions may reveal 3 Dice symbols, triggering the Street Roll Bonus game, or 3 Calculator symbols, triggering the Kiosk Raid Bonus game.

Similarly, landing 3 Bonus scatters and 1 Super Bonus scatter triggers the same Scratch Card feature, awarding a “Super” variation of both the Street Roll and Kiosk Raid Bonus games.

Revealing a golden Car symbol during the Scratch Card feature awards the game’s max win value of 6,666x bet.

Land Babushka on Reel 1 for Instant Win Opportunities, and Burner Phones on Reel 6 for Wild Transformations

Street Roll Bonus

Beginning with 7 spins, a 6th reel is added to the grid matrix.

Gopnik character symbols that land on reels 1 and 6 may land displaying a Dice token, and landing a Gopnik symbol with a Dice on both reels during the same free spin round triggers the Cheeki Breeki Dice mini game.

During the feature, 2 dice are rolled.

If the left Dice wins, a Multiplier is awarded equal to the number on the winning dice, and is applied to any winning combinations during the current spin.

If the right Dice wins, a number of Wild symbols equal to the number on the winning dice are awarded and placed within random reel positions for the current spin.

Landing a matching pair during the dice roll activates a new roll, up to 2 additional times until a winner is eventually determined.

Should 3 pairs of numbers be rolled consecutively, 5 additional spins are awarded.

Additionally, if 3 identical matching pairs are rolled, all made up of 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s or 6s, a prize shall be awarded of 1,111x, 2,222x, 3,333x, 4,444x, 5,555x or 6,666x bet, respectively.

Landing a Super scatter on reel 6 during any Free Spin awards an upgrade to the Super Street Roll bonus, whereby another Scratch Card is presented to determine how many additional spins are carried through, between 2 to 10.

Super Street Roll

Playing to the same rules and mechanics as the regular Street Roll bonus, additionally 9 starting spins are awarded.

Furthermore, any multipliers awarded as a result of the Cheeki Breeki mini game persist throughout and stack with each new multiplier awarded.

Finally, up to 4 xNudge Wilds may land during the same spin.

Land 3 Scatters During the Same Spin to Trigger the Scratch Card Bonus Game and the Chance of 2 Different Bonus Modes

Kiosk Raid Bonus

Beginning with 3 starting spins, only special Label symbols may land on the reels, with each new symbol landing resetting the spin counter back to 3.

The top row of the Kiosk reveals new, random win Multipliers on every spin, between 1x to 100x bet, with any new Label symbol adopting its respective row Multiplier upon landing.

The top row may also reveal modifiers, only affecting Label symbols, directly on the reel below, that already possess a win Multiplier value…

• Upgrade – upgrades a Label multiplier to a higher value.
• Collect – collects all affected Labels and adds the multiplier values to the total Multiplier.
• Double – doubles the value of a random affected Label.
• Super Bonus – upgrades the bonus to the Super Kiosk Raid.

At the end of the round, the total values of all Label symbols are added together and paid out against the current bet level.

Super Kiosk Raid Bonus

Playing to the same rules and mechanics as the regular bonus, additionally, 2 further rows are unlocked.

One extra row allows for more Label symbols to land, and the second additional row activates at the bottom of the reels, revealing a range of random, additive values on each spin between +1 to +100.

Landing a new Label symbol above an additive value sees that value apply to all Label symbols within the respective reel.

The bottom-most row may also reveal any of the following enhanced modifiers…

• Upgrade All – upgrades all Label multipliers, within its respective reel, to higher values.
• Double All – doubles the values of all Label multipliers within its respective reel.
• Collect All – collects all Labels within its respective reel, adding the total value to the total win multiplier.

The Street Roll Bonus Round Includes a Dice Roll Mini-Game for Additional Wild and Multiplier Potential

Feature Buy

A hearty range of purchasable features arrive with Gopnik, that players may opt to utilise should they wish to enhance play further…

At the cost of 2x bet and 5x bet, respectively, the Sneaky and Super Sneaky Boost may be activated, increasing the chances of triggering the bonus or super bonus game. during a spin.

Both the Kiosk Raid and Street Roll bonus games may be instantly triggered at the cost of 100x bet, with Super Bonus variations available at the cost of 380x bet.

Finally, a spin guaranteeing at least 1 xNudge Wild can be purchased at the cost of 7x bet, with a Babushka and Burner Phone feature available at 15x bet.

The RTP range for all feature buy options comes along at 95.53% to 95.93%.

Trigger the Kiosk Raid Bonus for Instant Prize Multipliers and Enhancing Modifiers

First Impression

Well, the Sneaky Slots crew may still be in their infancy, yet already three core aspects have become largely clear; the studio knows how to make an action-packed online slot game, they love their range of punchy features, and they love to give players a choice…all of which are quickly cementing their online casino legacy!

Gopnik may arrive the smaller of the brood so far, in terms of out-and-out max win potential, yet it is not a game for the faintest of hearts out there, boasting a base game mode full of Wild features, from Babushka able to activate win multipliers up to the hefty value of 50x, to the Burner Phone offering Wild transformations and xNudge Wilds bringing further multipliers to the party.

The latter is, of course, one of the more favoured by players and found within a whole heap of Nolimit City titles, so seeing them get acquainted to fresh surroundings is going to be very interesting in terms of audience acceptance, though should be met with the similar popularity.

Standard play feels far from the “norm”, and alongside a host of gritty theming, including a haunting and suspenseful soundtrack, edge-of-seat gameplay is almost promoted straight from the get-go.

Gopnik’s two predecessors came along, each containing the choice of two bonus game offerings, and it seems that trend is here to stay, with both the Street Roll and Kiosk Raid bonus rounds up for grabs and both offering independent styles of play and outcomes.

Street Roll takes on a more traditional Free Spins model, with the added Dice roll mini-feature included for additional multiplier and Wild enhancements.

Furthermore, extra prizes are also possible when rolling 3 consecutive matching numbers in a row, ranging from a hefty 1,111x bet for 3 rounds of double 1’s, to a whopping max win reward of 6,666x bet for 3 rounds of double 6’s.

It won’t happen often, yet can prove to be a valuable inclusion that takes nothing away from the game’s core mechanics.

Kiosk Raid adopts something more of a Hold and Spin style, seen a handful of times already from the Sneaky squad, and relies on landing as many Label symbols and modifiers as possible for those enhanced payout values.

This round may feel more standardised than the Street Roll game, however with numerous upgrades up for grabs, it certainly shouldn’t be simply brushed into the street rubble.

With Super Bonus upgrades a possibility, the game’s power increases still, as added persistence and multiplier values arrive into the mix, and although the max win potential of 6,666x bet doesn’t exactly match the highs that we have been treated to thus far, the figure brings with it realism of achievement, at least, and is far from lacking respect.

Another solid release by the Sneaky Slots outfit, Gopnik arrives gritty, quirky and action-packed, full of exciting features and bonus rounds, which begin the sign off of a solid debut year from the studio!

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.