Lure of Fortune

If there’s two concepts that are popular in the online slots world, it’s a fishing game and a hold and win game. Whilst providers like Reel Kingdom are firmly holding the fishing game crown, it’s Relax Gaming who are often regarded as being the experts in hold and win releases – most obvious when looking at the Money Train series, finished off last month with Money Train 4.

Now Relax Gaming are proving more than just one point today as they combine the fishing game with the hold and win mechanic, sprinkling in some elements from another previous release, Banana Town, as they invite us to sail through the seasons in Lure of Fortune.

With RTP options up to 96.10% (96.50% feature buy), this medium to highly volatile release can produce wins up to 50,000x bet.

Lure of Fortune Base Game

We’re by the water today, on what look to be docks near a harbour. You’ll find out soon enough about the modes available in Lure of Fortune, but for now let’s cover how they look. Each mode has the same backdrop and symbols, but the season changes – remember, sail through the seasons? With 3 modes available, players can see this picturesque scene set in spring/summer, autumn or winter.

The scene itself consists of some little wooden huts on the edge of the water, with life rings, fisherman caps, buoys, boats, and ropes. Other than that our attention is given to the fish in the water and creatures on the grid, all of which come in a variety of bright colours, and the fisherman himself. It’s all finished off with a serene yet upbeat soundtrack to help tie everything together.

Choose From 1 of 3 Game Modes With Different Characteristic

Lure of Fortune Base Features

Taking place on a 5×5 grid, wins are formed on Lure of Fortune by matching clusters of 4 or more symbols touching horizontally or vertically. Clusters pay in single increments from 4 up to 25 in view. Symbols available begin with non premiums, with blue, green, yellow and pink shells, awarding wins between 0.20 and 11x bet for clusters between 4 and 25.

Premiums consist of worms, two kinds of fish, and a crab, each matching the colour of their non premium counterpart. Land clusters of 4 premiums to see wins of 0.40x bet, increasing to values of 22x bet for clusters of 25. Finally, the fisherman is the highest paying symbol, awarding wins between 1 and 30x bet for clusters between 4 and 25.

Land Clusters of 4 or More Symbols to Trigger Wins

Modes

Alright, so the first thing to cover in Lure of Fortune is the game mode selection. The game mode can be changed by clicking the ‘mode’ button.

There are 3 modes to choose from, which change the volatility, maximum win and maximum possible base game multiplier, which we’ll get to soon.

• Medium Volatility – 5,000x bet maximum win and x32 maximum base game multiplier.
• High Volatility – 20,000x bet maximum win and x64 maximum base game multiplier.
• Extremely High Volatility – 50,000x bet maximum win and x128 maximum base game multiplier.

Cascades

Next up are cascades. On every spin, all symbols involved in a winning combination will be removed from the grid, with all remaining symbols dropping down to the bottommost available position on their respective reels.

New symbols will then drop in from above to fill the remaining gaps, with cascades continuing until no new wins are formed.

The Multiplier on Each Symbol Doubles When the Symbol is Involved in a Win

Multiplier Upgrade

Working hand in hand with cascades is the multiplier upgrade that fans of Banana Town will recognise.

Each time a symbol type is removed from the grid (through cascades), its respective multiplier will be upgraded. This multiplier is then applied to all future wins involving the symbol.

To the side of the grid is a complete list of all symbols, along with the current multiplier value of the symbol. Each time a new winning combination is formed with a symbol type, its multiplier is doubled up to the maximum value depending on the mode.

Multipliers can reach values of x32 in the medium volatility mode, x64 in the high volatility mode and x128 in the extremely high volatility mode.

Additionally, at the start of any spin a certain number of symbols can have their multipliers upgraded randomly, with the potential to even upgrade every symbol to the maximum level for the mode being played.

Multipliers reset ahead of the next paid spin.

Golden Hammers Push All Symbols Up By 1 Position

Lure of Fortune Bonus

Land 3 Bonus symbols anywhere in view to trigger the bonus game with 3 spins awarded. During the bonus game, the grid changes size to be 6 reels with 9 positions on each.

Players will start the bonus game with 5 symbols – one at the position above the bottom of each reel between reels 1-5. These symbols will hold a bet multiplier value. The entirety of reel 6 will reveal a bet multiplier ladder, which will be applied to all symbols that end up on the respective row at the end of the bonus game.

Each time a new symbol lands in view during the bonus game, spins will reset back to 3. Only bet multiplier symbols or feature symbols can land on reels 1-5 whilst only feature symbols can land on reel 6.

All Symbols Are Multiplied by the Value on Their Row of the Multiplier Ladder at the End of the Bonus Game

Special Symbols

Reels 1-5 can land the following.

• Fish – reveals a bet multiplier value and occupies the space above it, pushing any symbols above up one spot.
• Hammer – pushes all symbols on the reel up one spot.
• Payer – reveals a value and add its to every symbol on that reel.
• Doubler – doubles the value of every symbol on that reel.
• Spawner – copies a symbol on the reel and its value, placing it one spot below the original.

Reel 6 can land the following.

• Golden Hammer – pushes all symbols on all reels up one spot.
• Payer – increases all values on the multiplier ladder by +1.
• Doubler – doubles all values on the multiplier ladder.
• Bonus – spins will reset to 4 instead of 3.
• Persistent Hammer – picks a reel randomly and pushes all symbols on it up one spot at the end of every re-spin.
• Persistent Payer – picks a reel randomly and adds its value to all symbols on that reel at the end of every re-spin.
• Persistent Spawner – picks a reel randomly, copies a symbol on the reel and its value, placing it one spot below the original at the end of every re-spin.

The bonus game will end when 0 spins remain. At this point, whichever bet multiplier values are on the reels will be multiplied by the value on their row of the multiplier ladder on reel 6.

Lure of Fortune Bonus Game

Buy Feature

Players in appropriate regions can skip straight to the action with the following Buy Feature options.

• Medium Volatility Bonus Game – 50x bet
• High Volatility Bonus Game – 100x bet
• Extremely High Volatility Bonus Game – 150x bet

The RTP for all options is 96.50%.

You must change the game mode to buy the different feature options, you cannot scroll through the options within one game mode.

The maximum win available in Lure of Fortune is 50,000x bet. If the sum of a single game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 50,000x bet will be awarded.

First Impression

Well, there’s plenty happening in Lure of Fortune to keep players interested. There’s a really clear divide between the base game and bonus game – so much so that it almost feels like two different games, and yet somehow feels cohesive.

In the base game, multiplier upgrades carry most of the load, working hand in hand with cascades to help things move forward. When combined with the opportunity to pick from 3 game modes, you see that there’s enough here to pique interest.

It’s the bonus game where things get really exciting though, although it is completely different to the base game. Rather than opting for a Banana Town style bonus with multipliers not resetting, players get a hold and win feature that combines the fishing mechanic with the kind of gameplay we expect from games like the Money Train series.

In the end, it all comes together to form something exciting, where you’re just waiting on your values moving upwards to hit a good row multiplier. When the right combinations occur, wins are possible up to 50,000x bet – depending on the mode, although even the lower limits of 5,000x and 20,000x bet are nothing to be sniffed at.

Finally, maths is rated medium to highly volatile (again depending on the mode), and RTP options are available up to 96.10% (96.50% feature buy), so as always it’s worth checking this. There are a number of different features at play within Lure of Fortune, but to put it simply – if you like a game that offers excitement, choice and great win potential, this one’s for you.

*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.