Mega Heist
Volatility High
Min Bet 0.10
Max Bet 50
Max. Win 16,591x
Rating 8.5/10
There’d be something quite thrilling about being involved in a heist, but I think that’s probably just down to the selection of movies that make it look exciting, like the Ocean’s film series, or The Ladykillers. In reality, it would be pretty terrifying to take on something like this, and even if you do get away with it, how would it feel to be on the run for the rest of your life, always looking over your shoulder? Or worse, how would it feel to land yourself in prison? Relax Gaming are offering some insight into this today, as a prison riot serves as the perfect opportunity to escape and begin the biggest heist of your life. In this instance, the team at Relax are leaving behind the classic mechanics of Book of Power to bring us one of the more interesting bonus rounds we’ve seen in a while, in Mega Heist. With a fixed RTP of 96.19% (96.50% feature buy), this highly (5/5) volatile release can produce wins up to 16,591x bet.
The action takes place inside a prison today, which means there’s a lot of dark concrete. Under normal circumstances, this would be quite boring, but as usual this team have brought all of their creative energy to the table, producing bright and colourful symbols and characters that immediately catch your attention – with dice, soap, handcuffs, three robbers, and a police officer. A techno styled tune comes in to tie it all together and continue this uniqueness that Mega Heist exudes. All in all, a nice picture.
Mega Heist Base Features
Taking place across 5 reels, wins are formed on Mega Heist by matching at least 3 symbols on adjacent reels, beginning with the leftmost reel. Each reel contains 4 symbols, but Mega Heist uses connected ways to win, which you might recognise from Nolimit City releases like Road Rage or Kiss My Chainsaw. A connected way occurs when symbols are on adjacent reels, either on the same row, or one row above or below the symbol on the reel before. Simple, really. Symbols available begin with non premiums, with diamonds, clubs, spades, and hearts, awarding wins between 0.70 and 2x bet for matches between 3 and 5 of a kind. In the mid range, we have soap, dice, and handcuffs, awarding wins between 1 and 3x bet, again for matches between 3 and 5 of a kind. At the premium end, we meet our three robbers, each of whom have some strong personalities. Land between 3 and 5 of any kind of any robber to see wins between 2 and 6x bet. The policeman is the highest paying symbol, awarding wins between 4 and 20x bet for matches between 3 and 5 of a kind. Finally, Wild symbols are available, and substitute for all symbols except Bonus symbols.
There isn’t a great deal to cover in Mega Heist, since the majority of the action is focused on the heist itself. However, if only 2 Bonus symbols land, a prison riot is started, and the Escape Bonus Game is triggered. On the screen, up to 4 robbers will appear, trying to escape in an attempt to start the Mega Heist Bonus Game, moving across the reels from left to right. Robbers will carry bet multipliers, which can be boosted by landing multipliers, or the triggering Bonus symbols.
During the Escape Bonus Game the reels are divided into the Robbers Zone (reels 1-4), the Safe Zone (reel 5), and the Police Zone (the top row). As the robbers move across the reels, between 1 and 4 policemen will appear to try and stop them, with each policeman able to catch up to 1 robber per round. If a bet multiplier makes it to the Safe Zone, it will be awarded. If one or more robbers carrying a Bonus symbol make it to the Safe Zone, the Mega Heist Bonus Game is triggered. Up to 3 additional Bonus symbols can be won, making a total of 5 Bonus symbols.
Mega Heist Bonus
Landing 3, 4, or 5 Bonus symbols will trigger the Mega Heist Bonus Game, with 10, 15, or 30 robbers respectively. Additionally, as mentioned above the Mega Heist Bonus Game can be triggered if a robber carrying a Bonus symbol makes it to the Safe Zone during the Escape Bonus Game.
The Mega Heist Bonus Game comes with 3 levels, each with a different win potential:
- The Gas Station (Level 1) – 150x bet
- The Club (Level 2) – 1,500x bet
- The Bank (Level 3) – 15,000x bet
Players will always start at the first level. Similarly to the the Escape Bonus Game the reels are divided into the Robbers Zone (reels 1-4), the Safe Zone (reel 5), and the Police Zone (the top row) in the Mega Heist Bonus Game. Robbers will move from left to right across the reels, moving one step for each round and carrying a bet multiplier prize, which is deducted from the bank counter.
Robbers will continue moving until they either reach the Safe Zone, securing their prize, or until they are caught by the police, who can catch 1 robber per move. When a robber reaches the Safe Zone, he is added back to the robber’s pool and may reappear in the Robbers Zone. When the bank counter reaches 0, the Bonus Game progresses to the next level, with between 3 and 30 new robbers added to the robber’s pool.
The Bonus Game ends when there are no robbers in the robber’s pool or on the board.
Along the way, robbers can collect Power-Ups:
- Robber’s prizes are multiplied by x2, x3, x5, or x10.
- 1, 2, 3, or 5 robbers are added to the robber’s pool.
- Robber becomes disguised as a police officer and cannot be caught.
- Takes up to 2 robbers straight to the Safe Zone.
- Police will not appear for one round (levels 2 and 3 only).
- Takes up to 8 robbers from their row and adjacent rows straight to the Safe Zone (levels 2 and 3 only).
Players in appropriate regions can take advantage of the Buy Feature option. For a cost of 150x bet, players can trigger the Mega Heist Bonus Game with 3, 4, or 5 Bonus symbols. RTP increases slightly, from 96.19% to 96.50%, when using the Buy Feature option.
The maximum win available in Mega Heist is 16,591x bet. If the sum of a single game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 16,591x bet will be awarded.
First Impression
Well, that was different. Alright, the base game of Mega Heist is pretty standard, but this team decided to do something unique for the bonus round and they certainly stuck to it. Couple this individuality with stellar audio visuals, and you get something to behold. A little mini-bonus to help players reach the proper bonus and break up the monotony of the base game only furthers this.
When the Mega Heist Bonus Games is triggered you might find yourself surprised by how quickly things start to move, and how many different characters and numbers you have to keep your eye on. I’ve read the information, I’ve played on demo, and I’ve written this review, and I’m more or less resigning myself that this is going to be one of those games where I just sit back and take it all in, happy to not really understand. Either way, when the right combinations occur, wins are possible up to 16,591x bet.
Finally, maths is highly (5/5) volatile, and RTP is fixed at 96.19% (96.50% feature buy). Mega Heist comes with one of the most interesting bonuses we’ve seen in a while, but if you’re the sort to have a problem with a lack of understanding, you might need to take a bit of extra time to read the rules.
*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.