Propaganda

Review

This online pokie from ELK Studios tries to show a world that is difficult to imagine other than having seen it in a handful of movies. Thankfully, the pokie developers of ELK also included different in-game boosters which will make you feel more comfortable and even increase your chances of winning. They include a progressive multiplier, multiplying wilds, a bonus, and super bonus games. As this casino game comes with a highly volatility level, it won’t come as a surprise that the max win stands at an excellent 25,000x bet. It’s time to get ready for the uprising by going through our in-depth Propaganda review.

Propaganda

Propaganda is a production by ELK Studios that takes us to a place steeped in mystery and perhaps even sadness. Although we’re not aware of the exact story behind this game, its setting might make you feel a bit uncomfortable about the world you’re about to be part of. The group of mask-wearing characters stand inside what looks like a fallen wall. On the other side of this stressful and miserable place, joy and nature can be seen. The latter should be your focus as it gives us a better perspective than what we’re part of now. And with a glimmer of hope to look out for, there is also potential for winning real money prizes.

How to Play

Playing this pokie shouldn’t be too difficult and rather self-explanatory if we may say. Nonetheless, we’re happy to craft this Propaganda pokie game review for all sorts of players in New Zealand — especially the newbies that want to get familiar with this specific game. Propaganda consists of a 6×6 grid with cluster wins and dropping symbols. This cluster pays engine means that players receive wins after reaching the required number of symbols within a touching block. Furthermore:

• Propaganda comes with stakes between $0.20 and $100.
• Players can choose their ideal bets from the bet selection window, which opens using the Coins + button. Close the window and press the Spin button to play the reels once.
• The Autoplay function is available in selected countries and regions, including most casinos available in New Zealand. It spins the reels continuously for a preselected number of times. Use the Stop (x) button to cancel this option.

Symbol Wins

The first thing you’ll probably notice is the intense audio which could easily be part of a movie’s soundtrack. It’s rather upbeat and gives us the idea that anarchy is about to start. This also means you’ll hear sirens going off as you play so do need to look outside. ELK Studios’ effort becomes clear from the very first spin you make. The designers have done a great job of combining the graphics and the audio and it’s hard to disagree on this one.

Symbols on the 6×6 grid include flowers, world globes, roses and doves which all show in a pop art style. The high values are represented by objects such as megaphones, guns, hand grenades, and bombs. The bomb is the most lucrative symbol with payouts of 50x the total bet awarded by clusters of 15+. The spaceship is the wild symbol and substitutes for all symbols mentioned above. Other symbols we came across are the Bonus, Super Bonus and Multiplier Wild. More details can be found below in the Bonus Features section.

Bonus Features

The features of Propaganda are especially interesting because the multipliers can go up extremely high. Also, multiple wilds play an important role and there are 2 different free spins features. Make sure to pay attention as every now and then a wildcat strike comes into play.

Waterfall Mechanism

As long as new symbols form new winning combinations, symbol waterfalls will continue to form. The feature comes to an end when new symbols no longer disappear in a new winning combination. Unique to Propaganda is that the number of symbols that make up a winning cluster is added to the win multiplier next to the playing field. Thus, a winning cluster of 7 symbols changes the total win multiplier from x1 to a max of x7. This total multiplier is applied to the winnings at the end of the spin. At the end of the spin, the multiplier is reset to x1.

Multiplier Wilds

Both normal wilds and mixed wilds can land on the grid. Multiplier wilds take turns applying their values to winning clusters before the total multiplier is applied. When multiplier wilds happen to connect more than one winning cluster, they are split into the respective clusters. If there are multiple multiplier wilds in a winning cluster, they will merge into one multiplier wild, which means they add their values. Regular wilds act as if they have values of 1x.

Wildcat

This is a relatively simple feature that is activated at a few moments once in a while. When that happens, the feature changes from random pay symbols on the board to wilds or multiple wilds.

Propaganda Free Spins

Propaganda comes with 2 free spins features which have a different set up. This is how each of them works:

• You get 7 ‘normal’ free spins when you land 3 bonus symbols. This free spins feature is not much different from the base game, which means that the total multiplier does not reset between spins. If a super bonus symbol is landed, the regular free spins feature will turn into the super free spins feature. In addition, every flag symbol on the playing field awards an extra free spin.
• The super free spins feature is activated when 2 normal bonus symbols and 1 super bonus symbol are landed in the base game. You will then receive 7 super free spins. The super free spins feature is not much different from the normal free spins feature. Furthermore, during the super free spins feature, you also get an additional free spin for each spinning flag symbol.

Bonus Game

If you land 3 scatter symbols, the bonus game is activated, and you are then welcomed with 7 free drops. If you land these scatter symbols together with free drop symbols, you will receive extra free spins and these free drop symbols can also be landed during the free drops, whereby each symbol gives 1-3 extra free drops. The total win multiplier is persistent and does not reset between the spins performed. If you land a super scatter symbol during the spins, the bonus game is upgraded to a super bonus game.

Super Bonus Game

Landing 2 scatter symbols together with 1 super scatter symbol will make you activate the super bonus game. You are then greeted with 7 free drops after which you’ll basically be able to enjoy the same features as in the normal bonus game. The upgrade that each spin performs will also trigger the super wilds strike feature.

X-iter

If you want to head straight on to the bonus features, you can also make use of the X-iter mode. You can then choose between the following features:

• 2x the bet: you double your chances to trigger the bonus game.
• 10x the bet: enjoy a spin where you are guaranteed to trigger the wild strike feature.
• 25x the bet: enjoy a spin where you are guaranteed to trigger the super wild strike feature, giving you wild multipliers on symbol replacement.
• 100x the bet: triggers the normal bonus game.
• 500x the bet: triggers the super bonus game, where you will activate the super wild strike feature on every spin.

Payout Metrics

The Propaganda RTP is set at 95% which is low, but not very unsurprisingly as ELK Studios is known for their lower than average RTP’s. The 95% RTP is quite a bit lower than the online pokies average of 96% and will not be to the liking of some players. The upside is that this game does not come with ranging RTP’s. Also, the variance is high and comes at 8 out of 10. The hit frequency rate is set at 28.7% meaning that the chance of making a win is higher than average. In other words: a winning combination will land every 3.48 spins. When it comes to payout potential or max exposure, Propaganda offers top wins of 25,000x your total bet. Like in many other pokies, the biggest wins come from the free spins feature where a persistent multiplier is applied to winning clusters.

Summary

We very much enjoyed the contrast between the two walls as it also gives the player perspective and hope to play for. The NoLimit City touch to it is very obvious as soon as you land the game, but this doesn’t mean that Propaganda is a copycat game. The masked characters make it feel like you’re heading to a parallel version of planet earth. The audiovisual part of the game is excellent as well, but the symbol values could’ve been better in our opinion. Then again, this is maybe the trade-off needed to give players in NZ heaps of multiplier action, and the features bounce off of each other in a very entertaining manner. Each spin you make in Propaganda will keep you glued to the screen, and different from some games that are released by NoLimit City, it’s actually possible to understand what’s going on. Propaganda is one of the best titles by ELK Studios ever.