Rat King

Review Rat King

Different from other providers out there, Push Gaming was very late to introduce the Scatter Pays system, but they finally went ahead and did it. With all of its sweetness and thus the scatter pays, Rat King will remind a lot of seasoned players in New Zealand — of Pragmatic Play’s Sweet Bonanza, although the retro look and feel still make it original enough. The same holds true for some other twists that have been made to this game release. In this online pokie review we’ll let you know what to expect from this provider.

How to Play

Making a winning combination works very differently in Rat King which in this case means that +7 identical symbols can be launched anywhere on the playing field. That’s right, no adjacent reels, but randomly placed on the grid. The fun takes place on a 6×6 grid which is more than enough space to make the winning combos. Here is how to play Rat King:

• The buttons that you’ll need during the Rat King pokie are found on the right of the screen, this includes the play button in the shape of a circle with 2 white arrows.
• Make sure to click on it to trigger a round in this online casino game. You can also use the coins to set your minimum bet. The betting limits in Rat King are set at a minimum of $ 0.1 and a maximum of $ 100.
• The settings can be adjusted in the Rat King free-play mode.
• Remember to stick to licenced NZ casinos at all times. Always check the RTP version before you make your real money wager.

Symbol Wins

This pokie welcomes you at a sweet factory where Rat King controls the place once everybody else is gone. Players will be part of a retro adventure where their objective is to find all the hidden secrets in the sweet factory. As well as a couple of special symbols, Rat King has regular pay symbols and what are known as Dud symbols. Regular pay symbols come with monetary values, but be aware that Dud symbols do not. The regular symbols consist of 6 sweet items, each worth 0.5 to 2x the bet for 7-8 OAK, which can go up to 7.5 to 50x the bet when 20+ land. Dud symbols fill up the valuable grid space, but with 7+ Dud symbols, they are removed from the playing field, paving the way for new symbols. Standard symbols are removed when they form a win, allowing new symbols to drop down. Here is what symbols like a macaron, sponge cake and doughnut can do for you:

Bonus Features

The Rat King pokie comes with a total of 6 different bonus features. With cascades and symbol collapses, matching 7+ Dud symbols will give more symbols being added to the playing field. If Star symbols find their way to the bottom-most position, they will be collected with the multiplier (up to 500x) being applied to your total win. Multiple Star symbol multipliers are possible too in this game. This can happen in the Free Spins bonus feature where the multiplier doesn’t reset for wins of up to 10,000x the bet.

Cascading and Collapsing feature

When a winning combo is made, the Cascading and Collapsing feature gets activated. When this happens, payouts take place and winning symbols are removed from the grid. Remaining symbols will then fall downwards and new symbols will cascade in from above, filling the empty positions on the grid. This will go on until no more new winning combos are formed.

Dud Symbols feature

The greyed-out Dud symbols don’t carry any value or payouts, but if you manage to land 7+ of the same Dud symbol, the Dud Symbols feature will get activated. In this case, the Dud symbols will make place for new symbols to fall in.

Collection Boxes feature

At the bottom of the playing field, you will see the Collection Boxes. When the Star symbol lands in the bottom-most position on the grid, it’s collected in the Collection Boxes. Once collected, the Star symbol multiplier will be added to the multiplier counter for the spin. Also, Star symbols play the role of multipliers which means they have a value of between 2x and 500x the bet. You also have the chance to collect different Star symbols which will come with all the accumulated multipliers applied to the total win for the current spin. When this occurs, this is referred to as the Collection Boxes feature.

Free Spins feature

The Rat King pokie comes with a Free Spins feature. The free spins bonus feature is activated when 3+ Rat King Scatter symbols are collected in a single spin. These are collected in the Collection Boxes when they land in the bottom-most position.

You will see a metre to the left of the playing field which displays the amount of collected scatters. In this case, 3, 4 or 5 Rat King Scatters award 10, 15 or 20 FS. Throughout the feature, 3 extra free spins are earned if you manage to collect the Rat King Scatter.

In case the Star symbol is collected and the multiplier that comes with it is added to the multiplier counter, it will multiply the total win for that spin. The multiplier will become inactive until another multiplier gets added to the multiplier counter. This also means the multiplier will rise if you manage to collect enough Stars. This is an increasing multiplier.

Push Bet feature

The Push Bet feature is a feature that isn’t specific to Push Gaming, but the name this provider has chosen is. For an extra 20% more per spin, players can increase their chances of activating the Free Spins feature although it is important to know that this is clearly not guaranteed. The Push Bet feature can be activated/deactivated by hitting the toggle found above the available stakes.

When you make use of this optional feature, the RTP will move up to 96.34% (for the 96.3% RTP). Very important, the top win probability is set at 1 in 8,333,333 spins. Without the Push Bet this number is 1 in 11,235,955 which shows quite a difference.

Bonus Buy feature

Players in NZ have access to the Bonus Buy feature which is provided in three options. Costing up to 500x the stake, the RTP will also go up to 96.93% (for the 96.3% RTP):

• 100x the bet: 3 scatters, 10 Free Spins.
  • RTP: 96.58%.
• 250x the bet: 4 scatters, 15 Free Spins.
  • RTP: 96.63%.
• 500x the bet: 5 scatters, 20 Free Spins.
  • RTP: 96.93%.

Payout Metrics

The standard RTP of Rat King is set at 96.3% whilst players may also find the 95.24% or even 94.32% RTP versions at some pokie sites that are available in New Zealand. Because of the significant differences, we always recommend our readers to check the figures by opening the Paytable. As mentioned, if you make use of the Push Bet, the RTP will go up to 96.34%. If you prefer to use the Bonus Buy feature, this will go up to 96.93%. Set at medium variance, the Rat King pokie comes with 10,000x the stake max payouts. The max win probability in Rat King is set at 1 in 11,235,955 spins whilst it gives you an even better chance of 1 in 8,333,333 spins with the activation of the Push Bet feature.

Summary

There has been more attention for the Scatter Pay in recent months and the Rat King pokie looks to be inspired by the pioneers of the mechanism, Sweet Bonanza by Pragmatic Play. Interestingly, Rat King comes with its own 8-bit visual presentation which we find a fairly smart move, as it makes this production very different and adds its own flavour. Whilst playing this game, you will need to pay extra attention to the multiplier symbols as these are meant to provide you with the main benefits which includes the multiplier not resetting in this pokie. It can be triggered with every free spins with the max win going up to 10,000x the stake. We find Rat King to be an outstanding Scatter Pay first timer for Push Gaming and recommend all Kiwis to play the game or at least the free demo.