Babushkas slot review

Babushkas

Online Slot MachineBabushkas
Slot ProviderThunderkick Casino Software
Jackpot SlotNo
Reels5
Win Lines17
RTP95.80%

Babushka to me has always meant an older lady in Russian, though these dolls are called such as well. Matryoshka doll would be the more fitting name, but I can’t really complain since that’s as far as my knowledge of Russian goes as well. The game itself seems like a true Thunderkick game, and it has quite an unique look combined with some innovative gameplay. Graphically it’s extremely fitting, the theme is surprising, the gameplay somewhat unique and the music excellent. Unfortunately, I did not like the game itself due to the low wins. I am not talking about high or low volatility here, just a general sense of disappointment when checking the payouts.

Gameplay, musics and graphics

The hit frequency in Babushkas is somewhat low, at least when compared to the amount of wins you get. At around 30% you get a hit every 3-4 spins, and most of the time these were under the bet for me. Of course, I fully expected for wilds and bonus games to make up the difference. Unfortunately the wilds don’t really seem to make a difference. Money aside what you have on the screen is a background knit by someones mother(always impressive) and varying Matryoshka dolls of different looks and shapes. Occasionally you’ll have a bear popping up as well. It certainly isn’t  like any other slot you’ve seen before, and like always Thunderkick has made sure they are not just copying the age old patterns that so many other companies seem to do.

The graphics are top notch, though the background image becomes quite stale sooner or later. The babushkas themselves look good on any device, and occasional bear popping out is well animated. The music is something I found extremely well done, and in fact the most enjoyable part of this slot. In most other slots I mute the tab or the game as soon as possible, in this case I was left hoping for a full album.

Where is the money?

Five of the top symbols in a row will net you a whopping 2 euros with 1 euro bet. I have to say this is nothing but a big disappointment. Most other wins fall well below your bet. This is probably due to the way the slot is designed. The babushkas upgrade to the next winning category every time a higher level doll completes a winning line or forms a new one. Ideally this would create massive winning combinations, though even if you hit all 17 paylines with the maximum win you are only netting 34 euros(with one euro bet). The wilds do similar upgrades, and with a special win you can net even higher wins. This though is still only a hundred times your bet. A well done slot, but the money and the wins simply aren’t there.

Bonus features

The game features three different wilds, one of which dishes out freespins. There’s also a special win for upgrading all Babushkas beyond the point of no return. The main feature in the game is the winning symbol upgrade as mentioned in ´previous paragraph. All winning symbols of the same value upgrade to the next higher valued symbol, when this creates new or longer winning lines. The wild, a bear as is obvious in any Russian themed slot, appears only on reel 3. The wild has the following mystery features:

  • Scare bear wild – lowest value symbols will upgrade 1, 2, or 3 tiers upwards depending on the size of the bear.
  • Charm bear – all symbols upgrade one tier.
  • Dance bear – 7 freespins are given to the player, with a guaranteed wild on the middle reel on every spin.

In addition if all the symbols on the screen are of the same level they will upgrade one extra time.

Summary

I want to like the game, and I do find some features quite nice. But the money my friend, there’s no money in this. In fact this slot looks more like a technology demo that is meant to test and show new features and perhaps new game types. I recommend some demo play, and then switching to any other Thunderkick slot.