The developers at Stakelogic must have a penchant for meteorology, because they’ve created a game focused on the weather. The farmers are the ones who pay the closest attention to the weather, and Fruit Storm takes place on a farm where both crops and animals are raised. Fruit Storm’s twisters are beneficial, since they add sticky wilds to the grid as they pass through and can initiate free games, just like the tornadoes in other slots (Victoria Wild immediately comes to mind). In addition to these bonuses, there are also tumbles, multiplier symbols worth up to 100x, and a cloud feature with soothing music.
By separating the screen into ‘good’ and ‘poor’ weather, Fruit Storm manages to convey the complexity of the weather. A massive red barn sits tranquilly on the right, surrounded by fields of crops, under rather calm sky. A twister has wreaked havoc on the left side, carrying off cattle like Dorothy’s home in The Wizard of Oz. This would be a terrifying reality to face, but on the reels, you want to see tornado symbols since they provide many rewards. Slots with a similar premise already exist; in this case, NetEnt’s Tornado Farm Escape served as a major inspiration.
Given how unpredictable the weather may be, it probably won’t come as a surprise to learn that Fruit Storm is a highly volatile slot. This is due in no little part to the presence of powerful multiplier symbols in the bonus game, which can also be seen in the regular game for an additional wager. When there are no multipliers in play, the basic mode allows wagers between 20 pence and £/€20 each spin. To obtain them, you must first activate Super Stake, which will boost your wager by 25%. Storm Fruit has a fixed RTP of 95.85% regardless of whether you use the free spins feature or Super Stake.
After each spin, 64 symbols are dumped onto an 8×8 grid, and players try to form clusters of 5 or more identical icons. There are seven fruit icons that can result in payouts: citrus, plums, grapes, apples, watermelons, and strawberries. Clusters of 5 or more of these symbols are worth 0.2x to 1x the wager, while clusters of 15 or more symbols are worth 20x to 150x the wager. Finally, wild symbols can be used in place of any ordinary paying sign.
Slot Featured in “Fruit Storm”
In addition to the standard wilds, scatters, and multipliers, Fruit Storm also has a cloud bonus, a gamble feature, a bonus purchase, and free spins with walking wilds.
Symbols for Tornadoes
These are scatter symbols, and their presence triggers several effects:
When 1 tornado symbol lands, more wilds appear in spots 2 through 4 while the original wild remains.
When there are two twisters in the sky, two to six more wild symbols will be added at random spots.
Finally, after evaluating a win, if you see three tornadoes, you’ll receive 10 free spins and anything from three to eight more wild symbols.
Multiplication Signs
Multipliers ranging from 2x to 100x are contained in these purple jar tiles. They can appear in the main game with the Super Stake activated, or during free spins. When there is more than one multiplier icon present, all the values are summed up before being multiplied. An essential principle is that multiplier symbols can be utilized independently of their proximity to winning clusters.
Bonus Turns
Each free spin begins with a multiplier symbol and perhaps two to three more wild symbols being added to the board before the regular symbols begin to fall in. In this bonus round, when a wild contributes to a victory, it relocates to a neighboring unoccupied place before a new cascade begins.
The Cloud’s Killer Feature
On a losing spin, this bonus feature may appear at random. When this happens, the visible symbols shift into a winning configuration.
Possibility of Risk
If a player gets a winning cluster, they can choose to risk some of their winnings by playing a risk game. If you correctly guess the suit of a hidden card, your reward increases by a factor of four. Picking the wrong conclusion will, of course, result in a financial loss.
Purchase Option
Players with the ability to purchase free spins have a total of four different choices. You can win 10, 15, or 20 free games by betting 50x, 100x, or 200x the entire amount. You may also spend 125 times as much to have a random choice made between the first three choices.
Slot Machine Result: Fruit Fiesta
This was a true tale of two halves. The 30s saloon style music just adds to the overall sluggishness of the game, which doesn’t achieve anything to begin with. On occasion, a twister may pass through and scatter some wilds over the board, but they are rarely as powerful as the wilds you could get in a Hacksaw slot machine. Adding a few wilds to the board is all it takes to increase your chances of making a winning cluster. There’s nothing devious about them, and the atmosphere is clearly laid-back, so players just sat back and chewed the proverbial straw until the free spins started rolling in.
The difference between the main game and the free spins is dramatic, especially if Super Stake is disabled. One reason wilds are more intriguing is that they can leave the field after contributing to a win. Jammin’ Jars fans might be disappointed that the walking wilds don’t have a rising multiplier, but they probably won’t care too much because there are multiplier symbols whose values can significantly boost a successful spin. The best part is that, unlike a wild multiplier, which must be near to the cluster in order to be used, multipliers can be used wherever they appear in Sweet Bonanza. The greater multipliers, when used together, can cause significant harm. To prevent the tornado from reaching F5 on the Fujita scale, Fruit Storm places a win cap of 25,000x.
Fruit Storm definitely has all the ingredients for some wild situations. The game falls short, however, because its elements are either overly simplistic or have been utilized in other games before. Fruit Storm does a good job at bringing together what it has to sometimes get pulse rates pounding, but it feels like it might have been closer to being an unmissable slot than simply a well-made one if the spark of novelty was stronger.