Sahara Nights review
Theme and Storyline
Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Sheherazade had a thousand tales… but the one we keep ♣ retelling is that of Aladdin and the magic lamps. Here it is rendered in a slightly more realistic looking vein ♣ than the traditional Disney knockoffs.
The characters of Aladdin, the Shah, and the Princess still appear, as does the bright blue ♣ Djinn.
It’s a familiar tale, given new life by a new take. It’s just a shame slot makers don’t try one ♣ of the other thousand Arabian Nights.
Win with the Expanding Wild symbol in Sahara Nights slot
Graphics, Sounds and Animations
The graphics have ♣ a charming medieval Arabian look to them, stylised to fit in with the fantasy setting. They have all the usual ♣ attention and care that Yggdrasil Gaming slots are given. The characters are individual and have clear silhouettes.
The animations add to ♣ the effects of the graphics, adding personality and weight to the game.
They also blend well with the spin and win ♣ sounds which have been custom designed to give this slot its particular feel, that of desert romance.
Gameplay
The gameplay is more ♣ or less what you would expect from a standard slot.
There are five reels with three rows each in the base ♣ game. With 20 win lines playing out on the reels.
The main event is the bonus (details below), though this turns ♣ out to just be a straightforward free spin bonus. There are no random features or gamble features.
Gameplay video
Wilds, Bonuses and ♣ Free Spins
The Wild symbol substitutes for all symbols except the Free Spin symbol. They appear only on reels two, three ♣ and four. Wilds expand to fill the reel whenever they are going to make a winning combination by doing so.
Three ♣ or more Free Spin symbols trigger a Free Spin bonus. This consists of 8 free spins for three symbols, 12 ♣ for four and 16 for five. Three or more symbols also come with a cash pay out of x1, x10, ♣ or x100 the total bet for three, four and five symbols respectively.
During free spins, Wilds are sticky. Filling all three ♣ middle reels with Wilds triggers an additional two free spins. Extra free spins are also awarded for two or more ♣ Free Spin symbols (whereas you need at least three of them to trigger the free spins in the base game).
Player ♣ can retrigger Extra Spins during the Free Spins bonus feature
Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance
The return to player of this game ♣ is 96.20%, a little over our yardstick for average of roughly 96%.
The range of bets on the site we tested ♣ ran from a minimum bet per spin ofR$/£/€0.10 up to a maximum ofR$/£/€100.00 per spin.
The volatility of this game is ♣ medium, which makes it a poor match for our preferred slot machine strategies. Our slot strategies target the highest possible ♣ volatility.
Paytable for the high paying symbols
Conclusion
Sahara Nights is a straightforward slot. Especially for something coming out of Yggdrasil Gaming, a ♣ company that tends to innovate with even the simplest of ideas.
But it does everything it sets out to do well. ♣ Perhaps a little too solidly, we could have used higher returns for the player and much higher volatility.
Still, taking it ♣ on its own terms it is a pretty good slot.
