Dinopolis

Dinopolis: Slot Overview

Anthropomorphic dinosaurs can be a bit of a crapshoot. Get it wrong, and you're left with films like 'Theodore Rex' pulling in a 2.5/10 rating on IMDB. On the other hand, get it right, and you could be influencing creative types for years to come. Such is the case with the rubbery characters of the critically acclaimed TV series 'Dinosaurs', which have served to inspire Push Gaming's slot Dinopolis three decades later.

Imagine a world in which an asteroid didn't wipe out the dinosaurs, and they evolved human-level intelligence. What exactly would they do for kicks? If Dinopolis is anything to go by, they'd be livin' large in a Las Vegas-style sin city stacking chips, rollin' dice, and collecting wads of cash. This is where we find Dinopolis which is played using 5 reels in combination with a 576 pay way grid, arranged in a 3-4-4-4-3 pattern. The reel set up is a little small on a desktop, which would be a bigger issue if the background imagery wasn't so razzle-dazzle. Casinos are overblown on the Las Vegas Strip already, so you can only imagine what a dino-sized version would be like. Add in a jangling rockabilly tune, and you've got a highly unusual take on dinosaurs, making a pleasant change from them stomping through bush tearing people up for food.

Jiving with dinos is possible on any device, offering stakes starting at 10 p/c rising to $/€100 per spin. Stats typically make for positive reading in any Push Gaming slot, and Dinopolis is no different. RTP is rock steady at 96.40%, and it wouldn't be Push without a highly volatile math model - though not as brutally so as experienced in slots like Razor Shark or Jammin' Jars. Triggering the bonus game can be challenging at times, while massive winning possibilities lurk behind it all, providing some potentially satisfying gaming sessions.

Getting a few coins out of Dinopolis occurs when a combination of 3 or more identical symbols land on adjacent reels from the leftmost reel. In keeping up the creative spirit, Push Gaming has done away with card suits or royals. Instead, low pays are made up of dice, chips, cards, and cash, while high pays are 4 dinos, including a Jessica Rabbit type, who all look like they are enjoying their night out. The final 2 super high pays are a couple of triceratops-looking boss men worth 7.5-10 times the stake for 5 of a kind.

Dinopolis: Slot Features

Opening up the Dino Bonus is the game's principle goal, where a progressive feature advances you through several levels on the way to glory. The base game keeps players guessing due to the inclusion of wild multipliers, and special Dino Coins.

Wild symbols appear on reels 2, 3, or 4 to substitute any symbol except the scatter. Wilds may land with a multiplier of x2 or x3 attached. These multipliers increase the number of ways on the reels they land on, equal to their multiplier value.

Keep an eye out for the Dino Coins which land on reels 1 and 5, displaying various multiplier numbers of x1, x2, x5, x25, x50, x10, x50, x100, x500, and x1000. These coins are awarded when they combine with at least 2 wilds on reels 2 to 4. When a coin is awarded, players win their stake multiplied by the number it displays. Wild multipliers multiply any Dino Coin win.

Landing 3 purple card scatters on the middle 3 reels triggers the Dino Bonus feature. Once activated, 4 cards are dealt face down at the start of the feature, allowing players to pick 1. Another set of cards are then dealt again for another picking round. The 1st card reveals an active feature, the 2nd the number of free spins. Feature picks include:

• Sticky stack wild symbols – a full reel wild with an x2 multiplier on reels 2, 3, or 4. Having more than one stack wild in view multiplies their values together.
• Single reel multiplier booster – a random reel with a sticky stack wild has its multiplier increased by +1.
• All reel multiplier boost – increases the multiplier of all sticky stack wilds by +1.
• Golden card – when revealed, players can choose two extra feature picks.

During free spins, special Dino Coins may land with a dotted highlight around them. These are collected, filling the meter next to the reels. When 5 are collected, players move to the next level of the bonus round, and the meter is cleared. Before moving to the new level, you get to pick 2 more cards to unlock features and free spins as described above. All in all, there are 5 levels.

Dinopolis: Slot Verdict

Giving dinos a human form is a risky business, which is probably why they’re almost always portrayed as mindless man-eaters. Push Gaming is banking on the creatures' adorable side by showing there is more to them than just ravening beasts. For the most part, it works too, and Dinopolis is nothing like the way dinos are usually portrayed. Not that there is an overabundance of snapping jaws in dino-themed slots, yet the change makes a nice break.

As to features, the coin win system is slightly reminiscent of what you may have seen in Razor Shark, while the bonus game has some elements reminiscent of Thunderkick's Wild Heist with all the card picking, leading to wild reels, extra spins, multipliers and the like. The bonus game is naturally where Dinopolis gets the opportunity to go nuts, and getting there can take a fair amount of patience. It means the base game can grind a bit, but Dino Coin Symbols plus the overall bright, cheerful presentation keeps Dinopolis flowing.

When triggered, free spins could be very hit or miss as well. On a good day, hits can be as high as 50,000 times your stake. Another positive aspect is the card selection feature adds a level of randomisation to ensure no two bonus games are exactly the same. As to the Dino Coin collection system, it has its ups and downs. It’s great when you pick up a sly win off it or collect enough coins to progress the feature. Other times they can get in the way of lining up a win when high-value symbols sit on the middle reels. While Dinopolis didn't feel like a crazy volatile game as such, during three days of non-stop testing, we never managed to reach level 5 a single time (likely over 100 features played). Moreover, the biggest win didn't actually come from the free spins, but by landing one of the x1000 gold coins during the base game.

All up, however, Dinopolis presents a fun, fresh theme in a rocking, feel-good environment with solid winning potential. Don't be fooled by the goofy getups though, Dinopolis is another volatile Push Gaming machine, where the inhabitants are just as likely to bear claws or stomp as they are to get all rock' n roll.