Now I love a showman with a bit of pizazz as much as the next wombat, so when the weird and wonderful Balthazar’s Wild Emporium landed, I had to have a crack at it. He looks like an interesting fella.
Core Gaming has created a slot with a theatrical atmosphere where you can win if you dare to delve into the world of the weird and wonderful. This almost makes the Golden Grimoire slot from NetEnt look normal. No, not really….only joking!
The showy game’s charms include stacked and expanding Wilds, free spins and a handy gamble option. Now you’re sitting up in your seat!
Look and Feel
This game is set in a forest clearing where the game’s bizarre Balthazar holds his show in the back of an old fashioned gypsy caravan. On one side there’s another caravan and on the right, there’s a bubbling cauldron of green goo. The illustrations are quality – we are talking Vlad’s Castle slot level here, only this game isn’t half as scary as that vamp fest.
This oddball game’s atmosphere is brought to life with bird song, animated flowers falling behind the reels and perky music that has a certain upbeat charm.
Balthazar’s Wild Emporium Game Play
This game’s drama is set on the 3 rows, 5 reels and 20 pay-lines. So not as many as Emerald Smash (30), but more than many games- I’d say it was average on the lines front which will give you a good idea of how this game plays.
As you’d expect from a creative force like Core Gaming, this quirky slot is designed to play like a dream across all your devices.
This theatrical game is a winner with cautious gamblers or high rollers alike, with bets starting from as little 20p, and hitting the big time at £100 a spin.
The highest value icons are a golden coin with Balthazar’s head, the grinning showman Balthazar with a top hat, a treasure chest of potions and a giant book of potions. The lower value icons are the Ace through 10 of the card deck in illuminated letters.
This game’s Wild is the word “Wild” in a purple bubble: if you play your reels right, this simple icon can scoop you 2500 x your wager for five on an active pay-line. Now that’s more like it wombat fans. Come to Daddy.
The Wild subs for all icons except for the three potion bottle symbols in purple, yellow and blue.
The Bonuses
Balthazar’s Wild Emporium’s big rewards are all linked to the game’s Wild features. When you land five, single-coloured potion bottles across the reels the big cash could begin to roll in.
If you can secure five purple bottles you’ll gain a head-spinning 500 free spins! And, if that wasn’t enough, Wilds that land can become stacked!
Five of the blue bottles will give you 750 free spins…. I found it hard to get my furry head around that one. During the free spins, Wilds will expand across the reels to generate wins for little old you.
Last, but most impressively, five yellow bottles unlock an inconceivable 1,000 free spins. Any Wilds that arrive during this mode are all colossal sized, to make you mo’ money, honey.
This hard to define game offers gamblers who can land potion bottles on reels one and two access to the Gamble feature.
Because you’re one lucky dude or dudess, you will be given free spins and the amount will depend on the combo of potions you land. Collect your bonus dosh, or gamble all or part of your free games. Land a third potion bottle during these free games and trigger even more free spins. Now my little ole’ wombat head is in a spin!
Potion Bonuses
Now, I love to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and so does our pal Balthazar. After any losing spin, the top-hat toting chemist or magician can trigger a Potion Bonus.
This game’s Potion Bonuses are the following:
A Magic Re-spin gives you a free spin, as you’d expect, but this treat comes with a guaranteed win. Kerching! Cheers Balthie, you’re a real mate.
The Potions Wild bonus adds new Wilds. Even super-sized colossal Wilds are added your reels which should give you winning boost.
Déjà vu Potion is a time warping bonus where the reels roll back, all to your last potion icon.
Then there’s Dr Burns which is one handy bonus. He’s not called Dr Burns for his facial hair, but rather because fire burns your current icons away to reveal a win. That’s better than a kick up the backside any day!
Or, how about the Snake Eye potion (spooky name hey)? Here the reels start wriggling about like a Western Brown Snake to unveil a win. Even I can love serpents in this context.
Wombat Summary
I kinda’ like a game that slightly unsettles me and strewth, Balthazar’s Wild Emporium slot is a strange and wonderful game.
I’m struggling to think of a slot game that offers such a stratospheric number of free spins. Those mega spins all come with Wild extras for bigger wins. I started to feel like a bit of a magic wombat once I started having a go at those potion bonuses. I loved the refreshingly different gamble feature too. This is more than just a game of smoke and mirrors.
Wombat Score: 4.5 out of 5
This game isn’t available to UK players. Why not try Shaman’s Dream from Eyecon instead.
Balthazar’s Wild Emporium pokie is still available to players from New Zealand.