Around the World Pokie Machine
Fictional Victorian adventurer Phileas Fogg is the star of Around The World, a feature filled pokie from the Microgaming company. With 5 reels and 20 paylines, it's got a fairly standard layout, but is presented in an appealing style that makes it look as if it was produced in the 19th century. Don't panic however, as the features and payouts are right up to date and include prize multipliers, a fun bonus game and a very nice 100,000 coins maximum jackpot win.
Onwards to the Game
Our first stop is a look at the betting options that are open to players of Around The World. This game lets them wager just 0.01 on a single payline, but taking this route means that they will get on average 1 in every 20 potential winning combinations, so it's only for those who really don't like spending money and don't mind just spinning the reels for little reward.
A better option is to place a stake on all lines, for a minimum wager that's still only 0.20, while coin values can go up to 1.00, and up to 10 coins can be placed on a line for a maximum bet of 200.00 per spin. That should be more than enough for everyone but the highest of high rollers and gives this game a very flexible betting range.
The next destination is a look at the style of this game, which is suitably old fashioned and really invokes the spirit of the Victorian era, with most of the symbols made up of various methods of transport. There’s a balloon, steam ship, vintage train and even a camel, although the airplane may be a bit out of place even if it is an old one.
Around the World
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An eye-catching background of famous sights like Big Ben, the Sphinx and Statue of Liberty all adds to the feel, and the fairground-type soundtrack helps as well, although many players are quite happy to turn the noise off as it can get a bit much after a while. (Like 10 seconds.)
Prizes are won with symbols of the same type landing along an activated payline, with the first one needing to be on the left hand reel. Payouts get progressively bigger depending on whether 3, 4 or 5 symbols line up favourably, a feat made easier by the presence of not one, but two wild symbols.
The Around The World logo is a regular wild that replaces other symbols to help complete winning lines, while the Phileas Fogg symbol is a special wild that also doubles the value of any line win that it helps to complete. They both also have rewards of their own, with a full line for example being worth 5,000 or 10,000 times the line bet, depending on which one appears.
A couple of other bonus symbols are some of the real stars of the game, with the compass being a scatter symbol which treats players to a payout even if just one should appear. The best bit here however, are the multiplier prizes that kick in depending on how many of the compass symbols are shown pointing North, with a cumulative multiplier for each one.
So two North-pointing compass symbols will equal a multiplier of 2x the total bet amount, but three of them will equal an 8x multiplier, four results in a 16x payout and should players be fortunate enough to get five, all pointing North, then the resulting payout will be boosted by 32x.
Those nice folks at Microgaming have even added a bonus game, this time in the form of an adventure that does justice to the name by taking players around the world whenever at least three globe symbols appear on consecutive reels on an active payline.
The game takes place on a map of the Earth, and players get to choose one of four potential routes leaving from London. There are several stops along the way, with prizes to collect, or they can gamble the last prize, which takes them on to the next stage of the journey. Players who get all the way back to London are in for a big multiplier on what’s been collected so far, but if a sinking ship is encountered, the game ends, with all treasures lost at sea.
This is a fun interactive round and although it may not be triggered that often, it’s a real highlight that has a guaranteed prize and the potential of a decent payout at the end.
Is It an Epic Adventure, or Will It Just Make You Travel Sick?
Around The World is a good looking pokie, with some entertaining features. Players will either love or hate the distinctive style, but the bonus game is a definite plus point, and some decent multiplier prizes in the base game add up to an all-round quality Poker machine.