Boom Brothers Pokie Machine
Sometimes it’s the sad job of a reviewer to inform readers that a game really isn’t worth bothering with, but sometimes it’s the happy job of writing about one of their all-time favourites, and in the case of the Boom Brothers video pokie from Net Ent, we can let you know in advance that this is going to be a glowing review of a fantastic game.
A combination of entertaining 3D graphics, fun characters and advanced animations take care of the visual side of this game, but its more than skin-deep beauty, as there’s some great bonus features including up to 50 free spins with multipliers, random second chances on non-winning spins and an adventure in a mine cart that can dig up some big rewards.
Played out over 5 reels and with 20 paylines running from the left side, the action takes place in a mine, where the hapless brothers are messing about with explosives in a beautifully rendered environment that wouldn’t look out of place in a computer-animated movie. The attention to detail is exceptional, from the background image of a ramshackle mine, to the way that symbols on a reel are all connected by chains and the great animated sequence that plays out as the game is loading where we see the 3 brothers blasting their way through the rocks.
Playing Boom Brothers
While it’s possible to wager just 0.01 on a spin, only a single payline would be active, so most players will be looking at a low limit of 0.20, which can be raised to a maximum of 100.00. Free Boom Brothers video pokies are also available for those who want to test it out first and once playing for real money. Wins come from 3 or more of the same symbol landing on adjacent reels of an active line running from the left side.
A review of the paytable shows that various items of weird and wonderful mining equipment will create the lower-value winning combinations, with a helmet and bucket each worth 5, 15 or 75x the line bet when landing on 3, 4 or 5 reels. A hammer and pickaxe and the lamp are worth a little more, and metal sculptures of the brothers are the high paying symbols, worth up to 500x when filling a line.
By far the top payouts come from the wild bomb symbol, with players winning 5x when it stops on reels 1 and 2, while 3, 4 or 5 are worth wins of 200, 2,000 and 7,500x the line bet. It’s also able to substitute for all except the Free Spin and Railtrack symbols if it can then complete a winline, or extend a win across extra reels.
Boom Brothers
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Second Chance
At any time, a Boom Brother can run across the reels and randomly explode symbols to let others drop down in place, or respin the reels, which can often lead to a further winning line being created.
Bonus Spins
The Free Spins symbol, perhaps unsurprisingly, starts a free spins bonus round when it lands in any 3 or more places. Before they begin however, the reels will spin to reveal how many games have been awarded, with between 8 and 50 possible, but even if just 8 are won, any prizes during these games will be tripled in value.
Any time a Free Spin symbol appears, an additional spin will be added on to the total, and it’s even possible to retrigger the whole round.
Railtrack Feature
This is the highlight of Boom Brothers, certainly in the way it plays out. Triggered by the Railtrack symbol, players will first need to get a brother across the reels by laying extra track down for him, and then the action moves to deep within the mine, where each brother is on a track, one above the other.
Clicking on the mine carts at the bottom of the reels will reveal jewels or a number of positions to move along the track and each brother will move a stage across. The first one who gets to the other side will get hold of a prize.
The Verdict
If it’s not been made clear before, this is an outstanding pokie, with impressive graphics, a great sense of humour and the potential for big coin rewards. Usually there’s the need to go over any downsides, but it’s hard to think of any here, other than the comparatively low wins for all except the wild symbol and the fact that it’s not mobile-optimised.
That last point could be a deal breaker for those punters who access games exclusively on their smartphones, but they should take a look at Boom Brothers online and may find it’s worth switching to playing on a PC.