Crystal Forest Pokie Machine
The theme of enchanted forests is, for some reason, a highly popular one for casino pokie machines to follow, and Crystal Forest from WMS Gaming is a classic fruit machine that comes complete with their signature Cascading Symbols, up to 50 free spins and wild substitutions.
It’s a beautifully designed game, that’s mobile compatible and like other WMS Gaming pokies can be played with no download needed. The 5-reel, 25-line format will be familiar to most and while the bonus game features are nothing new, the way that the free spins are triggered is a little different.
Toadstools, bunny rabbits, magic potions and other whimsical items are found across this game, which sets the action at night, in amongst the trees which fill the whole game and sees symbols floating down over the background image. There’s a decent bet range, with players able to activate all lines for real cash wagers of 0.25 and the maximum stake is 125.00 per spin, with prizes in normal play coming when 3 or more of the same symbol type stop on adjacent reels across an active line running from the left side. Free Crystal Forest pokie rounds can be played at most online casinos, so it can be tested before anyone uses their own cash on spinning the reels.
Playing Crystal Forest
The symbols are all directly related to the theme of a magical forest and at the low end of the pay table, there’s a flower wreath and the potion, each being valued at 5x, 20x or 80x the amount wagered per line, then it’s a lantern and wand that differ in value only by being worth 100x for full lines of 5 across the reels.
Next, it’s the toadstools, a pink lily and a cute rabbit who is worth 20x, 50x or 250x for landing on 3, 4 or 5 reels on a payline, but the table is topped by no less than 5 symbols that are all worth the same, whether they fill a line on their own, or mixed together. The mushroom, ladybug, butterfly, unicorn and fairy symbols are all presented in the same beautifully detailed style as the rest, and each is valued at 25x, 100x or 500x the line bet when stopping on 3, 4 or 5 reels.
A jackpot symbol suggests that there’s a progressive prize to be won, but it’s just the highest-value icon, paying up to 750x for full lines of 5. Any symbol that forms part of a winning combination will disappear in a little shower of sparkles, which leaves empty spaces for any above to fall down into. This Cascading Symbols feature can lead to a further win line which also then vanishes, and the process continues, with a special scale to the left of the reels filling up each time.
Crystal Forest
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Bonus Features
A wild symbol can land on reels 2 to 5, and substitute for all others, helping to complete winning lines and stacked wilds means that it’s pretty easy to get some wins from it. The scale is the really interesting feature here, as any time symbols disappear to be replaced by new ones, it starts to fill up, and after the third sequential cascade from a single spin, players will trigger free spins.
The whole sequence of cascading symbols will play out first, as the scale continues to fill up until no winning combination appears, with 7 spins awarded for a sequence of 4 cascades, then 10, 15, 25 or a top award of 50 spins when 5, 6, 7 or 8 occur one after another.
Although reels have the standard mix of symbols on them throughout these free games, it’s possible to retrigger the whole process by getting another 4 or more tumbling reel cascades following any bonus round spin, so there’s the potential for a huge number of extra games to be won.
The Verdict
What’s not to like about the Crystal Forest video pokie? It’s got a popular theme, the quality of the graphics and animations is outstanding, there’s a unique way to trigger bonus features and it has the high payouts percentage that comes with all pokies from this developer. The interesting way that mixed lines of symbols can create a win may seem obvious, but very few games feature it.
There’s few downsides, but some players may be put off by the minimum stake of 0.25, as there is no option to activate just a few paylines and all 25 of them are in play at all times. Other than this minor issue, Crystal Forest is among the many highly recommended real money online pokies that can be found across the online casinos that use software by WMS Gaming.