Venice is seen as one of the most romantic places on earth, and has inspired poets, writers, film makers and philosophers over the years, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that it has also inspired online pokies developers, with the latest game based on the theme being Hearts of Venice video pokiefrom WMS Gaming.
Played out over 5 reels, with symbol in 4 rows and 50 fixed paylines running across it, Hearts of Venice sees lots of images such as the famous gondolas, statues and roses that will pay some handsome rewards when 3 or more of the same type stop across a line on adjacent reels from the left side. It’s afairly conventional layout for casino pokie machines, but comes with some unconventional features, such as Hot HotSuper Respins, which we’ll come to in a bit, along with a free spins bonus game with guaranteed winnings.
An out of focus picture of Venetian canals sits behind the reels, and there’s the game title, plus the Hot Hot Super Respins logo of a smiling cartoon flame along the top of them. Underneath it, we find the control buttons that players use to set their stakes from a low limit of just 0.25 per spin to an upper limit of 200.00 a go, and there’s an Autoplay option for those who can’t face clicking a button with each and every spin. Because the bonus rounds are potentially so rewarding, an extra Feature bet will be needed if players want to enjoy all that it has to offer, but it’s optional.
Although all symbols are directly related to the theme, many of them have the same values wen lining up across the game, with the gondolier’s hat, those red and white poles that dot the canals, ornamental horse and rose all worth the same number of coins. The middle value symbols are a street light, gondola, bridge and a statue of a loin on top of a column.
The most valuable symbols are the gondolier himself and a woman kissing a rose, who we assume is a tourist. All these symbols are nicely designed, although nothing special and there’s no animations when they make up a winning combination.
All this is secondary to the great bonus rounds however, as these are very much the highpoints of playing Hearts of Venice. The game logo is a wild symbol, so this will be able to substitute for any of those above and then create extra winning lines, or extend lines across further reels.
The heart symbol will be stacked on any reel that it lands on, and although it has no value on its own, it will transform into any random symbol, potentially creating a winning line. When the whole of reel 1, on the left side, is filled with heart symbols, the Hot Hot Super Respins feature is triggered.
It's just 2 free spins, but the hearts on reel 1 will stay as locked wilds and any heart of game logo wild symbols that land will also stay in position. Once the 2 Hot Hot Super Respins have played out, hopefully the reels will be filled with lots of hearts that will transform into a standard symbol, and wilds, that can substitute for any other for some of thetoppayouts.
A romantic couple silhouetted against a full moon can trigger a unique free spins game when landing in any 3 spots at once. Extra heart symbols and extra wilds will be added to the reels during the 10 free games that will be awarded, but the real treat is that players are guaranteed a win of at least 400x their line bet by the end of them, which is a highly unusual, but very welcome, feature. The free spins can be retriggered if the scatter symbols land in any 3 or more spots at once, with a further 10 games added on to the end of any left in the current round.
The Hearts of Venice pokiehas a nice romantic theme, with plenty of images that bring this city to mind. Wins can come fairly often in standard play, thanks largely to the heart and wild symbols, but what makes this game so interesting are the Hot Hot Super Respins, which should ensure at least a couple of winning lines are created, and those free spins with guaranteed payouts.
Having to stake at least 0.25 on a spin, or 0.40 if the Feature bet is activated, may put some players off, but there is an option to play free Hearts of Venice video pokie games before committing real money.