Magic Box Pokies by Microgaming worth a Spin?

When we found out that Magic Boxes Pokies by Microgaming is celebrating its 2^nd birthday this month, we decided it was time to take a closer look. The following Magic Boxes pokies review will detail its theme, all features, and – in our opinion – the overall value to players.

I have to admit, I’d never tried – or even noticed – this game on the menu of Microgaming casinos until now. Then again, with well over 400 titles (and growing monthly), that can probably be said about a lot of games.

To ensure an honest Magic boxes pokies review, I spent two hours playing, spinning the reels several hundred times. So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Magic Boxes Pokies Review

As the name implies, Magic Boxes is (partly) themed around illusionists, and their tricks of the trade. Some of the symbols reflect that theme, like a magic 8 ball, playing cards and top hat. Then again, some of the symbols are children’s toys – those you might find in a toy box – like a wooden train, spinning top, and three colorful jack-in-the-boxes. And of course, in true Microgaming fashion, there’s numeric card values of 9 thru A.

Magic Boxes is a 5 reel pokies game with 25 fixed paylines. All bets will be placed in $0.25 increments, with coin values of $0.01 to $4 ($0.25 to $100 total bet). The sound effects and music fit the theme well, with brief animations for each symbol when a winning combination aligns.

The game features a trio of Wild Magic Boxes, in red, green and blue (the mysterious jack-in-the-box looking symbols I mentioned before). They only appear on reels 2, 3 and 4. In the base game, these are all basic wild symbols that will take the place of any other symbol (except Scatters) to help create winning combinations.

The Magic 8 Ball is the Scatter, and is the key to unleashing substantial profits in Magic Boxes pokies. When 3, 4 or 5 scatters appear anywhere on the reels in the same spin, it triggers 8, 16 or 24 Free Spins respectively.

During free spins, those Wild Magic Boxes take on a new quality. They become Multiplier Wilds, with their value based on their color. The Red Box is a 2x multiplier, the Green Box a 3x multiplier, and the Blue Box a 4x multiplier.

Should 2 or more Magic Boxes of different colors appear on a winning payline during free spins, the lower paying color will transform to match the higher paying box’s color. This is where the game gets extra profitable. A pair of blue boxes, for example, would double up to pay an 8x multiplier. Three green boxes would pay 9x, three blue boxes 12x, etc.

Magic Boxes Pokies Review – The Lowdown

Having played it myself (finally), I have to say, I don’t think I’ll ever play it again. It doesn’t have enough features to be considered entertaining, and the medium variance is a real bankroll-gobbler during slumps.

Worst of all, the game has an abysmally low return to player (RTP) of 89.37%. Ouch! If I wanted those kind of odds, I’d have a flutter at the pub. Online pokies are usually favored for paying higher RTPs of 95% and up. Therefore I wouldn’t recommend Magic Boxes pokies to anyone.