1 Dec

Arctic Agents Pokies Review, a 9-line Microgaming classic

Arctic Agents PokiesThere’s so many online pokies out today from dozens of famous development brands. Some of the more recent releases have become so convoluted with symbols and winning conditions, it can be hard to tell what’s actually happening as the reels slide to a halt. If you find yourself annoyed by the undue complexity of today’s new slots, you might want to check out an old Microgaming title called Arctic Agents.

As far as 5-reel pokies go, it doesn’t get much more simplistic than Arctic Agents. It features just 9 paylines with a minimum $0.01 bet per line (max $0.25). This online pokies is probably one of the better options for beginners, due to the ease of play and understanding, and the low cost per spin.

Arctic Agents Pokies Review

Admittedly, the theme is a bit on the cheesy side. Arctic Agents stars 5 frigid animal characters who are, of course, secret agents. They include a clever arctic fox, pugilistic polar bear, missle-launching orca whale, and a pair of gun-toting penguins (male and female). As usual, Microgaming threw in some generic playing cards to fill out the rest of the symbols, and they don’t really even fit the frosty theme. But oh well, that’s Microgaming for you.

Arctic Agents Pokies Review

The agents’ base of operations are set up on an iceberg, which represents the game’s Scatter. Landing at least three of them anywhere on the reels in a single spin is the main aim of Arctic Agents, as this unlocks the only bonus feature – Free Spins.

Before your free spins get underway, you’ll be asked to select one of the 5 agents on the screen; kind of a Pick Me pre-bonus, if you will. Beneath each animal is a number of free spins and a multiplier to go along with it.

As you’ll quickly find, the more free spins you get, the less the multiplier will be, and vice versa. The 5 possible combinations include:

  • 20 Free Games @ 2x Multipliers
  • 15 Free Games @ 3x Multipliers
  • 10 Free Games @ 5x Multipliers
  • 5 Free Games @ 10x Multipliers
  • 3 Free Games @ 15x Multipliers

Free games cannot be retriggered during the bonus round. However, the Scatter symbols can be very rewarding during free spins. If a Scatter appears on both reels 1 and 5 during bonus play, the Arctic Agents pokies will release a random reward of 2x, 5x, 10, 15x, 20x or even 50x , multiplied by the player’s total bet that triggered the free spins.

Final Thoughts

Before I close out this Arctic Agents pokies review, here are a few final thoughts you may want to consider before giving it a whirl for real money.

As I said, this game is probably best suited for beginners and players who don’t enjoy the more complex games developers are coming out with these days. Plus, it’s got a low variance, so player’s will find the winning combinations coming more frequently than medium-high variance games.

The negative effect, however, is that the vast majority of wins pay a very low amount. More often than not, it’s an amount less than the bet that triggered it. While this keeps a player’s bankroll dwindling at a slower pace, it also means the player will need to trigger some of those bonus free spins to have any real hope of winning some cash.