Paper Reels Slot Machine
Spanish slots developer R Franco Games has taken a unique theme of cut out bits of paper and created a whole game around it, with their Paper Reels video slot. It’s got some clever design details across the 5 reels and 20 paylines, which sees the actual reels made to look like torn strips of paper, while the background has the appearance of brown wrapping paper and even the payline indicators are highlighted by coloured pins stuck in the board.
The actual symbols of playing card icons, fruit and some scissors are also designed to appear as if they have been drawn by kids, but it’s not all child’s play here, as the Paper Reels video slot comes with some interesting and well thought-out features such as a Nought and Crosses side game (Tic Tac Toe to my American friends), plus there’s a double or nothing gamble round to hopefully give players a chance to collect lots more of the folding stuff.
R Franco might not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of an online casino games developer, but if you’re Spanish they could be one of the first, as the company has been operating since the mid-1960’s developing hundreds of games for the land-based casinos market in the country and capturing some 40% of the market with the ‘Gnomo’ games around the turn of the century. R Franco are now looking beyond their borders with a new range of online and mobile optimised games, with uniquely styled slots such as Paper Reels leading the way.
Cutting edge Gameplay
Winning combinations are seen when you land 3 of these cut-out creations in an unbroken sequence across a payline. It’s common for the playing card symbols to be the lowest value icons in a video slot and for the fruit symbols to return the smallest wins in a fruit machine, so someone at R Franco must have flipped a coin to decide which way round things would go and put the fruit at the bottom of the paytable.
You win 40x, 80x, or 160x the amount staked per line when the Kiwi fruit is seen on 3, 4, or 5 reels, with the Lemon and Watermelon each worth a little more, and the J, Q, K, and A symbols, each made to look like they have been draw with a blue Biro pen, paying out the top prizes when they land in the right places for you.
The best result however, is landing the Paper Reels game logo, complete with little paper windmills attached to it, with up to 4,000x your stake per line paid back. The scissors are a scatter symbol that are worth 160x the line bet when they appear in any 3 or more places at once, without needing to be across a payline, while the Noughts and Crosses symbol can also stop in any 3 or more places, triggering a bonus game when it does so.
X’s and O’s Equal Winnings
Anyone who has played Noughts and Crosses will instinctively know how this bonus round works, as you just have to complete a line of matching X’s or O’s (you decide which), across the 3x3 grid to win a bonus prize.
It’s very simple, but perhaps that’s the whole point, as this slot machine takes us back to childhood when things were a lot more straightforward and we were happy to play basic games like Noughts and Crosses. It’s a game where you can shut out the stresses of being a grown-up and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
Double or Nothing
There’s the potential to multiply any win several times over if you choose to play the double or nothing gamble game. It’s optional, and while there’s a 50% chance of doubling the win by clicking on the words ‘Double’ or ‘Nothing’ at the right time as they rapidly flash on and off, equally of course, these games also carry a 50% risk that you will lose, so perhaps it’s best played with smaller wins that won’t be missed if it all goes horribly wrong.
Pinning down the Right bet Level
You can bet as little as 0.20 to spin these reels or go up to a slightly unusual high limit of 38.00 per spin, but whatever stakes you put down, you’re sure to collect some great wins as it’s got a high return to player ratio and comes with a guarantee of fair play, with independent testing labs checking this and all other R Franco slots before release.
Other control buttons trigger the Auto play option, although there’s a limited choice of 10, 50, or 100 automatic spins, and there’s no fast spin mode.
While free Paper Reels video slots can be found, this is such a simple game that there’s not much to learn and so most punters will want to get started with real cash wagers right away.
Other Slots to cut out and keep
There’s just one or two other paper-themed slot games on the market, with the Origami video slot from Endorphina having a number of similarities with Paper Reels. It’s got some of the clever design details such as paper clips lying underneath the reels, plus folded paper symbols of dogs, cats, birds and frogs in a variety of rich colours appearing across the 5 reels and 10 paylines.
A paper windmill returns the top prizes, while the cat symbol is a useful multiplier that can claw back winnings of 5x, 10x, or even 50x the base value. This is another slot that comes with a gamble option and you can double your money by guessing the colour of a face-down playing card before the dealer turns it over.
More cellulose-based surprises can be scooped when you play the Paper Wins slot from Gamesys, as the newspaper-themed symbols keep us up to date with reel events. Classic fruit symbols, along with the red 7 will pay out the prizes when they stop across any of the 15 paylines of this 5-reel game, but the headline news is the free spins feature where winnings are multiplied in value throughout the round.
Playing Their Card(board)s Right?
Uniquely styled symbols that remind us of school days, and a funky soundtrack that sounds like something you would learn in your first-ever music lesson, give the Paper Reels slot machine a charming retro feel. But there’s no education needed to get spinning these reels, as once your bet selection is made it’s all about landing those matching symbols and collecting prizes.
We liked the simple Noughts and Crosses feature and punters who like to take a bit more of a risk are sure to enjoy the double or nothing gamble round which can see modest wins transformed into something far more substantial.
It’s a fairly high volatility slot though, where you could be waiting a while before claiming anything in the base games, with the eventual payouts often being quite high-value ones. If you have the patience, it’s well worth taking these cut-out reels for a spin, and because Paper Reels is fully optimised for playing across desktops and mobiles, there’s few limits on where you can be when you play. Just don’t do it during lessons.
