A Bark in the Park Slots
When you look at Genesis Gaming, it’s pretty clear that it’s one of those online casino software developers that you want to do well. The creativity behind the brand’s games has been all well and good, but the direction has often been left wanting. If there was ever a game that symbolised this hit and miss approach to game creation it’s A Bark in the Park.
Based around man’s best friend, the premise of A Bark in the Park is easy enough to grasp. But actually understanding the thought process behind a game and enjoying it are two very different things. With animal themed fun in mind, A Bark in the Park probably should have been a fun game with plenty of charm to match, but as the following review details, this actually proves to be anything but the case here.
Living a Dog’s Life
What we expect from a slot game of today is imagination; something that A Bark in the Park pretty much has none of. The game is based around taking a dog for a walk, which as you can imagine, is just as sleep inducing as it sounds. There aren’t even any real saving graces within the UI either, as the animations are unfocused and the backdrop of the game is largely blurred. To be honest, this game is just drab with its overall look, and there isn’t too much of an excuse for that.
If you thought that things would get better on the reels, get ready to feel let down, as matters actually get worse. The low-value symbols are reproductions of generic symbols used within other Genesis Gaming titles, while the dogs used for the high value symbols look like they would rather be doing anything else. Boring and frustrating all at the same time, we simply don’t have anything positive to say about the theme of A Bark in the Park.
What it Takes to Win Big
Sugar Smash has a large reel set with 5 reels and 50 fixed paylines in total, where you can bet from 0.50 to 500 credits per turn. The tiny command bar under the reels lets you adjust your settings freely and activate the autoplay game mode if you ever feel like sticking to the same bet for a while.
Being a low-volatility slot, scoring small cash prizes in Sugar Smash is a relatively easy task. It is therefore in your best interest to try and bet as many credits on the reels as possible in order to make each of these small clusters worth as much as possible. Talking about which, each cluster of identical symbols explodes after triggering a win, leaving space for more symbols to appear and perhaps initiate one of the famous chain reactions that you have been waiting for all along. The top individual win in the base game of Sugar Smash corresponds to 500 times your current bet value.
Like a Dog with a Bone
Bonus features are another issue that A Bark in the Park struggles with immensely, as it simply doesn’t have anything worth talking about. The classic elements are here in the wild and scatters, but this really doesn’t do much to ensure that this game has replay value.
It’s probably the scatters that are going to be of most use to players, as they do keep the free spins in full flow. While the wild symbol (represented by the dog lead) will keep you in contact with the game’s biggest jackpots, this just isn’t enough in our eyes to make this game a success.
Thinking Fun? Think Again
With more exploration comes more problems, as for some bizarre reason Genesis Gaming has once again used the multi-screen control panel. This approach is easily the most infuriating thing about this game, as it makes a boring game fiddly to play. Considering how bland the theme was, we at least expected to be able to use simple controls, but in this case it appears that we were asking for too much.
A Bark in the Park is Dragging it Heels!
Genesis Gaming does have some fun titles within its back catalogue, but with this medium variance game they seemed to have got things all wrong. A Bark in the Park should have been a fun little game with a charming nature, but it doesn’t even get close to those characteristics.
While it had obvious potential, it’s clear that the game doesn’t have the power to back up any of it. If you want our honest opinion you would steer clear of A Bark in the Park, as the lack of bite in this game is clear to see.
