Manhattan Goes Wild slot review (Nolimit City)

Nolimit City is one of those smaller game providers that is knocking on the doors of the more prominent providers

What we like about the increasing competition is that game makers cannot sit back anymore. They need to be more and more creative to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack.

Nowadays, a slot with a free spins bonus with an x3 multiplier is not good enough.

This principle is what Nolimit City understands perfectly. The slots they release are original, inspirational, and these come along with exciting and well-thought-out bonus features.

It has worked well up to now: slots such as Pixies vs Pirates, Tombstone and Tractor Beam are all excellent Nolimit City slots.

With Manhattan Goes Wild, you’ll be taken back to New York in the twenties. The business was booming at that time, and one after the other immense Art Deco-style building was constructed.

The more successful businessmen spent a large part of their days hosting and visiting lavish parties. Of course, these parties were not without stunning ladies and plenty of alcohol. It was all still before the great depression of the thirties.

Manhattan Goes Wild reproduces all this perfectly. The music, the backgrounds, the sounds. The main characters come across as successful and confident.

Last but not least, the slot has some entertaining and exciting features. You could argue that there are too many mini-features. We will come back to this below.

Gameplay and features of the Manhattan Goes Wild slot

Manhattan Goes Wild has 5 reels with 3 rows of symbols. It is a win all ways slot. There are 243 ways to win, with all winning combinations appearing from left to right.

You can play this game for as little as $€0.10 per spin, which is excellent news for players with a limited bankroll. High rollers can play for no less than $€100 per spin.

What are the theoretical RTP, the variance and the maximum win of the Manhattan Goes Wild slot

The theoretical payout percentage is 96.16%, which is around average. Not bad, but not great either.

The provider does not specify what the maximum win is. A full screen of Wilds, Bugsy’s or Betty’s is good for a win of 1,215x the bet (243×5). In the free spins, it is theoretically possible to win more than that.

We feel that the variance is medium to high. It implies that wins of 1,000x  to 2,000x the bet are realistic.

Symbols and payouts

The wild symbol replaces all symbols except the scatters and pays 5 x the bet for a 5-of-a-kind. Wilds can occur in stacks.

Betty and Bugsy are the two celebrated and successful protagonists and are, obviously, the most valuable of the premium symbols. You get, just like the wilds, 5 x the bet for 5-of-a-kind. Betty and Bugsy can also appear as stacked symbols.

The medium paying symbols include a bottle of champagne, a luxury car, a diamond and a microphone. Spin 5 of them, and you win between 2 x and 3 x the bet.

The card symbols 10, J, Q, K and A are the low symbols. These yield a win of 1.5 x to 1.8 x the bet if you manage to spin 5 of them.

Remember that there are 243 ways to win.

Mini-feature 1: Bugsy Goes Wild and Betty Goes Wild

The Bugsy Goes Wild or the Betty Goes Wild feature can be activated at any time.

They both work in the same way. Either Bugsy spins into a wild symbol for the next spin, or Betty does.

Mini-feature 2: Wild Party Respin

This feature is more exciting.

If in the same spin, you manage to get (at least) one stacked Bugsy and at the same time one (at least) stacked Betty, it’s time for a mini-party.

These stacks of Betty and Bugsy symbols change into golden wilds, and you get a free respin.

If new stacked Betty or Bugsy symbols appear during that respin, the same process is repeated.

Manhattan Free Spins

The Manhattan Free Spins bonus is activated when you spin three or more scatters.

During the free spins bonus, you fill meters by spinning the high and medium premium symbols.

Can you fill a meter? Then the symbol will be made wild for the free spins that are left. Besides, you also receive 1 or 3 extra spins.

Timing is crucial in this feature: you can win something significant if you manage to fill 2, or maybe even 3, meters in the same free spins session.

Our verdict of the Manhattan Goes Wild slot

Manhattan Goes Wild is more than just an entertaining slot. The theme is worked out beautifully, and the features are original.

There is one flaw in our view: the mathematics of the slot is not well balanced.

The mini-features are activated too often, and these usually yield wins of around 5x to 25x the bet.

The result is that they consume most of the RTP, leaving insufficient cash for the real big wins (for example, with the free spins). Don’t be surprised if it takes you at least a couple of hundred spins to activate the free spins.

In summary: you quickly get the feeling that a lot is happening. At the same time, it is just a little too little.

3.7 out of 5 stars.