The Wild Machine slot review (Pragmatic Play)

The Wild Machine is a high variance Pragmatic Play slot that regularly drove us nuts

We sometimes had a lot of fun, but regularly also wanted to throw your pc, tablet or cellphone out of the window, out of pure frustration.

Here’s the thing: you can win a lot of money on The Wild Machine. But only if you hit the free spins bonus first.

And to win the free spins bonus, you must first activate the wheel.

There are a lot of cash prizes on that wheel and only four slots for the free spins. In other words: you almost always land on a cash prize. And that is not a good thing?!

NO! It gets utterly annoying, very fast. The bonus wheel will drop very often, but if you never win the free spins bonus, it will wind you up… this slot got under our skin the wrong way.

If you finally get your hands on the free spins bonus, then you can enjoy it right away.

In short: you have to be patient, very patient with this slot, and you have to be able to take a beating. So if patience is not your strong point, you might want to pick a different slot.

The Wild Machine gameplay and features

Central to The Wild Machine is a somewhat unworldly but friendly scientist who seems to be burdened with a lazy eye. In his laboratory, he is continuously working on his inventions, brews and alchemist experiments.

His ultimate goal is to conjure up as many wilds as possible on the screen.

There are 40 fixed paylines and five reels, and you start playing with bets from 20 cents up to $€ 100 per spin.

There is also a wild feature, where the playing field changes into a seven reel formation.

The variance is high: Pragmatic Play gives this slot a score of 5 out of 5 on the volatility meter.

The theoretical payout rate is 96.53%, which is pretty much the average RTP for new Pragmatic Play slots.

Symbols and payouts

The highest payouts are possible during the Wild Feature. Because the playing field is then expanded, the maximum length of a winning combination is seven symbols.

The Wild symbol replaces all symbols except the scatters and is worth 175 x the bet for a 7-of-a-kind.

The high-value symbols consist of the mad scientist, a magic book, a glass sphere with liquids, a backpack and a key. They yield, with seven identical symbols, between 18.75 x and 175 x the total bet, so those are substantial numbers.

Even the low paying symbols (hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs) award you 12.50 x the total bet for every 7-of-a-kind on an active payline.

Wild Feature

At random moments, the playing field can change from a 5 x 5 into a 1 x 3 x 5 x 7 x 5 x 3 x 1 setup.

The entire middle role of 7 high becomes wild, and the corner positions get extra wilds.

If you manage to spin symbols on the regular reels that touch the wilds, you can bag a big prize with this feature.

Wheel bonus: win cash prizes or free spins

Three scatters on the middle reels activate the wheel bonus.

You are allowed to spin a big wheel with cash prizes and free spins.

If you land on a cash prize, you win the corresponding value (and sometimes a few extra boxes).

But if you land on the free spins, you can do a small victory dance.

Not only does this hardly ever happen, but it also earns you one of the following two bonus features:

Gold Foundry Free Spins: 8 free spins on the 5 x 5 board. Each spin, 2 to 5 reels will turn completely wild.

Diamond Forge Free Spins: 5 free spins, using the alternative playing reel setup of 7 wide. Every turn, five wilds appear on the reels.

Our verdict on The Wild Machine slot?

We have mixed feelings about The Wild Machine.

The free spins bonus rounds are worthwhile and can lead to big payouts.

So, the crazy chemist cannot turn lead into gold, but wilds into gold, he can!

But man, oh man, sometimes it takes fooooorever to hit the free spins bonus.

It’s not that hard to win the wheel bonus at all, but to get the wheel to land in the free spins box, is quite elusive.

A little more balance (a lot fewer cash prizes in exchange for more free spins bonuses) would have done wonders for us. To conclude, there are better Pragmatic Play slots, but this one is worth a try!

3.5 out of 5 stars

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