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88 Drums is a somewhat unusual game by High 5 Games in that there’s a lot going on – it might even be too much. There are three distinct bonus opportunities here, as well as more/better bet options that can take over the game if activated.
On the other hand, having so much choice may make the game work for certain types of players, and changing up the settings certainly changes what you’re rooting for.
Let’s take a look at the game and where you can play it with real money online.
88 Drums Base Game
This is a 3×5 reel set with 243 ways to win, meaning it’s an all ways pays game – symbols only need to appear on consecutive reels, starting from the left, to award pays – they do not need to be on a specific payline.
The game has an 88 cent minimum bet with no Power Bets enabled. That’s on the high side for an online game, even though it’s not so unusual in the physical casino world.
The game features a lot of competing symbols. Aside from the four poker symbols and five premium symbols, there’s a wild symbol that can connect with any of those initial nine, plus a free games symbol, scatter symbol and drums symbol. Those last three only matter when it comes to triggering a bonus or feature, and otherwise just get in the way of anything else lining up.
Drum Loot Link symbols present on the reels can sometimes carry a multiplier from 2x to 8x. Those will be important if the bonus is triggered.
Power Bets
Aside from the base bet, there’s also the Power Bets, of which here there are two. The Power Bet is a ratio of 200 credits to an 88 credit base bet, meaning each of the two cost more than twice the base bet to amp up one of the bonuses.
Activating both means roughly 80 percent of your wager is invested in bonus bets. Line hits during regular spins become almost irrelevant as most are based on an 88 credit bet and will be far below your full investment with the Power Bets.
One Power Bet amplifies the Drum Loot Link Feature, while the other amplifies the Scatter Loot Link Feature. We’ll cover the Power Bet enhancements as we review each bonus.
Free Games Bonus
Let’s start with the Free Games Bonus, which can’t be boosted. Three or more free spins symbols triggers the bonus, and the amount of spins you get is based on the number of symbols that triggers the bonus:
- 3 symbols: 10 free spins
- 4 symbols: 15 free spins
- 5 symbols: 25 free spins
During the free spins the Drum Loot Link Feature is still in play, but the Scatter Loot Link Feature is not available. You cannot retrigger in the Free Games either. Drum Loot Link symbols will always carry an 8x bonus during the free games, so if triggered and collected, you’re starting ahead of the curve.
One downside here when you have both power bets active are the pays are still based on that original base bet, which is a small subset of your total wager. This bonus is less interesting and exciting when the others are boosted.
Drum Loot Link Feature
Like other pot style games, the Drum Loot Link Feature can be triggered anytime a wild appears. At the time the feature is triggered, any drums (including any multipliers on those drums) that are on the reels carry into the feature.
During the feature, players have three spins to collect more drums. Each time a drum is collected, the spin counter resets. The bonus concludes whenever the spin counter reaches 0 without another drum landing. Before each spin, drums can randomly see their multipliers increased.
The prize awarded at the conclusion of the bonus is a tiered structure starting at 8x drums and increasing for every 10x thereafter. Should 88x drums ever be reached, the top prize for the bonus is awarded, which is equivalent to the Grand jackpot prize amount.
When playing with the Drum Loot Link Feature Power Bet activated, all drums on the base game reels are worth 8x. The chances of the bonuses triggering on any given wild are increased. Four spins are awarded vs. three during the Drum Loot Link Feature, and landing a drum resets the counter to 4, not 3. Drum Pays are 3x that without the Power Bet activated.
Scatter Loot Link Feature
A more traditional hold and respin feature exists with the Scatter Loot Link Feature. Triggering this bonus requires five of the green circle Scatter symbols, which can include credit prizes or the Mini, Minor or Major jackpot.
The board resets to a 5×5 grid of independent reels. You have three spins to land another orb in an unlocked space. Doing so resets the counter. Collecting 10 orbs in unlocked spaces unlocks the fourth row, and 15 total orbs unlocks the fifth row.
The bonus ends when three spins complete without landing another orb in an unlocked space, or all 25 spaces are filled, which awards the Grand jackpot as well as all orb prizes collected during the bonus. On occasion, when the counter reaches zero, the next level still locked can be randomly unlocked, with one additional spin awarded to collect another orb..
With the Power bet active, it only takes four orbs to trigger the bonus. You get four spins to land another orb vs. three. The jackpot prizes are also tripled. The range of credit prizes available on the orbs are also increased, including both a higher minimum and maximum credit prize.
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