The 3 Bears Slot Review
The 3 Bears is a new online slot developed by Four Leaf Gaming that’s scheduled for release at slot sites in October 2024. As you can probably guess from its title alone, this game is inspired by the classic fairytale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Interestingly enough, Four Leaf Gaming is not the first casino game provider to use this fairytale as inspiration for one of its games, with Quickspin having previously released a similar game titled Goldilocks and the Wild Bears.
Four Leaf Gaming’s take on this classic fairytale is quite different than Quickpin’s however, which you’ll soon find out firsthand as you continue reading through our complete slot review below. As a bit of a spoiler, if you enjoyed the fairytale as a youngster, you’re almost certain to appreciate the slot game too because it features the same Mama, Papa, and Baby bears that you fell in love with in the story (and of course Goldilocks too).
Base Game & Features
When it comes to the base game of The 3 Bears, it’s a 5-reel slot with 3-rows per reel and a total of 15 fixed paylines. Payouts are awarded by lining up 3 or more of the same symbols in a row on a single payline starting from the leftmost reel. Symbols that can land on the reels include low paying 10-A symbols and high paying bear symbols. The possible payouts on this game range from as little as 0.2x to 50x bet.
After glancing at the game’s instructions, we can confirm that The 3 Bears is equipped with a 96% RTP along with a maximum win multiplier of 38,553x. We can also confirm that this game is rated 8 out of 10 in terms of its volatility, which makes this a high-volatility slot.
Wild Bears Feature
As noted above, this game features 15 fixed paylines, but we neglected to mention that it also features cascading reels. With cascading reels, all winning symbols are removed on every spin and replaced with new symbols, which gives you more chances to win. Not only that, but The 3 Bears is equipped with a Wild Bears Feature that can lead to bigger and more frequent winning spins.
With the Wild Bears Feature, whenever you have two or more subsequent cascading wins, bear symbols will start to become wild as follows:
- After 2 cascading wins, all existing and future baby bear symbols will become wild.
- After 4 cascading wins, all mama bear symbols will become wild and will carry a 2x multiplier.
- After 6 cascading wins, all papa bear symbols will become wild and will carry a 3x multiplier. Additionally, these wilds will roam left or right by 1 reel every spin.
If roaming wilds land on reels with another wild, it will add that wild’s multiplier to its own and become a full reel wild. Should 2 roaming wilds combine, the direction of the uppermost is the direction the roaming wild will proceed to move.
Free Spins
While playing The 3 Bears, you’ll want to cheer for 3, 4, or 5 bonus symbols to land on the reels, which will award you 10, 12, or 15 free spins respectively. During the free spins bonus round, the Wild Bears Feature will be active. Unlike in the base game, your progress towards turning bears wild is saved after each spin during the bonus round.
Bonus Booster
If you’re in the mood to gamble, and you better be if you’re playing slots, you’ll be glad to know that The 3 Bears is equipped with a bonus booster option that allows you to gamble some or all of your free spins for a chance to win additional free spins. With this feature, there is a slider that allows you to select the number of free spins you’d like to gamble, which will increase or decrease the likelihood of landing on each reward (rewards can include 1, 2, or 3 additional free games). Be careful though, because you can also land on an “X” and that will cause you to forfeit the number of free spins you gambled.
With the bonus booster, gambling your free spins can be repeated, but the maximum number of free spins you can obtain is capped at 25. In fact, your free spins are automatically collected and played anytime you achieve 23 or more free spins.
Bonus Replay
One feature of The 3 Bears that’s a bit rare is the bonus replay feature. With this feature, you can gamble your free spins winnings for a chance to replay your free spins. You simply spin the wheel to see if you win or lose. If you win, you get a new set of free spins (winnings from your previous free spins are void). If you lose though, you’ll be returned to the base game.
Bonus Buy
The 3 Bears is equipped with 2 different feature buy options, which are as follows:
- Fast Fortunes – For a 50% increase in your per-spin wagers, you’ll have an increased chance of triggering the free spins. When utilizing this feature, the game’s RTP is set at 95.99%.
- Instant Fortunes – For a cost of 62x bet, you’ll be instantly awarded 10 free spins.
Similar Slots to The 3 Bears
- Goldilocks and the Wild Bears (Quickspin)
- Big Bad Wolf Megaways (Quickspin)
- Queen of Wonderland Megaways (iSoftBet)
Check out our other slot reviews, including the games mentioned above or other fairy tale favourites like Happily Ever After
Conclusion
We’re not sure about you, but we always seem to get The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears mixed up. Maybe it’s because we aren’t kids anymore and the fairytales aren’t fresh in our memory, but that’s a discussion for another day. Today, it’s all about Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or more specifically The 3 Bears slot from Four Leaf Gaming. Fairytail slots haven’t proven unpopular in the past, and Quickspin have quite a fondness for them, it seems. Big Bad Wolf Megaways, its processor and its successor Big Bad Wolf: Pigs of Steel performed well. Casino sites with Quickspin Games is where you’ll find them, and it’s where you’ll find 3 Bears when it releases.
In some ways, this game is rather simple, but in other ways, this game is equipped with plenty of great features that you’re sure to love. This includes its Wild Bears Feature (available in both the base game as well as the bonus round) and of course its free spins feature. Offering players a maximum win multiplier of 38,553x to go along with its respectable 96% RTP, The 3 Bears is a high volatility slot that promises plenty of action.
Admittedly, we were a bit sceptical of this game when we first loaded it, but after glancing at the paytable and trying out a few spins we can definitely say with certainty that Four Leaf Gaming has got a winner on its hands with The 3 Bears.