The Magic River

The Magic River Slot Review

The Magic River pays for symbols that don’t match. Beneath the waterfall, the Celtic knotwork frame and the storybook hills, a green 7 sitting next to a gold 7 is a paying combination, and that one rule shapes this game more than anything else on its paytable.

It comes from Slot Factory, and the furniture is pure pub slot: 7s, BARs, horseshoes and crowns on a 5×3, 15-line grid running at 94% RTP. The river itself is where the bigger money sits, on a prize trail that walks you in towards a large central pot. Sparkles drift around the gold title banner, and it’s all far prettier than a game built on BAR symbols has any right to be.

Base Game

This is a left-to-right payer. Matching symbols on adjacent reels form wins on any of the game’s 15 lines, and only the highest combination counts on each line. Every regular win is multiplied by the bet per line rather than the total stake. There’s no wild symbol in the game; the wizard and the fish carry the features, and everything else is straight symbol pays.

The bet follows the same structure. The total stake per round is the bet per line multiplied by the number of winlines selected, and wins are paid against that per-line value. The paytable itself is classic pub-slot material: 7s, BARs, horseshoes, crowns and the like, in blue, green and gold. The values look like this:

• Gold 7 and Crown: 3 pays x50, 4 pays x90, 5 pays x150
• Horseshoe: 3 pays x40, 4 pays x80, 5 pays x120
• The Magic River logo: 3 pays x60, 4 pays x100
• Stacked BAR BAR BAR and double BAR BAR (blue): 3 pays x30, 4 pays x60, 5 pays x100
• Single BAR (blue): 3 pays x30, 4 pays x50, 5 pays x80
• Green 7: 3 pays x25, 4 pays x40, 5 pays x60
• Pink Heart and green Clover: 3 pays x25, 4 pays x35, 5 pays x50
• Mixed BARs, mixed 7s, gold symbols mixed and green symbols mixed: 3 pays x2, 4 pays x10, 5 pays x20

The BAR symbols are worth a mention of their own: the stacked BAR BAR BAR, the double BAR BAR and the single BAR each pay on their own tiers. The Magic River logo is the only symbol with no stated five-of-a-kind value; it tops out at x100 for four.

Mixing Symbols

The mix is the game’s own idea, and it’s older than it looks. BARs of different colours don’t need to match exactly: a combination of coloured BAR symbols pays as a mixed win, and the same goes for gold and green 7s. Three of a kind mixed pays x2, four pays x10 and five pays x20.

That sounds small next to the x150 for five gold 7s, but mixed wins land in far more shapes than clean ones. A gold 7 beside a green 7 beside a gold 7 is a paying line here. The same mixing applies to the horseshoe and the fish in gold, and the clover and the fish in green, which is what the free spins round builds on.

Free Spins

The fish is the Free Spins symbol, and it pays out on a simple count:

• 3 fish awards 10 free spins
• 4 fish awards 15 free spins
• 5 fish awards 20 free spins

Two things change in the round. First, free spins pay in any order on screen, so combinations don’t need to run left to right. Second, the mixing system widens: gold symbols award mixed and green symbols award mixed become available on top of the usual BAR and 7 mixes. Horseshoes, clovers, 7s and the fish itself can all combine across colours.

Spins run on the last bet amount played, so the round you trigger is the round you’re paid on. No retrigger rule is given, so don’t count on more fish landing mid-round. Bonus symbols can’t be won while you’re in there either.

The Magic River Feature

Three bonus symbols on reels 2, 3 and 4 drop you onto the river itself, and this is where the game stops being a plain fruit machine. The wizard is the symbol that gets you there. It’s a lapper: a trail of prizes laid out around the water, with a counter you spin to move.

Each press of the spin button rolls the counter and moves you that many steps. Every prize tile you land on adds to a running total, so the longer you stay on the trail, the more you collect. The corners are the interesting part. Land on one of those and you move to an inner, high-value stepper trail that works its way towards the centre.

The centre tile is a game over, and so is any game over tile you land on along the way. Either way, you’re awarded the value shown on that final tile and returned to the reels with your current win. The inner trail holds the large prize, and every step you take on it is one closer to the end of the round.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7/10

This is a quiet game that spends most of its time handing you very small change and waiting for you to notice the waterfall. The one reason to pick it is the river trail, because it’s the only part that builds towards anything: every corner you hit moves you onto richer tiles and closer to the end of the round, and that slow walk inwards is genuinely tense.

The free spins round is the best thing here, and for a proper reason: pay in any order plus the widened gold and green mixes means the reel is constantly forming combinations that wouldn’t count anywhere else. The weakness is just as real. At 94% RTP with mixed base wins paying x2 for three of a kind, the arithmetic under all that pretty scenery is stingy.

It’s for players who like their symbols classic and their features slow-burning, and it isn’t for anyone who wants a big multiplier or a modern mechanic doing the work. If what you’re after is a gentle current and a decent prize waiting at the end of the walk, this river runs at about the right speed.

The Magic River FAQs

• What is the RTP of The Magic River?

  The Magic River runs at an RTP of 94%.
• How do you trigger free spins in The Magic River?

  Landing the fish Free Spins symbol awards the round: 3 pays 10 free spins, 4 pays 15 and 5 pays 20. Free spins pay in any order on screen and use the last bet amount played.
• How does the Magic River feature work?

  Land 3 bonus symbols on reels 2, 3 and 4 to enter the river trail. You spin a counter to move around the trail, adding up every prize you land on. Corner spaces move you to a high-value inner stepper trail, and landing on a game over tile awards the value shown and returns you to the main reels.
• Can bonus symbols land during free spins?

  No. Bonus symbols can’t be won while you’re in the free spins round, so the river trail and the free spins are kept entirely separate.
• What are mixing symbols in The Magic River?

  Mixing symbols are differently-coloured BAR or 7 symbols that pay as a combination rather than needing an exact match. Mixed wins pay x2 for three of a kind, x10 for four and x20 for five. During free spins, extra gold and green mixed wins become available.
• Do wins pay left to right in The Magic River?

  Yes. Matching symbols on adjacent reels pay left to right across the game’s 15 win lines, and only the highest win is paid on each line. During free spins, combinations pay in any order on screen instead.
• How are wins calculated in The Magic River?

  Regular wins are multiplied by the bet per line value, not the total stake. The total bet per round is the bet per line multiplied by the number of winlines selected, and free spins run on the same bet per line as the spin that won them.
• Who makes The Magic River?

  The Magic River is made by Slot Factory. The game’s release date is 4 December 2023.