Private Eye is a new 243-way slot from MicroGaming. It features free spins, a wild symbol, scatter symbols, and a second screen bonus feature. Private Eye was released along with four other great slots on January 11th 2011.

Free spins are triggered when three ‘Extra!’ scatter symbols land on the last three reels during a spin. You are taken to a screen where you pick three newspapers to reveal your free spins, multiplier, and extra win. The extra win is just a one-time win and doesn’t get added to each free spin like some slots. You can win up to 20 free spins with a 4x multiplier.

The second screen bonus feature, named Solve the Case, is triggered when three scattered bonus symbols land on the first three reels during a spin. You are taken to a screen with a desk full of clues. Keep choosing one clue at a time to reveal cash prizes until you find the fingerprint, or the phone rings to end the feature. If you find the fingerprint, you win all the prizes and move on to the Mugshot Bonus. Choose one of the five mugshots to reveal a cash prize.

I found that the Solve the Case bonus feature was hard to trigger, but it pays well when it finally does. Free spins seem to trigger fairly often which is nice. See the screenshots below for paytable information.

Play Private Eye at a MicroGaming Casino today!

Screenshots (click to enlarge)

Monkey King was one of the new slots to hit MicroGaming casinos on January 11th 2011. It features 30 paylines, stacked wilds, and a free spins bonus with multipliers and extra wilds.

For some reason I always saw “Money King” when reading about and playing this slot, I even wrote about it a couple times on this site naming it Money King. I couldn’t figure out why a slot named Money King would have an Asian theme with a Monkey as the wild symbol. I finally realized why I was so confused when my wife pointed out the fact that it is actually named Monkey King when she was playing the slot at 32Red Casino the other night.

Free spins are triggered when three or more Monkey King scatter symbols land on the reels during a spin. You are taken to a second screen where you select people on the street to reveal the number of free spins you get, the multiplier for those free spins, and the number of extra wilds. The extra wilds will be stacked on top of the already stacked wilds on the reels. You can win up to 25 free spins with a 4x multiplier and 3 extra wilds to double the number of wilds stacked on each reel.

I’ve had fairly decent luck on this slot, though I have hit better wins during regular spins than during the free spins feature. Seems odd since the chances of hitting more wilds obviously increases when there are more wilds on the reels, but I guess I just haven’t hit free spins at the right time yet. I have always found that if a slot with stacked wilds wants to pay big, it won’t wait for free spins to do so.

See the screenshots below for paytable information, and hopefully I can add some of my personal wins down there soon. Play Monkey King today at any of these Online Casinos.

Screenshots (click to enlarge)

Retro Reels: Diamond Glitz was released to MicroGaming casinos on January 11th 2011, and it is the second slot in the Retro Reels series of online slots. I really enjoy playing the first Retro Reels slot and so far I am enjoying Diamond Glitz as well.

This new slot features 25 paylines, free spins, and the respin feature which made its debut on the first Retro Reels slot. Diamond Glitz is similar in style to the first one, but there are a few noticeable differences besides the obvious different symbols. There are 5 more paylines and it takes 3 scatters instead of two to trigger free spins.

You are awarded 15, 20, or 25 free spins when 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols land on the reels during a spin. You can also use the respin feature to try for 3 scatters when two land, but you can’t try for more after that because you are automatically taken to the free spins feature. Free spins can be retriggered.

As with the first Retro Reels slot, and all others that have it, the respin feature must be used carefully (if you use it at all, there is no need though it can be tempting). Trying to spin in a third scatter symbol is both expensive and not usually worth the gamble. The best time to use this feature is when there are lots of similar symbols on the reels, since you get a mixed pay for the different bar symbols and diamond symbols, while trying to line up 5 of a kind of one of those symbols. Having the mixed pay symbols is very handy for winning back the expensive bets when respinning.

See the screenshots below for paytable information, and hopefully soon I can add a nice winning screenshot to the mix. Play this great new slot yourself at any of these MicroGaming Casinos today.

Screenshots (click to enlarge)

A tatoo parlour themed slot named Hot Ink hit Microgaming casinos today, January 11th 2011. This new slot features 1024 ways to win in a 4×5 reel layout, wild symbols, scatter symbols, and two bonus features. It also has the new respin feature.

When three of the yin-yang fish scatter symbols land on the reels, you are awarded 20 free spins with all wins doubled. Free spins can be retriggered, but the Tattoo Bonus cannot be triggered within the free spins feature. The symbols are still on the reels, but they just pay as scatters when three or more land during a free spin.

The Tattoo Bonus is a second-screen bonus feature where you select all three tattoo albums displayed to reveal cash prizes. If all three tattoos match, you are given 10 free spins with a x2 multiplier. The woman getting the tattoos isn’t very attractive, they could have done a much better job drawing her up (like the ones on Doctor Doctor, a ‘Sneak-A-Peak’ slot available at Microgaming casinos). Just saying because casinos, and many other companies, usually use sex to sell things, and she’s just not very sexy… lol

The respin feature allows you to spin one reel at a time for an extra weighted bet. It can come in handy at times, but it can also be very costly. I tried it out in free-play like I usually do to create a bit of a strategy for the respin feature. Again I found the best time to use it is when you have many wilds on the reels. Being a 1024 way slot, obviously the more reels that are wild the better. Once I got wilds on the first two reels during a spin, I decided it was a great time to go for some respins. Nothing was really lining up for 5 of a kind due to the 4th reel, so it didn’t cost much at all to keep spinning the last reel until a wild landed. Then the 4th reel became fairly expensive, but wins were coming easy enough to keep spinning until a wild landed again. Now just the middle reel was left without a wild so respinning it was very costly, but the wins were large because every symbol that landed hit for 5 of a kind. To my surprise, a wild landed after just a couple of spins, giving me 5 wilds.

It was fun to try in free-play mode, but I wouldn’t have the guts to spend as much as I was on a respin with real money. You can see the screenshot below of when I lined up the five wilds, and you can see the huge cost of respinning any reel with all those wilds there. The win could have been bigger if there were higher paying symbols on the reels plus the wilds, but that would be a nice win on a regular spin. The fact that it cost so much to respin, only makes that big win a bit higher than bet x 2.

Play Hot Ink now at any of these MG Casinos and remember to be careful with the respin feature.

Screenshots (click to enlarge)