We suspected we were going to get the Rugby Star slot by Microgaming soon.
Maybe not that specific one, but certainly a Rugby themed game to keep us entertained and excited for all the main events starting on the 18th of September 2015.
That said, we were hoping for… more.
After all, didn’t we get the Football Star mobile slot in May 2014, a few months before the Brazilian FIFA World Cup?
And who can forget the “hotly anticipated” Cricket Star slot earlier on this year, released for exactly the same reason.
In case we’re being too subtle, we are using “quotes” in as sarcastic a manner as possible.
Yes ladies and gentlemen. This is a copy, of a copy, lazily put out to extort fans of the beautiful sport of Rugby Union.
Wait, so is Microgaming’s Rugby Star slot going to be any good?
You can never 100% tell until you start playing. And actually, there’s good reason to think it might.
However, before we start explaining our position on this one, we feel it’s only right you have a look at the video slot in question:
Can’t watch the video above as you are sneakily reading this at work? Here’s the official description of the game:
“This 5 x 3 reel, 243 ways slot features scatters, stacked wilds and a wild pass feature, delivering plenty of in-game action. The wild pass feature triggers at random in the base game and turns up to two reels wild on reel two, three or four. Rolling Reels™ also feature in both the base game and free spins mode.”
Right. Are you ready for our rant?
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Why just another copy Microgaming?
We are equally divided when it comes to the Microgaming slots tradition of bringing out copy, after copy, but with different themes.
On the one hand, if you fall in love with one casino game… isn’t it great to have an alternative to play when that one slot decides not to pay out?
For example; Thunderstruck is one of our ‘go to’ slot machines. Despite it’s age, we just keep coming back to it.
But, it doesn’t always want to pay out. And when it’s being stubborn, it’s nice to know we can go play on Ladies Nite or Agent Jane Blonde, which has the exact same mechanics and game play, minus the Norse god theme.
On the other hand… what’s the point of making copies of mediocre machines?
Football / Cricket stars aren’t bad games
Just not incredibly exciting in our books.
They have some cool concepts, in fact they have the same features you saw in the above video, but the problem was that you were mostly spinning for nothing.
You didn’t lose much, you didn’t win much, you didn’t become a star.
It was the sport equivalent of playing baseball. Full of complicated maths, and no one but hard core fans of the sports would understand the appeal.
Why the Rugby Star mobile slot will be better
In our little household, Rugby is the sport that one half of our team is allowed to watch religiously.
The other half tolerates it, because hey, at least it’s not Football.
- Break Away (Hockey)
- Sure Win (Horse Racing)
- Alaskan Fishing
- Football Star
The point we are making, is that one of us was very excited to get a Rugby game. And all he got was a copy.
Would it have been better to get something totally original? Sure.
But seeing as Microgaming are the only ones releasing a game in honour of the 2015 Rugby World Cup coming up, perhaps we should be a little grateful that someone gets anything at all.
Not a great place to start building anticipation for the next iOS and Android slots from Microgaming, but it’s a place to start.
Keeps the great features, add bigger wins
One of our complaints about the two previous versions of this game is that you never really felt you could win anything that really packed a punch.
How can you be a sports star earning peanuts?
Rugby Star does increase the stakes somewhat; it increases the original top amount you can win from 105,000 to 120,000 cash.
That means the most you can win at casinos isn’t 2,100 times your bet, but 2,400 times your bet.
Why does that matter?
That increase might seem insignificant, but it isn’t.
The reason for this is twofold:
- It makes the Rugby Star slot volatility at around medium – putting it on par with the much more fun Football Star, instead of the poor show that is Cricket Star.
- It makes it more likely you’ll win more in the long run.
Let’s be honest. Getting that top win is always a once in a million chance. But the higher the top amount, the more chances you have of hitting the occasional big win of 100 times your bet or more.
It’s not always true, but it gives us hope that the Rugby star mobile and online slot will have cool features and decent wins.
Don’t wait till the 9th of September
And Rugby Star isn’t the only game coming out. Lucky Zodiac is also on it’s way, but as an online slot only, and to be honest, fairly generic. You can watch the promo video for it here.
Meanwhile, whilst you wait for the release of these new Microgaming slots, why not try a great Microgaming casino?
You can get 30 free spins no deposit bonus at Go Wild – though if you are from the UK, we’d recommend you give 32Red a try instead, where you get £10 free.
Because, sometimes, you just want to save the first deposit bonus for the new games coming soon.
