One of the most exciting new slot releases for 2021 is the prison-themed San Quentin xWays. Devised by Nolimit City, this gutsy, action-packed slot livens up the grittiness of prison life by introducing all sorts of special features. Extra cells above and below the reels can reveal several different symbols that can give you more ways to win and other benefits. Learn more about this hard-hitting new slot by giving our review a read.
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How To Play The San Quentin xWays Slot
Start by clicking on the dollar sign button and choosing one of the twenty-five available bet sizes. The smallest one you can pick is 0.20, while the biggest is 32. When you’ve got one chosen, the large square-shaped button over on the right is the one you click on to spin the reels. Hit the triangle button for autoplay and the lightning bolt button to make the reels spin at a faster speed.
According to the slot’s paytable the base RTP is 96.03%. This rises to 96.26% if you buy the free spins round with three or four scatters, and again to 96.95% if you buy free spins with five scatters. The slot’s volatility is very high, so there’s the potential to earn some significant payouts, though you may have to spin the reels many times before earning a big win.
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San Quentin xWays Slot Features
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Prison Theme. The slot is set within the San Quentin prison, which is home to the largest death row in the US and is located just north of San Francisco. Watchtowers, poles with security cameras and a large prison wall topped with barbed wire fill the slot’s grey and gloomy background.
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243 Ways To Win. This is one of many online slot games to use the all-ways-win system. There are three rows, five reels and two hundred and forty-three ways that winning combinations can be formed on the grid. To win, three or more identical symbols have to be lined up on consecutive reels, starting with the leftmost one. The number of ways to win can increase thanks to extra symbols being added to the slot’s reels.
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Split Wild. The Split Wild substitutes for all regular symbols and whenever it lands, all regular symbols on the same reel split in two, giving you the chance to earn more payouts.
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Jumping Wild. These are special wilds that appear in the free spins round only. They stay on the grid for the entire round and jump to a random position with every spin. If they land on a reel that has the Razor Split enhancer active, they earn a x2 multiplier and for every other one that lands on the multiplier is multiplied by x2, up to a maximum of x512.
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Symbols. The slot’s ten regular symbols include various things associated with prison, such as a pair of handcuffs and a bar of soap, along with five prisoners. The one with the biggest payouts to give is the prisoner with ‘ACE’ tattooed on his forehead, who pays out 5x your bet for one on each reel.
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San Quentin xWays Bonus Features
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Enhancer Cells. Above and below the slot’s grid you’ll see some extra positions that look kind of like prison cells. These are Enhancer Cells. They can be activated at random or by special features and when activated, they give one of four bonuses:
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They reveal one of the five prisoner symbols.
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They reveal a wild symbol.
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They reveal a Razor Split symbol that splits all regular symbols on the reel into two. If the top and bottom Enhancer Cells both reveal Razor Split symbols, the regular symbols are split twice.
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They reveal an xWays symbol, which then reveals a regular symbol stacked four positions high.
Whenever extra symbols are revealed through Enhancer Cells, or whenever symbols are split in two or more, the number of ways to win increases accordingly.
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Lockdown Spins. The black watchtower is the slot’s scatter. Landing three, four or five triggers the free spins round with one, two or three Jumping Wilds respectively. Before the round starts, all Enhancer Cells on reels with triggering symbols open and each one gives you one, two or three spins. A prisoner is chosen at random and he comes with a multiplier that you’re then given for the free spins round. While using free spins, landing a scatter gives you extra spins and another Jumping Wild.
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Bonus. During the base game, if just one or two scatters land they’ll turn into wilds and will activate all Enhancer Cells on the reels they’re on.
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Feature Buy. Click on the yellow star to the left of the reels if you want to purchase an immediate trigger of the free spins round. Free spins with three scatters costs 100x your bet, while the same but with four scatters costs 400x your bet. If you want free spins with five scatters, the cost is 2,000x your bet.
Play The San Quentin xWays Slot For Real Money
San Quentin xWays is an impressive slot in many ways. Its raw and rough prison theme is realised to a very high standard thanks to the lively animations and detailed graphics, not to mention the way in which the prison-like set-up of the gaming grid is incorporated into special features. Speaking of which, the features are what make this slot stand out. A lot of creativity has gone into creating this slot and the hard work has paid off, as it's a great-looking game with lots going for it. Be sure to check it out yourself at a real money casino we’ve recommended.