Steam Tower Slot Review

Founded in 1996, Stockholm-based NetEnt has grown into one of the industry’s fiercest slot providers. In late 2020, they officially entered into Evolution’s fold, so we will have to wait and see how this move will impact the quality of products that they put out going forward. Given that we recently looked at their latest release, Gordon Ramsay: Hell’s Kitchen, we thought it would be interesting to review a rarely discussed yet classic NetEnt game – Steam Tower. Released in February of 2015, this spinner recently experienced a renaissance and shot into the top 50 rankings. A few years back, this was a popular slot that managed to rack up decent player numbers before somewhat falling out of favor. In March of 2021, it rose like the phoenix and gave us ample reason to review it.

Theme & Design

Do you know what steampunk is? Well, if you do not, do not beat yourself up about it. You likely do not watch a lot of anime or read many fantasy novels. It is a retro-futuristic sub-genre of sci-fi that blends Victorian-era aesthetics and industrial steam-powered technology. The best way to explain it is to ask you if you have seen the 1999 Will Smith movie Wild Wild West or the Peter Jackson produced film Mortal Engines. If you have, then you have a good idea of what this sub-genre entails.

In this game, NetEnt uses many of its established motifs. Mainly American Wild West-inspired visuals and anachronistic technologies. Steam Tower is a 3D game whose gameplay transpires on a raised platform overlooking a wooded mountainous landscape. You can see the tops of buildings in the background, as well as the base of the steam-powered tower. The reels here spin inside a metal frame which bears the game logo in its top-left corner. The main character, whose name we never learn, stands to the left of the reel grid, wearing a cape, and a gun in his right hand that shoots what appears to be a grappling hook.

The button configuration here consists of six green ones, of which the central spin function incorporates the same industrial design present throughout the game. To its right, you will find the max bet option and the coin value-adjuster. On the left side of this panel are the auto-play function and the level-setter. The info button is in the bottom left corner of your screen. It pulls open the pay-table and explains the bonus round.

Specs & Gameplay

Steam Tower is a five-reel, three-row reel-spinner that incorporates fifteen paylines. It is a medium variance game with an above-average RTP of 97.04%. According to our information, this is the game with the second-highest return-to-player in NetEnt’s arsenal. The only one that has a higher RTP is Blood Suckers (98%). Steam Tower’s max exposure is x2,000, and bet sizes here range from $0.15 to $150. Wins here occur when three to five matching symbols land on adjacent reels, left to right. Only the line with the highest prize gets paid here.

The low-paying symbols of the game are A, K, Q, and J royals. Hitting five-of-a-kind will award you a prize in the range of x3.33 to x10 your stake. The premium ones are our steampunk hero, a princess-like character, a dragon’s eye, and the tower itself. Landing five matching symbols from this group will yield a reward ranging from x20 to x133 your wager. The dragon’s eye is the most valuable token from this batch.

The hero’s grappling hook is the Wild here, and it substitutes all other symbols. The main character appears as a Stacked Wild, covering a whole reel in the base game only. He activates the Free Spins Bonus Round.

Bonus Features

When you land a Stacked Wild, the hero shoots his hook up and raises the grid to the top of the sixteen-floor tower. You kick this mode off with ten complimentary reel rotations. Here, all payline wins get increased by a corresponding multiplier depending on which floor you are on. On the first three, you get an x2 multiplier. On the following three floors, you receive an x3 one. From the seventh to the ninth one, an x4 multiplier gets awarded. The ten to twelve ones give you an x5, and from the thirteen to fifteen floor, you get an x6 multiplier. Once you reach the top of the tower or the sixteen floor, the game awards you a bonus of 1,000 coins, multiplied by your bet level. You ascend the tower by landing hook Wilds. Each one lifts you one floor up and gives you two more free spins.

GOSU Verdict

Steam Tower is a game that we are nostalgic about, as we remember playing it when it came out. In our eyes, it has stood the test of time thanks to its visuals and uncomplicated gameplay. If people can still play Gonzo’s Quest, why should this NetEnt product go by the wayside? So, we are glad that it is doing well. Yes, it is a more-or-less straightforward slot that does not feature anything novel. However, it has an unusually high RTP of 97.04%, even for a medium variance title. Yes, the max exposure here is nothing to write home about at x2,000, but it is par the course for this variance level. Steam Tower will not appeal to everyone, but we like its theme and its modern simplicity.

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