Remember Gulag

Review

The intro screen states: 'Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it', which is a paraphrased quote from philosopher George Santayana. Of course, development on this game occurred long before recent events, but it’s still a ballsy move to release a game like this in times like these. Therefore, the creators have stated that they will be donating parts of the profit to Humanitarian Assistance in Ukraine, basically making online slot history in the process.

The Gulags were brutal forced-labor camps used primarily for political prisoners and other misfits, and they were erected on orders from Lenin himself, while their use peaked under Stalin’s iron fist regime. Stalin is the top-tier symbol, of course, and you get plenty of xMechanic features in all stages of the game. There are 3 bonus round tiers with different levels of premium symbol multipliers, and you can win up to 30,000x your stake.

Slot Features

You can turn on/off the Propaganda Bet feature between base game spins, and it costs 20 % more per spin to keep it active. This guarantees a scatter on reel 2, which again unlocks reel 5, so it’s basically an ante bet feature that increases your bonus round chances. The 5 character premium symbols pay between 4 and 6 x your stake for 6 of a kind wins, and they consist of a Saluting Bear, Semenov, Berla, Zhukov and Stalin.

Reels 5 and 6 are locked by default, but these reels open when you land 1 or 2 scatters in view, respectively. The grid maxes out at 614,656 win ways with all reels open, and you get xWays symbols on reels 1 and 2 in the base game (reels 5 and 6 in the bonus rounds). These reveal 2 to 3 instances of a randomly selected pay symbol, and all xWays symbols in view will reveal the same random symbol. If split by an xSplit Wild, the xWays multiplier doubles.

You get xNudge Wilds on reels 3 and 4 in all stages of the game, and this gives you a stacked wild that nudges fully in place to cover the reel. The wild multiplier increases by +1 per nudge, and the multipliers are added together if more than one is part of a win. If the xNudge Wild is split by an xSplit Wild, you get one more wild added to the reel.

You can land regular wilds anywhere, but the xSplit Wilds can only appear on reels 5 and 6 in the base game (or reels 1 and 2 in the bonus rounds). Wilds step in for pay symbols to help complete wins, while xSplit Wilds split all symbols to the left and/or right, effectively creating 2 symbols instead of one. Scatters turn into full wild reels if hit by this mechanic, unless they trigger the bonus round. xSplit Wilds split in two, and can be further split by other xSplit Wilds.

You trigger the 3 different tiers of the Bonus Round when you land 3, 4 or 5 scatters anywhere in view, and this awards Gulag Spins, Gulag Spins: All Aboard or the top-tier Gulag Spins: Double Vodka, respectively. It plays out on a flipped 5-5-4-4-3-3 grid with all reels unlocked, and there is a pre-feature setup spin that will determine your number of free spins, as well as the win multiplier of the 4 top-tier premium symbols.

In the most basic Gulag Spins feature, only 1 premium symbol gets upgraded with a multiplier, while this happens to all 4 in the two higher tier bonus rounds. The multipliers are doubled in the Double Vodka feature, and a character symbol reel on top of the grid can increase the premium symbol multipliers randomly as the bonus round plays out.

It can randomly increase the multiplier by +1 or +2 in Gulag Spins, or double the value. In Double Vodka, the multiplier can increment by +2 or +4, as well as being doubled. Scatters are collected to award +1 extra spin, and 3 scatters collected is enough to take you to the next bonus round tier.

Bonus Buy menu is available in some jurisdictions, but not in the UK for sure. The regular Gulag Spins round has an organic hit rate of 1 in 211 spins, and 1 in 27 times it will be upgraded to the top-tier feature. Here’s an overview:

• Pay 78x your stake for Gulag Spins (RTP of 96.56 %).
• Pay 270x your stake for Gulag: All Aboard spins (RTP of 96.82 %).
• Pay 486x your stake for Gulag: Double Vodka spins (RTP of 96.94 %).
• Pay 198x your stake for 1 of the 3 above randomly assigned (RTP of 96.83 %).

The 200 Spins Slot Experience

You get to see a bit of base game play, before we trigger the Gulag Spins feature around the 1-minute mark. We purchase the Double Vodka feature right after, and it starts around 3 minutes into the 6:17-minute highlights video. You can see for yourself how we fared in the gulag by hitting the play button below.

Review Summary

The only way to top this in terms of controversy would be to make a slot about the Auschwitz concentration camp and the Holocaust. We doubt even the creators have the balls to go there, and one installment this heavy on emotional baggage may be enough. It’s not too often you see an online slot that makes a political statement regarding recent events, so the developer is definitely breaking new ground in more ways than one with this encouragement to not forget the past atrocities.

The atmosphere is bleak to say the least, but elements of humor have been included in the win story, which is an appreciated break from the heaviness of the theme. You get the full array of well-known xMechanic features, but the pace in the bonus round is not as frenetic and insane as it was in other titles. Large wins can come out of the blue, as usual, and up to 30,000x your stake is possible at best. It’s another solid release for sure, but we wouldn’t mind seeing something more lighthearted from this developer once in a while.

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