San Quentin (Nolimit City) Slot Demo & Review

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San Quentin Slot Review
Provider Nolimit City
Reels5
Rows3
Paylines243
Bonus Rounds1
Bet Range0.20 - 32
VolatilityHigh
Max Win150,000x
Bonus BuyYes
RTP96.03%
Our Rating9.1

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Game Overview

The prison system certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted, and in Nolimit City’s San Quentin slot, you’re going to find yourself deep in one of the most brutal jail systems in the USA, where you’ll be up against lifers and watching your back in both the shower and during chow down. The plus side is that you’re in with a chance of winning a huge 150,000x stake during your play, which has to be as good as getting extra privileges, a reduced sentence, or even being released early on parole.

With this being a Nolimit City release, it’s not just the theme that catches the eye, with San Quentin also featuring various modifiers and bonuses to ramp up the entertainment levels. These include the xWays mechanic, which can increase the game’s initial 5×3 reel format and 243 ways to win into bigger reels and hopefully larger payouts. The highlight, of course, is the free spins feature, triggered when at least three scatter symbols land in view. After your initial character symbol and free spin total are awarded, the bonus begins with jumping wilds present on the reels, which have the potential for multipliers to be attached to them. Finally, for those impatient to play the base game, a buy feature option is available, guaranteeing instant access to the bonus round.

You might think you’ve got what it takes to serve some serious hard time, but this is one tough prison to crack. I’d suggest you test your resolve before entering permanently in our San Quentin demo, which is free to play below.

San Quentin Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols

San Quentin Slot Paytable

Nolimit City has been around long enough now for players to know that the themes of their games have the potential to be controversial. In the case of San Quentin, though, although the odd character may have an eyebrow raising name and a few of the game sequences are questionable, in the grand scheme of things, it’s fairly tame on the Nolimit shock factor scale. If you compare it to the likes of the gory Mental slot, the vulgar Punk Toilet, or its sister slot, Folsom Prison, you could even argue that Nolimit took it easy on this release. Well, ok, it’s not quite that tame, but if you check out those comparisons I’ve mentioned, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Before you do that, though, let’s finish up with San Quentin first, starting with discovering how much it can pay.

We’ve got the paytable opened up, and sitting at the top, we have Beefy Dick, who will pay a 5x bet for winning a combination of five. Next comes Loco Luis, worth 4x, with Heinrich 3rd following and paying 3.5x for a full line of five. Finalising the premium section, we have Biker Bill and Crazy Joe, who will award 3x and 2.5x, respectively, if five match across a payline. Dropping down to the lower pays, there’s the Soap and Lighter, sharing payouts of 2x, and last but not least is the Toilet Roll, Handcuffs and Shiv, all returning 1.5x bet for a completed line of five.

Spinning the reels on San Quentin doesn’t have to be a costly affair, and the action can begin for as little as €0.20, whilst the max stake on the game can reach a high €32. Real money players shouldn’t have any issues finding a stake to play at within this range, with plenty of options being readily available for both low and high rollers.

San Quentin Slot Base Game & Modifiers

San Quentin Slot Base Game
San Quentin slot base game

The gameplay kicks off on San Quentin with a default reel format of 5 reels and 3 symbols high. This works out to 243 active paylines. This, of course, can be increased due to the impressive xWays mechanic and various modifiers we have seen on previous Nolimit City releases. Below, I have highlighted the additional ways the paylines can be increased within the game.

  • xWays Symbols – These will all reveal the same pay symbol, stacked four high.
  • Razor Splits – This will double the amount of symbols on the reel. Twice if there are Razor Spilts on both Enhancer Cells.
  • Wild Symbol – Will substitute for all pay symbols.
  • Split Wild – This can land on any reel and will double the amount of symbols on that reel.
  • Enhancer Cells – At the top and bottom of each reel, you will note there are cells with inmates inside. If a bonus symbol lands on a reel, it will unlock the cells for that reel to reveal 1 of the 5 top paying symbols, a wild, Razor Split, or the xWays symbol.

San Quentin Slot Bonus Features

San Quentin Slot Free Spins Feature
San Quentin slot free spins feature

The scatter symbols on San Quentin come in the form of the guard’s watchtower. Landing 3, 4, or 5 will award you the Lockdown Free Spins, where you will start with 1, 2, or 3 jumping wilds, respectively. Before we get on to those, though, there are a couple of other points that we need to cover first.

Whichever of the reels the scatters landed on to trigger the bonus, their respective Enhancer Cells will open and remain open for the duration of the bonus. The next stage of the feature sees the triggering reels spin to reveal either 1, 2, or 3 mystery convicts. At the end of this spin, the amount that has landed will be tallied up, one of the five convicts will be awarded to you, and the amount will be applied to that symbol as a multiplier value.

You’re nearly ready to go; you just need some free spins now. The amount you are awarded is decided by the top and bottom of your enhancer cells spinning to reveal either 1, 2, or 3. Again, these are all tallied up, and that amount will be your starting free spin total.

Free Spins Feature

Once you have completed all of that pre-bonus admin, the free spins will begin. In essence, very little changes from the base game, but you now have a convict with a multiplier in play and the jumping wild(s) that will move position at the start of every spin.

Furthermore, the jumping wilds have a chance to have a multiplier attached to them. This occurs when a wild lands on a reel displaying a Razor Split Symbol. It will double its value with a maximum multiplier of 512x being able to be reached. The 512 isn’t actually the multiplier that will be applied to a win; it represents the amount of wild positions that the symbol holds. So either way, if it’s involved in a win, it has the potential to be big.

Keep an eye out for additional bonus symbols landing during the free spins. If they do, they will not only award extra free spins but also turn into another jumping wild.

Bonus Buy

Those playing from a jurisdiction where the bonus buy function is active can choose to trigger the free spins instantly, with the following options available.

  • 3 Scatter Trigger & 1 Jumping Wild: Cost 100x bet.
  • 4 Scatter Trigger & 2 Jumping Wilds: Cost 400x bet.
  • 5 Scatter Trigger & 3 Jumping Wilds: Cost 2,000x bet.

Pros

  • It is a very well-presented theme with awesome graphics, animations and audio.
  • The huge maximum win of 150,000x bet.
  • Very exciting free spins feature where the splitter symbol can really make the difference.

Cons

  • The top feature buy price of 2,000x is a bit over the top.

San Quentin Slot Review Final Thoughts

Nolimit City makes some of the most highly volatile slots we have ever seen, and San Quentin takes the words high variance to a whole new level with the massive jackpot of 150,000x bet that is up for grabs in this game.I'd imagine that now bonus buys are firmly banned in the UK, this will lead to some disappointment for players who can't get straight into the action, whilst those who can purchase the free spins will surely have to tread carefully if deciding to take a risk on the 2000x feature buy, which, in all fairness, is likely to be the main way the maximum win can be achieved.Overall, though, this is again something very special from Nolimit City, who continually push the boundaries and really do live up to their name.

9.1

Exceptional

Author Bio

Nigel Hall Demosolt

Article by Nigel Hall

23 years Gambling Industry Experience

About Nigel Hall

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