The classic love story is now a lovely slot
Yggdrasil has excelled once again with their new slot Beauty and the Beast, a beautifully designed creation based on the famous love story. It features one of the most original free spins rounds in recent memory and gets two thumbs up.
What to play Beauty and the Beast for real money? Check out the top Indian casinos who offer the slot below!
Yggdrasil’s Beauty and the Beast slot on course to be a classic
They say you’re only as good as you last online slot and if that’s the case, Yggdrasil are pretty good indeed. A few weeks ago I was entertained by the creativity of Alchymedes, whereas one of their new releases before that was one of the most-talked-about mobile slots of 2016: the brutal and visually stunning Vikings go Berzerk.
So if Yggdrasil were a racehorse, you’d say they came here in good form.
Beauty and the Best isn’t a Progressive Jackpot slot but instead is mostly a free spins slot, though there’s plenty of fun and exciting stuff going on in the base game, too.
Are you an iPhone or an Android fan? That’s the question that has replaced Coca Cola/Pepsi, McDonald’s/Burger King, blond/brunette and Xbox/Playstation as the ultimate ‘one or the other’ debate.
It can sometimes become such a heated and passionate argument that it can even cost couples their marriage. Ah, ok. Maybe that was just our team member Stuart Reyansh and his lovely wife…er ex-wife Saanvi. Maybe it doesn’t happen that often after all.
Anyway, whichever of the two you have, you can use it to play this mobile slot on. Of course, you can also play it on desktop.
Who nudged the reels for you? The Butler did it!
We love a good old debate amongst the G2G Team and a classic one came up when I was reviewing this game and asked for some help
Which is the best possible real-life example in history of the Beauty and the Best concept? Donald and Ivana Trump got a few votes and someone chipped in with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, which is a fair shout. But in a close contest, the winner (not unanimous, but a winner nonetheless) was Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett. I don’t think I need to tell you which was which. Too dated a reference for you? Ask an older sibling or use the power of Google.
The release of the Beauty and the Beast slot coincides with the 2017 release of the movie version of the famous story. It stars the stunning Emma Watson and has some other pretty cool actors in supporting roles. But this slot isn’t based or in any way associated with the movie and proof of that is that the graphics are more in line with a Disney cartoon than with real-life actors.
The mechanics and graphics of the slot
Beauty (or Belle to use her proper name) and the Beast are the high-value symbols in the base game with the other low-value symbols being made up of different coloured jewels. There’s also a Wild Symbol that substitutes for any symbol other than the Scatter. The Scatter is an exquisitely drawn red rose that is in line with the tragic romantic theme of the story and the slot itself and says Free Spins on it. So yeah, you don’t have to be Hercule Poirot to work out what happened when you get three of those.
In a mansion like the one that the Beast lives in certain daily activities like serving the master breakfast in bed, dusting down the surfaces and preparing delicious dishes for lavish banquets don’t happen by magic. They happen because the Beast’s staff include a Butler, a Chef and a maid.
But here’s where Yggdrasil start to display their flair for the unique. Those three characters aren’t ever-present symbols on the reels but rather appear at random times to help you win.
Here’s what they do
- Butler – Nudges reels by 1 position. That could lead to free spins being activated or to form a winning spin.
- Chef – Syncs the middle reels. You’re almost guaranteed a win when this happens.
- Maid – Creates 2-4 random wilds. Even two of them should be more than enough to help you win something.
You know when you bite into something really rich and the first couple of mouthfuls are divine? And then you have another couple of bites and it’s not quite as good anymore? And then the next few are far too much for you and you don’t even enjoy them that much but you still eat the whole thing? Ah, ok maybe that’s just our G2G colleague, Manish, then. Or Cartman, as we call him.
In any case, the audio in this slot is a bit like that. The dramatic theme is mood-setting to start with but after a while it gets a bit much. Just saying. There are also some cool fireworks sounds when you secure a decent win.
Golden Bet feature is tailor-made for the big risk-taker
There isn’t just one way when it comes to how to play Beauty and the Beast video slot. You can play the regular way for small stakes. Or you can…
Place a Golden Bet
Just to the left of the spin symbol, you can choose one of three Golden Bets.
- Boost (Red Rose) – For an additional cost of 5 coins, you can play the Boost. It will allow you to pick two features in the free spins round (see below) rather than one.
- Nudge (Bell) – No more ‘so close but so far’ sinking feeling when you get two Scatter symbols with the third one just one position away from activating the free spins round. The Butler will nudge the Scatter symbol into position to help you launch the free spins.
The Nudge feature is a little out-of-fashion these days and more commonly associated with the English pub-style fruit machines but I quite like it and recently welcomed its presence in super-retro slot Money Matrix. Activating this Golden Bet will cost you 15 extra coins.
Boost and Nudge (Crown) – For an absolute bargain price of 30 extra coins per spin, you can combine the two just mentioned.
This is an option that will appeal to the High-Roller who believes that you can’t claim big rewards without taking big risks.
As full-time ice hockey legend and part-time philosopher Wayne Gretzky once said:
‘You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’
Free Spins
Three Scatter symbols activate the free spins round and you get 10 of them. But before you start spinning, you’ll be invited to choose one of three features to be present during them. Or two features if playing in the Golden Bet mode.
The features are represented by the three servants and do exactly here what they do in the base game. So sync middle reels (Chef), nudge (Butler) or add 2-4 Wilds (Maid).
The great thing here is that the feature you chose will come into play on every single spin. It doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a win with every spin but it always helps you to try to achieve that.
If you manage to land another three Scatter symbols you’ll reset your free spins to 10 and will be able to choose an extra servant feature meaning that it’s possible to have all three in action. But once you have all three, you can’t re-trigger further free spins.
Classy slot-making by Yggdrasil
This Beauty and the Beast slot is a good example of a casino game that ticks all the boxes. There’s real artistry in the design and graphics, the Golden Bet feature adds an extra dimension on the staking front, the appearance of the servants adds some spice to the base game and the richness of the free spins feature is proof that you don’t need endless features to make a mobile slot good. You just need the ones there are to be of high quality.
I’d probably classify this as quite a volatile slot in that the activation of free spins could make or break your session and if you don’t get them enough, it could prove a little frustrating. By the way, the Maid feature in the free spins is probably our preferred option because it secures the most frequent wins but you’ll have to decide for yourself which one you like the most.
All in all, this mobile slot is proof that Yggdrasil are at the top of their game right now.
The Beauty and the Beast slot is available to play for real money in any of the Indian online casinos. Enjoy & good luck!