Radar Riches Slot
Ever since several nations developed radar systems in the time around World War II, this detection system has become an important part of military operations around the world. However, it also has plenty of other applications as well: we use it to keep track of commercial aircraft, objects in space, weather systems, and much more.
We might also dream of using these systems under the waves in order to find some buried treasure. That’s the concept behind Radar Riches, a slot machine developed by Lightning Box Games in 2012. In many ways, this is a conventional slot with a pretty standard underwater theme. But the use of a special detection symbol that can lead to bigger wins – especially in the free spins bonus round – helps make this game stand out from most of this company’s titles.
Scanning the Reels
Radar Riches is a five-reel, 25 line slot machine that features an underwater exploration theme. The object for players is to make matches across your active lines, with all wins during standard paying left-to-right.
Given the undersea theme, you’d expect to see some ocean creatures and sights on the reels. The entire screen, in fact, is made up to look like an old submersible, and you can even see out a window behind the reels. As for the symbols themselves, you’ll start by matching nines through kings, all of which offer modest prizes. The more-valuable icons do explore the theme more directly, with fish, sunken ships, maps and airplanes all rewarding you with more credits.
There are a couple special symbols you’ll want to take a look out for while playing. First, there’s the treasure chest, which acts as a wild and can substitute for any of the normal symbols on the reel, helping you make winning lines. There’s also the radar screen scatter, which has a couple different roles. Each time it appears, it will reveal one of the poker ranks (anything from a nine to a king), which could help you make some unexpected wins.
Detecting Hidden Treasures
Three or more of these scatters will also help you unlock a free spins game. In this special features, you’ll get eight bonus plays, which is a welcome gift all on its own. But there’s an added bonus, and it has to do with those scatter symbols. They still reveal a lower-value symbol each time they appear, but now they turn whatever icon they show into a scatter as well.
This is valuable because it means that instead of needing left-to-right lines, these symbols will now pay no matter where they appear on the screen. So if a scan reveals a queen, for instance, you can now make a big win if you have four or five of them anywhere on the reels, even if they’re not on a single payline. Wilds count towards this total, too, making it even easier to complete big scattered awards.
An Ocean Adventure
Radar Riches is a pretty simple slot machine in most respects. There aren’t any second screen rounds or random features that will appear on the reels, so you can sit back and enjoy the classic slots action without worrying about getting lost.
On the other hand, the free games feature is still interesting, and the idea of making all of the lower-value prizes potentially become scatters is a fairly innovative one. This is a machine that’s definitely worth a look, particularly if you enjoy the oceanic theme and aren’t looking for anything too fancy.