Lost Island is a fun little game, with a few things up its sleeve to keep you coming back for more. If you’d like to know how it works and what we thought of it, have a read of our in-depth review.
Special Features
Lost Island isn’t as feature laden as some of the other slots out there, but there are still a couple of intriguing mini-games that you can keep an eye out for that will give you an increased chance of winning some money. Here’s a look at each of them:
The Volcano Wilds
If you land a Volcano sign then you’ll find that it substitutes in for any other symbol on the board, with the exception of the Mask Scatters. Suddenly a previously losing line can become a winning line thanks to the presence of The Volcano, which will erupt if it’s a winner. It’s also worth noting that prize money is doubled when The Volcano makes up the line.
Mask Free Spins
If three of more Mask Scatters land on your reel then you’ll be rewarded with fifteen Free Spins. They will then be played out using the same lines and the same stake as the line that triggered the free games in the first place. Not only that but, as with winning lines formed using a Volcano Wild, prizes will be doubled during the Free Spins. On top of that, you can also win more Free Spins during the game, with a maximum of fifteen re-triggers possible. The Mask Scatter will also be paid out in its own right if you get enough of them on an active pay line.
Gamble Bonus
It’s possible during your game that the Gamble Bonus may be triggered. This entails you getting the chance to be paid out double on your last win, which you’ll achieve by correctly guessing which of two possible choices will be revealed. If you guess right then you’ll keep going until one of several things happens: your win exceeds £32,000, ‘Take Win’ appears, you guess correctly five times in a row or you guess incorrectly.
Gameplay & RTP
Let’s start out by talking about Lost Island’s Return To Player average of 95%. It’s a shade above the 94% that you’ll find on the majority of Virtue Fusion slots, so that puts it into the ‘decent’ bracket. Yet it’s well below the 98% that you’ll be able to play if you have a look around the place and that is a much more attractive RTP, if we’re being honest. The big question is whether or not you’re all that bothered by a Return To Player average. Are you the sort of person that likes to constantly see wins flashing up, meaning that you can play for hours from a relatively small stake? Or do you value the actual gameplay more and want a slot that promises you an interesting way to wile away your minutes? If it’s the former then have a look through our reviews to find game that ticks that ’98%’ box, whilst if it’s the latter than have a search for a game that we particularly enjoyed playing. The likes of Little Britain and Monty Python’s Life of Brian are both really good fun to play, even if you don’t enjoy the actual TV show or film that they’re based on.
The more observant amongst you will have noticed that we’re yet to talk about how thrilling and exciting Lost Island is and that’s for very good reason. It’s not that it’s boring, because it very definitely isn’t. It’s just that it doesn’t have anywhere near the same level of excitement as other games in the Virtue Fusion canon. It’s decidedly ‘meh’, which is never a good thing to say about a slot when you consider the level of competition out there. There’s not a lot wrong with the way that it plays, with the under-the-hood capabilities of the game able to cope with the demands of the graphics. There’s a ‘fake’ blurring taking place, which marks it out from some games in which the reels blur simply because they’re unable to keep up with the graphics and it runs the risk of giving you a headache. That’s even more impressive when you realise that there are a few nice little touches, such as the Mask Scatters ‘dancing’ if they end up winning you some money and The Volcano symbol erupting if it helps to form a winning line.
Yet ultimately you want quite a bit more from a slot than just the graphics not looking rubbish and Lost Island doesn’t deliver. The theme is perfectly fine, with the reels sitting on top of a vast ocean with a volcano off in the distance setting the template. The ‘Bet’ and ‘Win’ information at the top of the screen is located on a series of rocks and stones, with the ‘Paytable’, ‘Spin’ and other symbols similarly displayed down the bottom of the screen. The line numbers are also inscribed on some sort of wooden plaque, whilst the symbols are made up of things that you’d expect to see on a Lost Island. These include the likes of a Parrot, a Monkey, a Snake and a pile of Treasure. It all just feels a little paint-by-numbers, however, with the overall game lacking a true sense of fun. The special features are enjoyable enough in their own way, but even they seem a little bit under-whelming and you might not even realise the Free Spin Game has begun if you’re not paying attention. We’re not saying we want fireworks every time we play a slot, but this feels a little as though it hasn’t really made up its mind whether it wants to be a mild distraction or something more substantial. As a consequence, it’s not really either.