Step into the desert, watch those Totems turn
Thunderkick carried on with their tendency for the innovative and the unusual with their latest slot Turning Totems, which breaks most rules that slots live by. I’m certainly glad they did because I welcome innovation and risk.
Turning Totems slot ready to turn some heads
Back in 1956, Elvis Presley appeared on the famous Ed Sullivan Show in what is one of the most talked-about performances in TV history. The reason? It was unlike anything viewers had ever seen before. With his gyrating hips, grunts and swivelling of his neck, Elvis’ antics were so unusual (and at the time scandalous, particularly what he was doing with his hips and knees) that the cameraman filmed him solely from the waist up.
Well, the Turning Totems video slot is a bit like that. It’s so original and unique that I had to play it for a while to get used to it. Will it go down in history like Elvis’ iconic performance? Maybe not but let’s talk about why it caught our attention.
Thuderkick’s video slots never disappoint
It’s not often that Thunderkick appears on G2Gs radar. I had to check the record books to remind me that yes, Frog Grog and Luchadora was indeed made by them. That was one of the funniest, quirkiest and most entertaining slots I’ve ever reviewed here so it’s ‘so far so good’ as far as Thunderkick casino slots go here at G2G.
Their most famous game is probably Esqueleto Explosivo and that was an early indication of the fact that they’re not afraid to experiment when it comes to having unusual game mechanics.
Interestingly, Turning Totems was first released by Thunderkick years and years ago. But it wasn’t great and had some technical flaws that they ironed out and improved on before re-releasing it in 2016.
Thunderkick has worked hard and efficiently to make sure that your experience of playing this slot on mobile is just as good as it is on a desktop. I think it’s just a question of time before Thunderkick manages to get everything right in a slot machine. It will still be weird and quirky, of course, but somehow it will hold together and perhaps be as successful as Starburst!
Nothing if not original…
So what’s so different about Turning Totems anyway? Well, the answer is in the name of the slot!
The new symbols don’t just spin and appear from nowhere like they do in most slots. Instead, the symbols twist and turn before each spin before settling down into the new symbol in a manner I’ve never seen before. Each time they do so you can actually hear the wind blowing, which is what causes them to turn.
Thunderkick clearly likes to be as innovative with how the reels work as a Michelin-starred Chef left alone with a handful of ingredients, some foam and a copy of Heston Blumenthal’s book. In Esqueleto the symbols (in this case skulls) just dropped from above rather than spinning into place.
But that’s not the only unique aspect of the game. There are no paylines as such. Instead, the symbols count as potential wins irrespective of where they land. They can be scattered around in completely different parts of the reels and still form wins as long as you get at least six of them.
Theme & Symbols
All of this happens in a dramatic setting in the middle of the desert. There are a couple of cactuses (or ‘cacti’ as our Resident Grammar Nazi quickly pointed out) and there’s also a little statue-like Native American boy who for the most part just stands around but actually gets quite excited when you secure a big win.
Pink, orange, red, green and blue. Our favourite flavours of ice lollies in order with favourite first? Not quite. That’s the order of the symbols from most to least valuable with the pink potentially being worth 1204x your stake if you were to get fifteen of them.
Unlikely but hey…they said the same thing about Trump becoming President.
There are also some ‘no win’ symbols. Meaning that irrespective of how many of them you get, they’ll count for nothing.
And in case you were wondering, a totem is a sacred object or statue that represents a group of people such as a family or clan.
Re-spins in the main feature is weird but fun
I’ve said that the design and base game works in a rare away but what about the Turning Totems features?
Sleepy Falcon/awake Falcon Wild
We all get tired and need a nap from time to time. Even if you’re a falcon. The falcon is the Wild in this game or to be more precise, rather like a feral cat, it’s semi-wild. In other words, it’s not a Wild most of the time but if you get a thunder snake symbol (the Scatter) on a reel, then it will awake the falcon for one spin and one re-spin only. During that re-spin, they’ll act like a Wild would in any other slot.
And you don’t even have to pay for an extra spin yourself because when you get the thunder snake symbol appears, the next spin is on the house.
By the way, during the re-spins, the weather turns foul and it starts pouring down with rain.
Unless you’re a farmer worrying about his crops or F1 driver Sebastian Vettel (who famously loves driving in the rain), the wet stuff is normally a bad thing. But then again, Thunderstick is a little odd in general so I shouldn’t be too surprised that you get a bad thing (the rain) during a good thing (the re-spins).
Free Spins
Well if you get a pit (that’s our favourite, it sounds the most dangerous) of three or more thunder snakes, you activate the free spins. You don’t need to get the thunder snakes all at once, either. You could get them just by having an initial thunder snake followed by two re-spins where you get thunder snakes to appear on the first and second re-spins.
You’ll get five free spins and as is the case with just about any other slot, that’s where you can really secure those big wins. Especially because the reels that instigated the free spins will remain active throughout the spins and should you get more snakes, they’ll become active too. Meaning it’s very possible to have all five reels active.
Re-makes sometimes work and that’s the case here
There’s always a danger when trying to re-do or re-make something. The recent Magnificent Seven movie was a pale imitation of the brilliant original and there have been endless examples of songs that were covered, TV series that were re-made, restaurants that were re-opened and so on. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.
Well, here it works. The 2016 version of Turning Totems is a huge improvement on the original. In addition to the unique characteristics it possesses and quirky details, it’s a good, fair slot where the thunder snakes mean you’re never far away from a decent win.
To start cashing in on those thunder snakes, you’ll need to have an account with a recommended and trusted Indian casino so you can start playing with real money. If you haven’t done so already, you can open an account in no time…right now!