Red Spin Thunder Slots
At a time when many companies focus on cutting edge video slots, Video Gaming Technology, or VGT, has made their mark through mechanical 3 reel slots. But lately, VGT is working on more advancedslot machines like Red Spin Thunder.
Released in 2016, Red Spin Thunder is a 3 reel, 5 pay line video slot with more features than the average VGT game.
Find out below as we cover this game’s symbols, Class II distinction, betting options, and comparisons to other VGT games.
Overview
Red Spin Thunder is a buffalo themed slot with a wilderness angle. This is clear from the cabinet’s top screen, which features a buffalo standing in a prairie surrounded by dark clouds andthunder.
The title has multiple meanings, including a thunderstorm, a thundering herd of buffalo, and how this game is part of VGT’s Red Spin Gambler series.
As for the cabinet’s artwork, Red Spin Thunder features one of the best designs that we’ve seen from a VGT slot machine. The buffalo standing in front of a stormy background looks as impressiveas any other slots cabinet out there.
Despite being a new game, Red Spin Thunder features the same generic symbols that are present in other VGT slots. These include a 7, single BAR, double BAR, triple BAR, cherries, and the Red SpinThunder icon.
The Red Spin Thunder icon offers the highest regular payout, delivering 10,000 credits when it appears 3 times in a single pay line. But with bonus features, the game’s top payout is actually25,000 credits.
Like other VGT slot machines, Red Spin Thunder is found in Oklahoma tribal casinos. Some of these casinos include
- Creek Nation Casino in Eufaula
- Downstream Casino Resort in Qaupaw
- Glacier Peaks Casino in the Blackfeet Nation
- Duck Creek Casino in Creek
- Ioway Casino in Cimarron
- Native Lights Casino in Tonkawa
- Osage Casino in Tulsa
- Stone Wolf Casino in Pawnee
- Texoma Gaming Center in Chickasaw
Red Spin Thunder is a Bingo, Class II Slot Machine
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 requires that all tribal slot machines be related to bingo, Class II gaming. That said, Red Spin Thunder looks like a standard slot machine, but itoperates like a bingo game.
Red Spin Thunder and similar VGT slot machines are linked to a central system operator that generates numbers. These numbers correspond to bingo cards found on Red Spin Thunder machines.
As you spin the reels, you generate numbers for your bingo card and win prizes if they match numbers that the system operator chooses. You can see your bingo card in the machine’s top screen andchange it at any time.
There are a set number of prizes awarded to Class II machines. Once all of the available prizes have been paid, the game starts over.
Rather than playing against the house, you’re actually competing against other players for the available prizes.
Class III Slot Machines
State licensed casinos and racetracks offer Class III slot machines.
Rather than a central system operator determining payouts, each Class III machine has its own random number generator, RNG, which decides spin results. This means that every game theoreticallyoffers an infinite number of each prize, instead of a set number of payouts.
But Class III slot machines do feature odds on each payout, like 1 in 5,000 chance of winning for example. While you could win a big prize over and over on a Class III game, odds are that you’llrarely win big.
It seems unfair that only state licensed casinos can offer these types of slot machines. But when the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed, most states were still anti-gambling and didn’t wantslot machines spreading throughout the U.S.
In order to compete with this increased competition, tribal casinos have modified their Class II machines so that they play like slots without violating state laws.
What’s Better – Class II or Class III Slot Machines?
Class III slot machines are the most common throughout the world, but does this mean that they’re the best?
This depends upon your individual preference because both types of gaming machines have their good points. Some people like the fact that Class II slot machines let them compete against otherplayers for prizes.
Other players prefer Class III slots because they’re regulated by the state, and it’s easier to find payback information. State licensed casinos and racetracks are required to provide thisinformation to gaming regulators upon request.
Tribal casinos are on sovereign land so they don’t technically have to provide this info. But VGT freely offers payback figures for many of its games.
They list Red Spin Thunder as having either 94.97% to 95.02% or 96.02% to 96.03% payback, depending upon what the manufacturer orders. In either case, this is outstanding payback for a landbased slot machine.
Red Spin Thunder Bonus
Games in the Red Spin Gambler Series offer a unique bonus feature, where the screen randomly turns red after a win and awards you a free re spin / s.
VGT offers no rules on red screen re spins, but slots forum users have identified the following characteristics about this bonus:
- You earn a red screen re spin on approximately 1 out of every 5 of your wins.
- You can earn anywhere from 1 to 5 re spins after the screen flashes red.
- You’re guaranteed a prize equal to or greater than your triggering win. If you win 200 credits on the triggering win, you’ll win 200 credits or more through the red screen re spins.
The other bonus feature in Red Spin Thunder is multipliers.
If you get a Red Spin Thunder icon in a winning pay line, your payout if multiplied 2x. If you get an icon in a winning pay line during the red screen re spins, your payout is multiplied 3x.
Multipliers are nothing new to slots, but the majority of VGT games don’t offer them. And Red Spin Thunder is the first VGT slot machine that we’ve seen to increase the multiplier during redscreen re spins.
Betting Options
Red Spin Thunder allows you to change the coin denomination from $0.25, $0.50, $1, $2, $5, and $10, and you can play between 1 and 5 pay lines.
This makes for a minimum bet of $0.25 per spin and a maximum of $50.00. Given this wide range, Red Spin Thunder is a good game for both low and high rollers.
VGT lists Red Spin Thunder as having high hit frequency
…and we believe it.
Every VGT 3 reel slot machine that we’ve tried pays frequently. Even when you’re going through a dry spell, the red screen re spins happen enough that you win back a significant amount of yourmoney.
The multiplier in both the main game and red screen re spins will add volatility to this game in comparison to other VGT 3 reel slots. But it’s nothing like the volatility that you’ll experiencefrom most non VGT slot machines.
Red Spin Thunder Comparisons to VGT Games
Red Spin Thunder isn’t the most advanced video slot that we’ve seen, and 5 pay lines aren’t that much when compared to the industry. But these two characteristics set this slot machine apart frommany VGT games, which have one pay line and run on mechanical reels.
Given that Red Spin Thunder also offers multipliers, this is another aspect that differentiates it from most VGT slot machines. The 3x multiplier during red screen re spins is especially excitingbecause of the big bonus payouts that it creates.
Red Spin Thunder’s top payout of 25,000 credits is high when compared to other VGT slots. On the other hand, VGT offers an 8 game series that allows you to play for a wide area progressivejackpot that’s seeded at $250,000.
A couple of games that are similar to Red Spin Thunder include VGT’s Lucky Leprechaun’s Loot and the multi pay line version of Crazy Bill’s Gold Strike.
These slot machines also offer 5 pay lines, multipliers, and operate on a 3×3 grid like Red Spin Thunder. The one notable difference is that Crazy Bill’s Gold Strike and Lucky Leprechaun don’toffer bigger multipliers during the red screen re spins.
Rival Gaming’s Blazin’ Buffalo Slots
If you want to play the closest thing to Red Spin Thunder at an online casino, then you should try Rival Gaming’s Blazin’ Buffalo slots.
This 5 reel slot opens with a herd of buffalo running and one of the buffalo jumps towards the screen and ignites flames. This signifies all of the flames that you’ll see throughout the game.
The bottom of the reels catch fire every time that you perform a spin. During the Blazin’ Free Spins, which you unlock with three or more buffalo on the reels, the entire first reel catches onfire and remains wild for the duration of the spins.
Blazin’ Buffalo sells its western American angle more so than Red Spin Thunder through the use of country music, and a mountainous landscape that’s reminiscent of Montana or Wyoming. You’ll alsosee wild animals like a bear, eagle, ram, rattlesnake, and wolf.
This game offers more special features than Red Spin Thunder, including a 2x multiplier / wild symbol, scatter symbol, an option to double up your wins, and a second screen bonus round. Youunlock the second screen bonus by getting three or more playing cards anywhere on the reels, and it allows you to pick one of three face down cards to earn a prize.
One more point about Blazin’ Buffalo is that it lets you change the coin denomination between $0.01 $0.25 and play up to 50 pay lines.
Blazin’ Buffalo has more to offer than Red Spin Thunder in terms of betting options, special features, and unique symbols. But this is to be expected because most 5 reel online slots are moreadvanced than typical land based slot machines.
Red Spin Thunder gains points for its red screen re spins along with the fact that it’s in land based casinos, which some players prefer.
Conclusion
Red Spin Thunder offers a few perks that make it more entertaining than the average VGT slot machine.
First off, you can play up to 5 pay lines, which contrasts the many single pay line games that this company makes. You can also look forward to win boosting multipliers when the Red Spin Thundericon appears.
This game’s payback is excellent, especially when compared to the majority of casino slot machines. Coupled with the high hit frequency and red screen re spins, you have a good chance of winningwith Red Spin Thunder.
Another point to like about this game is its cabinet artwork, which shows a buffalo and stormy wilderness scene. The detail is excellent and will draw your eye when you see it in land basedcasinos.
One thing that we don’t like about Red Spin Thunder is how it features the same generic symbols as many other VGT slot machines. For a newer game, it would’ve been nice to see VGT include moreunique symbols than 7s, BARs, and cherries.
Rival Gaming’s Blazin’ Buffalo shows what can be done with the genre since this game offers several wild animals along with country western music. It might be unfair to compare Red Spin Thunderto an online slot, but, then again, other companies are making advanced land based slots.
Overall, we think that Red Spin Thunder is a good game that stands out in comparison to most VGT slot machines. The 3x multiplier on the re spins also gives you more to look forward to when thescreen flashes red.
But we wish that VGT would’ve taken this new 3 reel slot machine further with a second screen bonus round and more exciting symbols.