Fruit Shop Megaways

Based on NetEnt’s classic slot, Fruit Shop Megaways is a beefed-up version of the originalFruit Shop, bringing an extra layer of entertainment with flashy Megaways mechanics. Some years after the release of the original part, NetEnt produced aChristmas Editionjust in time for the winter festive season of 2015, and this year players are once again offered to return to the fruit shop, but now with some enhancements.
With the acquisition of Red Tiger studios, NetEnt finally obtained Big Time Gaming’s license for producing slots on the base of the Megaways engine. It didn’t take long for the first overhaul to be made, and Fruit Shop is the third NetEnt’s classic game to get an injection of Megaways steroids. Back in 2011, Fruit Shop was a huge sensation once released with its light-hearted design and exciting Free Spins feature. And now, 10 years after, it’s given a rebirth with a similar concept at the core, but greatly enlargened reel set.
The gameplay is not the only thing that NetEnt retained as the developers also kept the original DNA in terms of the design. The Megaways version boasts the same charming cartoonish graphics and simple drawing style, though, a couple of changes are immediately apparent. Alongside an expanded game area, the look is now supplemented by a new wallpaper showcasing dense vegetation and crystal clear blue sky.
Playable on any device, Fruit Shop Megaways allows players to place wagers from 0.2$ to 100$ per spin. In comparison to the original Fruit Shop, this version comes with a cut-down payback percentage. It’s still slightly above the average level at 96.06%, so it’s not that crucial. Anyway, the trade-off is a bumped-up volatility level, meaning better prizes are now available. Hence, wins of up to 10,000x of the bet on a single spin are theoretically possible.
As we head to the paytable, we see a bunch of recognizable symbols taken from the first part of Fruit Shop. The symbol collection includes 10 regular symbols, split into two categories. The pay symbols start on the lower end with classic A-10 royals, which are followed in ascending order by watermelons, oranges, lemons, plums, and cherries. Scoring wins requires matching at least 3 symbols on a line starting from the leftmost reel, while only 2 are needed for the cherries. The game’s logo symbol is Wild and it helps you form winning combos by substituting for any other regular symbols. It lands only on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5.
From the gameplay perspective, Fruit Shop Megaways is light on changes. NetEnt a bit rethought how Multipliers should be applied, but other than that, no significant adjustments to be found here as players will benefit from the same Free Spins feature, plus some Megaways magic. The developers also omitted standard Megaways features like Cascading Wins to keep it balanced, so this slot surely embodies the idea of utter simplicity.
Any winning combination of premium fruit symbols triggers the Free Spins bonus. Depending on the number of symbols involved in a combo, the amount of spins awarded varies from 2 to 5. A combination of 3, 4, 5, and 6 fruits awards 2, 3, 4, and 5 free spins respectively. Meanwhile, as cherries pay starting from 2 symbols only, 1 spin can be obtained for a 2-of-a-kind combination of these berries.
Retriggers are also possible, though, now low-paying symbol combos count too. Thereby, up to 4 additional spins can be awarded when a combo with any royal symbols occurs, while premiums still award up to 5. Another major change is that a progressive multiplier comes into play during the Free Spins feature. It starts at 1x and increases by 1 with every winning spin, with the cap at 10x.
NetEnt slowly but steadily expands its Megaways suite of slots, and it’s only a matter of time before other cult slots get a remake. There’s still a lot of anticipation of overhauls of huge titles likeStarburstandDead or Alive, just to give two examples, but for now, the devs just seem to drum up some interest and release more or less sought-after slots. Not to say that Fruit Shop Megaways fails to provide enough reasons why players might feel drawn to spin the reels on it, however, there are a couple of much more hoped-for games on the list.
Anyway, let’s get back to Fruit Shop Megaways, which appears to be a fairly lovely option. Even though NetEnt doesn’t use the complete grace of the Megaways engine, cutting down some features, the game still feels like a decent follow-up to classic Fruit Shop. Either it’s just a lazy approach or a nod to the past that the developers kept nearly every aspect of the game almost untouched, fans of the original slot won’t find anything to complain about here. With an expanded grid and beefed-up potential, it’s even more appealing than its predecessor, while it still remains a beautiful blend of simplicity, style, and passion.