Castle Builder brings a new level of interactivity to the slots genre
Remember the days when a slot game was just a matter of putting in your coin, be it real or virtual, spinning the reels and hoping for three in a row? Advances in technology, increased competition and a relaxation of the rules in Nevada have all contributed to making today’s slots games far more immersive and engaging.
Castle Builder, from Rabcat Gaming, is a prime example, combining conventional slots that provide the opportunity to win real money with an RPG element that will keep serious gamers engrossed, even if they have no interest in gambling.
Introducing Castle Builder
The game is set in a medieval world, in which the player can move across three kingdoms. The game’s hero is a slightly eccentric King who is blessed with a handsome son and two beautiful daughters. All he wants is to marry them off and to build them the castles of their dreams. Now you can see where the game is heading, you might be tempted to dive straight in, in which case you can play Castle Builder here. But before you rush off to give it a go, let’s look a little more closely at the mechanics of the game.
RPG meets slots
To start with the traditional slot elements, we have the standard five reels with 15 paylines. The RTP is an impressive 96.5 percent, meaning this is not a game that is shy about rewarding players.
The symbols include the princesses, the prince, the king, a variety of construction tools and the obligatory treasure chests and money bags that feature in any game about medieval kingdoms. The most important symbol, however, is the architect, who takes the form of a wild.
When you play Castle Builder, the first thing you will notice is that the reels only take up a small part of the screen. Most of it is devoted to the landscape of the different kingdoms, in which the King is planning to construct homes for his beloved progeny. Matching symbols provide the opportunity to start construction, and the more you match, the more impressive the castle is going to be.
An engaging story arc
A fun, albeit slightly bizarre, aspect to the game is that building the castle is only the first step in the first part of your journey. Once the castle is complete, it will have a value that corresponds to your banked winnings. However, a magnificent castle is a lonely place for a beautiful princess, so the next step is to find her a suitable husband.
This takes the form of a bonus game, in which the princess will have the chance to marry one of three suitors – one is poor, one is of average means and one is wealthy. In short, the more impressive the castle is, the better the chance of landing the richest husband for your daughter – and therefore more money into the prize pot. Who said the age of romance was dead?
Once you’ve successfully married off the first princess and left her in her fairytale castle with the man of her dreams, your journey progresses to the next kingdom, where you repeat the process from scratch with the second princess. Finally, it is the turn of the prince, and the same rules apply – Castle Builder is an equal opportunities game in which the potential suitors are all mercenary in nature, regardless of sex!
Before you even begin, you have a choice of characters to accompany you on your journey, and you can also choose the three different kingdoms in which you will be focusing your architectural and match-making endeavors. The game also has a map, which is extremely handy for keeping track of your progress through the surreal environments you will encounter.
An immersive experience
The story, the graphics and the gameplay in Castle Builder all take the slots genre into a whole new direction, but it is one with which we will need to become familiar. You can read more in the Castle Builder review on the Bitcasino blog, but ultimately, this is a game that is going to appeal to everyone.
Traditional online casino goers will be attracted by the multiple paylines and the impressive RTP – this is an attractive game for those who are simply playing to try to win cash. Fantasy gaming fans will get swept up in the storyline, which stands up well against conventional RPGs, and they will be as engaged with the free play mode.
Most significantly, however, this is the sort of cross-genre game that is likely to win a lot of new fans. It will have gamblers looking at RPGs in a whole new light, and vice-versa. And ultimately, anything that provides a richer and more varied gaming experience can only be a good thing for everyone.