The Link Pokie Review
It’s about time someone steps out of the box and starts creating video pokies that feel new, innovative and indicative of future games that are yet to come.
Gamevy gave a fine example with its new release, The Link. It is almost an abstract experience, very enchanting and enigmatic, but quite simple and minimalistic.
Imagine being in outer space, completely surrounded by the dark, where tiny, distant starlight flickers all over and all that you can see clearly in front of you are basic shapes and live geometry simplifying existence itself. This is how The Link looks like.
There aren’t many graphic elements broken down to small and numerous details, the appearance is kept clean and sophisticated, but somehow it still manages to be mesmerising.
Right away, as soon as it loads, you’ll get the feeling of being out of place and witnessing something out of the ordinary. By looking at the reel grid and the symbols one might conclude the developers were quite inspired by the game of noughts and crosses, with a hint of classic arcade in there.
Developer
Gamevy doesn’t ring a lot of bells at first, because it is fresh and recently became active, but since they emerged they’ve earned a label of being innovative and unique. The company is based in the UK and owns a license for providing online betting services granted from the UK Gambling Commission, which is one of the most respected authorities in the entire gambling industry.
Their focus at first weren’t pokie machines, but they finally gave in and started producing very distinctive and worthy pokie games that keep getting more and more attention. Some of their unusual titles are Epic Gems and Back of the Net.
Apart from pokies, their most prized possession is the game show The Heist, a one-of-a-kind interactive game where players can socialise and win real money.
Gamevy won the “Game to Watch” award at 2016 ICE Totally Gaming convention and recently they’ve joined Microgaming’s Quickfire platform. This will make them known to an even larger public all over the world, which their talented team of developers rightfully deserved.
How to Play It
Despite the futuristic look and feel, playing The Link is rather simple. Unexpectedly, you’ll be encountered with a grid of 3 reels and 3 rows. A new approach, disregarding the standard 5-reel pokie machine structure, provides 9 symbol positions and a fixed number of 8 winning lines.
The symbols are 3D geometrical shapes and objects in different colours – there are green circles, white diamonds, blue squares, red triangles and purple crosses.
These are all payout symbols and any three in line – vertically, horizontally or crosswise – will award you with a prize. Every time you win the symbols get connected, let’s say linked, with a line across them, an action evoking of tic-tac-toe.
If you want to speed up your bets there is an autoplay mode which gets activated when you hold the spin button. The number of automatic spins ranges from 25 to 100 spins, and it’s your choice to make. Spin the reels yourself or switch to autoplay, and watch the reels tumble down combining animating symbols for lucky wins.
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Special Features
Since The Link is no ordinary game, the bonus features are also not ordinary and standard. Actually, the gameplay features no bonus rounds with free spins, Scatters or multipliers, as one might expect. There is no need for the player to study special symbols and their behaviour on the reels, or to expect some kind of surprising side games.
High payouts originate from high paying symbols and the Wild symbol. In this case, a shiny yellow star works like a Wild and replaces all other icons.
The key to the game is reaching excellent payouts by hitting the best combinations. The Wild is a big help through this, and when it lands on a position that could add to a winning line, other symbols involved will turn to yellow for an obvious proof you’ve enhanced your bankroll!
Maximum Payouts
In The Link maximum payouts depend from base game symbols only, therefore take a look at the paytable before you start spinning. For a quick info session, we’ll tell you that highest paying symbols are in fact the star and the diamond, and these objects will pay you 5000x your stake, best case scenario.
Right behind them is the blue square, rewarding you with a prize 4000x your bet. The average payout rate is, in theory, 93%. The betting value ranges from 1 to 10 will best suit mid-roller type of players.
Summary
An unbelievably simple, modern game would be our impression of The Link. The two characteristics go well together in this case, and Gamevy tried their best to offer decent payouts without involving complicated bonus rounds.
The graphics and animations are a delight, and the music is reflective and pleasant with deep, cosmic, soothing melodies. The gameplay is not too dynamic and won’t make you jump off your seat, but you will enjoy quite a number of spins on it, without a doubt.
