I guess Christmas has come early this year, as Nolimit City has treated us to a second new slot machine in a month! Dead Canary follows Nolimit City’s typical preference towards mature themes such as horror, just like the excellent Serial online slot we reviewed a week or two earlier. The reel set used by this machine is certain to take some getting used to – I guarantee that you will have no idea where the maximum of 1,727 payways come from when you first open the game! The default RTP is a little less confusing and ranges between 96.02% in the base game to 96.39% when using the most generous bonus buy feature. The maximum win is capped at a hefty 65,000x the current bet.
It’s become something of a tradition for Nolimit City to pack their games to bursting with special features, and Dead Canary is no exception. Let’s start with the unusual reel set – each position has been rotated 45 degrees, and only half of the playfield is active at the start of each spin. Additional rows can be unlocked via winning combinations, xBomb explosions, or the Wild Mining feature, all of which will be explained in detail later in this review. There are two free spin-based main bonus rounds, along with bonus bet and bonus buy options, to help you reach them more quickly.
The title of this game speaks volumes about Nolimit City’s dark sense of humour! Why not give them a few spins on our free demo slot of Dead Canary to show your appreciation?
| Provider | Nolimit City |
| Reels | 6 |
| Rows | 4 |
| Paylines | 1,727 |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.20 - 100 |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 65,000x |
| Bonus Buy | Yes |
| RTP | 96.02% |
| Our Rating | 8.2 |
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Dead Canary Demo Slot
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Dead Canary Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “like a canary in a coal mine” before, but do you understand where it came from? The story goes that in the days before modern detection equipment, miners would carry a canary down into the mine tunnels with them to help determine whether any dangerous gases were present. The thinking was that the gases would surely kill the canary before killing the miners, giving them some time to escape before becoming overwhelmed. I’m not sure how scientifically sound this technique is, but I guess that it was probably better than nothing! Anyway, those slotting experts among you will likely have realised by now that Dead Canary is the trilogy slot of Nolimit’s mining-themed titles. If you haven’t played the others before, check out Fire in the Hole and Misery Mining, both of which are outstanding games.
Back to the current review, the highest-paying symbol on the paytable is an old-looking gentleman who appears to be missing an eye, with a return of 7.5x your bet for a full payway of six of a kind. A well-fed rat takes the second-place spot, paying 3.75x the current stake for all six symbols, whilst the compass will pay you 2.5x your bet for a complete payway. The final two high-paying symbols feature a hip flask and a grappling rope, both of which will pay you 2x your bet for six of a kind. The bottom half of the paytable is made up of traditional royal symbols, with payouts ranging between 1x and 1.5x your current stake for all six symbols.
I’m pleased to say that Nolimit City has not followed the same direction as many other online slot developers by limiting the number of available bets in their games. Dead Canary offers minimum/maximum bets of €0.20 and €100.00, respectively, with plenty of intermediate options between those limits.
Base Game & Modifiers
When you first begin to play Dead Canary, only half of the visible reel area is unlocked for use in play. The six reels you can see have three or four rows in an alternating pattern (3-4-3-4-3-4), but symbols will only land in a 3-3-2-2-1-1 pattern until you have unlocked the remainder of the playfield.
Locked rows can be unlocked by scoring a win, causing an xBomb explosion, or via the Wild Mining feature. The multipliers shown in the bottom positions of the longer reels will be awarded when the corresponding reel is unlocked, at which time the multiplier will be removed or replaced by a scatter symbol.
Wild Mining
This base game feature is triggered by hitting three or more matching symbols in a diagonal line. When this occurs, the triggering symbols will be removed before a wild symbol is created in the centre of their previous position. One wild bomb is created for a three-symbol trigger, plus one additional wild bomb for each further triggering scatter.
Xbomb Wild Multiplier
The xBomb is a wild symbol that explodes in a cross pattern, removing all of the symbols currently shown in adjacent positions. After you have been paid for any winning pay ways generated by the current spin, all visible xBomb’s will explode, increasing the current multiplier by 1x.
Xbet Bonus Bet
Enabling the xBet option will increase the cost of each round by 40%. In return, the game guarantees that at least one scatter symbol will land on each paid spin, as well as unlocking one of the additional playfield rows.
You should always play with this feature enabled if your bankroll allows, as you are certain to win more bonus rounds and receive an increased RTP.
Dead Canary Slot Bonus Features
Scatter symbols come in both gold and silver variants and appear on all six reels. Hitting three scatters of either type will trigger the Canary Free Spins Feature, but the golden variant is much more valuable once you get there.
Canary Free Spins
The scatter symbols which triggered this feature will stick to their positions before the bonus round begins and will remain in their place for the duration of the feature. The entire playfield is unlocked during this mode, except the four corner positions, which will now become the “vault”.
These vaults will collect wins and multipliers from their three neighbouring positions, but you will need to unlock each vault via an xBomb explosion to collect the prizes they have gathered.
The two scatter variants will also act as collectors during this mode, similar to the four vaults. The silver scatter will collect prizes that land in adjacent positions, whilst the gold scatter collects in an x shape that extends for the entirety of the playfield.
To collect the prizes which a scatter symbol accumulates, you will need to kill the canary in the cage using gas or xBomb explosions. That’s a seriously dark feature you have created there, Nolimit City, and certainly not politically correct!
Bonus Buy
A bonus buy facility allows you to skip directly to the canary free spins feature if permitted within your country or jurisdiction. Three options are available; 68x the current bet will buy you a standard bonus round with three silver triggering scatters, whilst 500x gets you two silvers plus one gold scatter symbol. You can also opt to pay 284x the current stake for an 80/20 chance of triggering the standard or golden free spin modes, respectively.
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