Fantastic Four Slots

Game Overview

It's hard to pick a better franchise for a slot game than The Fantastic Four. This is the superhero team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby that began the entire era of Marvel Comics. Unlike other superhero teams of the time, the Fantastic Four was based around a family of characters who had superpowers. At the time, it was an entirely new concept. In fact, if you've seen the superhero movie The Incredibles, you probably realize how influential The Fantastic Four has been on the development of that story.

Unlike some of Playtech's Marvel slots, Fantastic Four doesn't have an intro video. There is a splash screen, but it's just a static image of the team. The look of the team is clearly based on the characters in the 2005 movie, but we felt like the artwork was lackluster at best.

The game itself is a 5 reel, 20 payline slot with a couple of nifty bonus games and features. We go into more detail about those aspects of the game below:

Fantastic Four slots have similar game rules to most other slot machine games:

• You only get one payout per pay line, even if you have multiple applicable combinations. You get the highest payout possible.
• Winning combinations are read from left to right, like reading a book. The only exception is the scatter symbol. It pays off no matter where it is on the screen.
• Your winnings are determined as a multiple of the amount you bet per payline.

Fantastic Four Slots Pay Table

The game has the following symbols and the following payouts:

• The Fantastic Four Wild Symbol

  This is basically the stylized "4" that the members of the team wear on their uniforms. It acts as a wild symbol and substitutes for any other symbols besides the scatter symbol. If you get 5 of these in a row, you get a 10,000 to 1 payout. 4 of them are good for a 3000 to 1 payout. You can get 500 to 1 by lining up 3 of these, and you even get a 40 to 1 payout for just 2 of these.

• Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic)

  He's the leader of the team and the "paterfamilias". In the comic books, his power consists of being able to stretch and reshape his body. Line up 5 of him, and you get a 2000 to 1 payout. 4 of him are worth 500 to 1. 3 are worth 50 to 1, and 2 are good for a 10 to 1 payout. His character is also an "expanding wild" symbol during the bonus games. He also earns you 4 extra spins during the bonus games.

• Sue Richards (The Invisible Girl or The Invisible Woman)

  Her maiden name is Sue Storm, and she was originally Reed's girlfriend. They eventually married, though, and they even had children together. That aspect of their relationship is, perhaps not unsurprisingly, not covered in this game. She's good for a 1500 to 1 payout if you get 5 of her on a payline, 300 to 1 if you get 4 of her, 40 to 1 if you get 3 of her, and 8 to 1 if you get 2 of her. She also provides 4 extra spins during the bonus games and provides an increased multiplier to your winnings during bonus spins.

• Johnny Storm (The Human Torch)

  Johnny Storm is Sue's hot-headed younger brother. He's also the flame-powered Human Torch. He can fly and throw fireballs among other fire-related powers. He's good for the following payouts: 5x, 1000 to 1, 4x, 175 to 1, 3X, 25 to 1. You'll notice that he's the first symbol in the game to not pay out if you only have 2 of him on a symbol. He, too, provides 4 extra spins during the bonus games.

• Ben Grimm (The Thing)

  Ben Grimm is Reed's best friend. As a result of the accident which gave the entire team their powers, Ben has been transformed into a super strong creature made of rock. He's ugly but powerful, even though he's not as strong as the Hulk. He pays out as follows: 5X, 750 to 1, 4X, 100 to 1, and 3X, 15 to 1. The Thing gets short shrift in the extra spins department; he's only good for 3 extra spins during the bonus games. He has the "freezing wild" quality.

• The Earth

  The Fantastic Four has always been about big science fiction stories, and the globe as seen from space is an appropriate scatter symbol for this game. 5 of these pay off at 200 to 1, 4 pay off at 25 to 1, and 3 pay off at 5 to 1. Since this is a scatter symbol, it doesn't matter where it appears on a pay line. It also triggers free games when you have 3 or more of them.

• A and K

  These are the beginnings of the symbols based on playing cards. We're not fans of using playing cards as symbols in slot machine games, although we try to be tolerant of the practice when it comes to superhero games. These are the best paying of this type of symbol, with a 250 to 1 payout for 5 of them, a 75 to 1 payout for 4 of them, and a 12 to 1 payout for 3 of them.

• Q and J

  These each pay out 150 to 1 if you have 5 of them, 50 to 1 if you have 4 of them, and 10 to 1 if you have 3 of them.

• 10 and 9

  5 of these pay out 100 to 1. 4 of them pay out 25 to 1. And 3 of them are good for a 5 to 1 payout.

Fantastic Four Bonus Rounds & Games

If you get 3 or more of the scatter symbol (the Earth), you trigger free games. There are 12 different free games available. Each character has a specific role to play and special features during these bonus games. During the bonus spins, one of the main 4 characters will appear on the 3rd reel. At that point, the character will trigger his (or her) special power.

Reed Richards, for example, is an expanding wild symbol. Sue Richards increases the size of the multiplier by 1 every time she appears on the screen. Johnny Storm causes reel #3 to stay in place, and he eliminates the other 3 characters from the reels. You get an increased number of Johnny Storms to compensate, which improves your chances of getting a winning combination. When the Thing appears on the third reel, his symbols becomes wild and freezes—it stays in the position for the duration of the extra spins, again, increasing your chances of winning.

Progressive Jackpot

All of Playtech's Marvel slot machine games have a unique progressive jackpot aspect. This jackpot is a linked network across all of Playtech's Marvel games, too. It's called "The Marvel Multi-Level Mystery Progressive Jackpot".

The prizes are called "mystery jackpots", and they come in the following varieties:

The jackpot game happens at random, and its appearance is unrelated to the symbols on the screen. You're taken to a bonus screen that consists of 20 squares in a 4x5 layout. By clicking on the squares, you reveal the jackpot symbols. Each of the 4 "powers" listed above has a corresponding symbol, and when you match 3 of a symbol, you win that jackpot.