Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis

Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis: Slot Overview

Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis is the first wave in developer ELK Studios' carpet bomb tactic of Nitropolis-related releases scheduled for 2024. From here, the range launches into a Rogue Rats, a Dirty Dawgs, and a Pug Thugs version before culminating in Nitropolis 5. If there is one thing Nitropolis slots like to do, it's drop big numbers, so all of this mayhem leading up to the fifth official release could be quite a hype train. Or, maybe ELK will shock the community by making it into a 3 payline fruit slot? Unlikely, if Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis is any indicator, packed as it is with features, figures, and feline sass.

For anyone new, or those looking for a recap, the Nitropolis series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have vanished or are enslaved out of sight, while four clans basically run the show - The Dirty Dawgs, the Gritty Kitties, the Pug Thugs, and the Rogue Rats. Within this broad framework, the animal inhabitants have duked it out, holidayed, and generally done their best to raise hell. Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis picks up right in the middle and places players in an Asian-vibed futuristic street not a hundred miles away from the green-lit underworld of Zaun, the City of Iron and Glass. Music plays a huge role in these games, and Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis' track is an ace head-banging, distorted guitar, synth, metal, hip-hop, EDM fest to welcome players back.

Hopefully, you've got an appetite for highly volatile slots, as games like Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis can be all over the place. It generates ELK Studios' kitty litter 94% RTP whether playing in the regular mode or activating features from the X-iter menu. No matter the approach, a base bet will have to be selected, and the options are 20 c to $/€100 per spin. On the starting 6-reel, 4-row game grid, 4,096 ways to win are available, though when the grid is stretched to the full 8 rows high, then 262,144 ways to win are in play.

Grimy, corroded metal 10 to A card ranks are Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis' low pay symbols, then for high pays, we find canned fish, a teapot, a masked Maneki Neko, then Gritty Kitty presumably. Scoring a winning way of 6 matching royals pays 0.3 times the stake, upping to 0.6 to 3 times the bet for hitting 6 matching high pays. Pay symbols and wilds may appear in sizes of 1x1, 2x2, and 3x3. Big symbols may crush 1x1 symbols beneath them or split into 1x1 symbols to fit if needed to, and they also fill any gaps that may appear beneath them if they cannot fall. Big symbols pay as the number of 1x1 symbols they cover.

Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis: Slot Features

Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis' list of features is almost as varied as its soundtrack and includes avalanches, the Feature Reel, Feature symbols, Nitro Reels, Assassin Spins, free spins, and X-iter feature buys.

Avalanche

Each winning combination on the main grid, except Nitro Reels, is removed. Each reel included in a win expands by +1 row, then symbols from the Feature Reel drop into the gaps, followed by new symbols filling the grid. The Feature Reel is filled from the right. Any new wins repeat the sequence. The Max Rows feature may activate during a spin and expand up to the maximum 8 rows.

Nitro Reels

Nitro Reels always cover 2 symbol positions and contain up to 12 1x1 pay symbols. Big Nitro Reels always cover 6 symbol positions and contain up to 6 2x2 pay symbols.

Feature Reel

The Feature Reel sits on top of the main grid, comprising 3-rows, and 6-reels. Feature symbols, empty spaces, and empty cells may appear here. Feature symbols drop onto the grid via the avalanche feature, thereby becoming active. Feature symbols are:

• Nitro Match – replaces all symbols in the Nitro Reels to a matching pay symbol, randomly selected, on the same and adjacent reels. Remains pending if it cannot upgrade until a Nitro Reel appears or the game round ends.
• Nitro Wild – replaces all symbols in the Nitro Reels with wilds on the same and adjacent reels. Remains pending if it cannot upgrade until a Nitro Reel appears or the game round ends.
• Nitro Upgrade – upgrades the number of symbols in the Nitro Reels on the same and adjacent reels. Remains pending if it cannot upgrade until a Nitro Reel appears or the game round ends.
• TNT Symbol – explodes all pay symbols on the adjacent reels when no more winning combinations appear.
• Wild Symbol – substitutes any pay symbols. A winning combination of wilds pays as the highest-paying symbol.
• Big Coin – awards an instant payout when covering the complete Feature Reel.

Assassin Spins

Assassin Spins are triggered when the Assassin symbol covers the entire Feature Reel. Three Assassin Spins are awarded where coins, Nitro Reels, TNT symbols, or blockers may land. Landing a coin locks it in place, thereby resetting the spin count while landing a Nitro Reel also resets the spin count. Hitting a Golden collector symbol collects the value from all coins currently on the grid.

Free Spins

Hitting 3, 4, 5, or 6 scatter symbols awards 8, 10, 12, or 14 free spins, respectively. During free spins, all Nitro Reels are sticky, and free spins can be retriggered in the same way as they are triggered from the base game.

X-iter

Clicking the X-iter is where players have access to these features:

• Bonus Hunt – 3x the bet for a game round with more than triple the chance of triggering the bonus game.
• Big Blocks – 10x the bet buys a game round with a guaranteed big symbol on the main grid and on the Feature Reel.
• Nitrofest – 25x the bet for a game round with a guaranteed Nitro Reel on the main grid and Feature Reel.
• Bonus – 100x the bet to buy free spins.
• Super Assassin Spins – trigger Assassin Spins with max rows for 500x the bet.

Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis: Slot Verdict

Playing Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis was like saying fudge the diet, rolling into the nearest fast food global franchise joint, ordering the biggest burger on the menu and sitting back to enjoy the grease, fat, and salt slide down the throat. There might be better, healthier, more original cuisine out there, but in that moment of junk food nirvana, those bad-for-you burgers just consistently hit the spot. This reaction came about in part because, on an analytical level, devoid of emotion, much of Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis makes for a repeat performance – Nitro Reels (which are a staple of the range, fair enough), the Feature Reel, which has also appeared in a slot like Tropicool 2, the Kane/Gold-esque reel expansion, the fairly plain hold 'n win Assassin Spins round, is all a bit samey on paper.

But, Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis doesn't play out on paper and in practice, it can be exhilarating. A major contributing factor is the relentless, experimental, straight-up wild soundtrack acting as the game's beating heart and soul. The Asian angle has been expertly incorporated, too, and if the future's urban landscape is anything like this, it looks like it'll be pretty sweet. Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis gives players a chance to express their cyberpunk, Neuromancer, Bladerunner fantasies while taking a punt for wins of up to 25,000x the bet. Eagle-eyed readers will instantly note this is half of what Nitropolis 3 and Nitropolis 4 have to offer, though, you know ELK slots aren't exactly noted for hitting their max win capabilities at regular intervals. Just saying.

By the end, Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis was a slot that delved into the Nitropolis saga by telling it from the perspective of a single character rather than following the trajectory of the main canonical hero group. An origin story or something like that. However, to be honest, aside from the usual statistical gripes, when Gritty Kitty of Nitropolis is revving, it is more than capable of holding its own in terms of thrilling post-apocalyptic bedlam.