Torii Tumble

Torii Tumble: Slot Overview

When entering a Shinto shrine, there's a good chance you'll pass beneath a torii, which is a gate representing a transition from the regular world to one more focused on the sacred side of life. Maybe it's more than a representation. Perhaps people literally cross from the mundane world to one where spirits reside and where it's possible to experience higher levels of consciousness. That'd be cool. Since Shinto is the native belief system of Japan, it's to the Land of the Rising Sun that gamblers are brought to when choosing to play Torii Tumble from software provider Relax Gaming. Torii Tumble builds on the studio's 'Tumble' series of slots, so we've got gaming elements like tumbles, a multiplier ladder, free spins, special symbols, and a bonus buy to look forward to.

Torii Tumble is played on a 6x6-sized gaming grid placed beneath a torii which displays a multiplier ladder across its upper beam. Torii not only appear at the entrance to shrines. They can be seen in the water, on top of statues, and in Torii Tumble, a bamboo forest is the setting for this particular torii. The background art is pleasantly not overblown, and Torii Tumble reinforces the theme with some excellently animated symbols, a samurai-populated bonus selection scene, plus Mt Fuji appears in numerous spots, too. With its slashing sound effects and energetically Eastern-inspired soundtrack, Torii Tumble provides Japan-philes with a pretty sweet cultural hit.

Hits continue when matching symbols land on at least 3 consecutive reels, from the leftmost reel onwards. Whilst the grid is 6x6 in size, on each spin, some positions will reveal active symbols; some will display value-less stone blocks. Winning symbols and any stone blocks next to them are destroyed, and new symbols fall down to fill the gaps, creating another chance to win. This tumble system is governed by a highly volatile math model, which in the default mode produces a return to player of 96.1%. Stakes from 10 p/c to $/€50 can be selected, and the bonus buy costs 70 times the bet. When buying the bonus round, the RTP increases to 96.5%.

For regular low-pay symbols, Torii Tumble's got J-A imprinted blocks, three animal-type faces as the mid-range symbols, and 2 character symbols as the higher pays. Landing a win consisting of 6 low pays is worth 0.2x the bet, 6 mids pay 0.4x the bet, and 6 of the character symbols is worth 0.6-1x the bet. Should all positions on the reels be active, 46,656 ways to win are in play. Lastly, existing on all but the leftmost reel are wild symbols, which substitute for all pay symbols.

Torii Tumble: Slot Features

Complementing the tumble mechanic is a multiplier ladder, joined by a Multiplier Booster and Spin Saver stone block. Then we've got free spins, available in three different modes, and a free spins gamble.

Multiplier Ladder

The multiplier ladder displays its current and possible values above the reels - starting with x1, x2, x3, x4, and x5. Following a win, the multiplier ladder increases by one step, and when a new game round begins, it resets to its leftmost value in Gonzo's Quest fashion. Should all stone blocks be destroyed, the multipliers on the ladder double in value. In addition, special stone blocks can land containing multiplier boosters or spin savers:

• Multiplier Booster – these red stone blocks increase the multiplier ladder values by +1, +2, or +3 when destroyed.
• Spin Saver – when destroyed, green spins savers grant a life. When no more wins appear, a collected Spin Saver will remove all pay symbols, causing a tumble.

Free Spins

When 3 or more scatter symbols land through a game round, 8 free spins are awarded, plus 1 additional free spin for each extra scatter symbol. Special blue stone blocks may land during the bonus, awarding 1-3 extra spins when they are destroyed. When triggered, the multiplier ladder values are transferred to free spins, and then their values are doubled. Should all stone blocks be destroyed, the values on the multiplier ladder are doubled, and +3 free spins are awarded. Also, players get to choose from 3 different free spin modes:

• Multiplier Mode – special stone blocks contain +1, +2, or +3 multiplier boosters and additional free spins.
• Spin Saver Mode – special stone blocks contain Spin Savers and additional free spins.
• Mixed Mode – special stone blocks contain +1, +2, or +3 multipliers, Spins Savers and additional free spins.

Free Spins Gamble

When free spins end, a gamble feature is provided, giving players a chance to buy additional free spins or gamble to win them for a fraction of the cost. Multiplier ladder upgrades are kept between free spin sessions, either when winning the gamble or buying extra free spins.

Torii Tumble: Slot Verdict

Just as the kingdoms of Japan eventually unified under one central government, so does Torii Tumble unify a cluster of ideas seen in previous Relax Gaming slots. Naturally, there's a connection to games like Temple Tumble Megaways or Cluster Tumble, but others poke their noses in here too. A few that came to mind were Tiger Kingdom Infinity Reels and Hazakura Ways on account of the theme, TNT Tumble (for one example) due to the bonus round option idea, and Wild Yield due to a link to the post-feature gamble option. Torii Tumble has its own personality and way of doing things, though; we're just reporting back on some possible contributors to the DNA cocktail Relax Gaming mixed when designing the game.

Now that we're done examining Torii Tumble's possible family tree, let's take a look at the game itself, which, when the dust from all those destroyed stone blocks cleared, was completely satisfactory. The initial impression was somewhat mild, mainly because Torii Tumble's game world didn't look overly exciting at first. However, Torii Tumble possesses a subtle (and not so subtle at times) depth which revels in a good bit of hacking and slashing when it manages to build momentum. Each part connects to the other like a charm, meaning chains of events can be fairly lengthy and potentially lucrative, as well. For the numbers people, Torii Tumble has a win cap of 20,000x the bet, and a thrilling pathway awaits lucky players who manage to get close to this figure. The multiplier ladder, for example, may be somewhat limited to begin with, but it can be increased, doubled, and used again through the free spins gamble/buy when a round ends.

Torii Tumble might not be Relax Gaming's greatest release, or even the best Tumble game, perhaps, but it shows that even when the studio isn't trying to dominate the planet with juggernaut slots, it's unusually skilled at creating highly playable games, polished to a shine, with rich atmosphere and exciting features.