Devil’s Crossroad

Theme and Design

Do A Deal With The Devil And Find Out ...

You instantly know that you are in an NLC game when Devil’s Crossroad loads up. As well as the comic-book artwork style, the relentless twang of the soundtrack, not unlike True Grit Redemption, will please fans of this studio. Now, whilst the theme is Satantic, don’t expect a horror-fest. The tone is humorous and modern with a besuited devil surrounded by a curiously random selection of individuals – gamers, wannabe pop stars, businessmen and influencer - all seeking to do a deal and get rich quick no-doubt.

In the base game the game area is set within a gaping chasm in the asphalt of a highway, it’s edges surrounded by huge teeth. If you are lucky enough to be invited into the bonus round you’ll be taken into ‘My Lucy’’s lair where a weird, 4-eyed cat oversees a new game board.

In short, the theme and design are fun and maintain NLC’s interest in the darker side of human nature.

RTP and Variance

Devil’s Crossroad has four possible RTP settings – 96.06%, 94.03%, 92.07% and 87.05%. Your casino will choose which to run the game at when they put it live. You do NOT want to be playing at less than 96.06% if possible. I verified the RTP at several slot sites when writing this review and only found it running at 96.06% at MrQ from Lindar Media. I recommend playing there for the best return on your wagering.

Elsewhere, you can check the RTP on the Game Rules section under the game information screen once you load up the slot.

NLC have labelled this as a high volatility slot. No surprises there! However, it isn’t ‘extreme’ or ‘intense’ volatility – two other terms they regularly use. So, perhaps it is a little less volatile than other games on their roster. Whatever, expect an uneven win distribution and the potential to drop the odd huge payout too.

Maximum Win

The maximum payout in Devil’s Crossroad is 13,180x. By this studio’s standards that isn’t that big, but it is still an enticing number to aim for. Like many NLC slots, the top payout has a name assigned to it. It’s called, Debt To Be Paid – any win over this amount is downgraded to the maximum of 13,180x.

Symbols and Paytable

 Perhaps the most interesting part of this game is the reel configuration that is totally unlike a standard slot set up. It has been seen before in the bonus round of another NLC slot, Gluttony, but not as part of the main base game.

The game area is divided into four sections, each with four symbols, and each of which meets the others in the middle where a Devil Wild symbol permanently sits. The system of winning ways is called Crosslink Ways. Wins are triggered when 3 or more identical symbols land on adjacent positions in any of the four sections of the game area, with the Devil Wild in the centre available to help this process.

The paytable offers good value with 10 pay symbols available. There are 5 low values ones – 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. These are valued at from 0.1x for 3 10s up to 1.2x for 5 Aces. The premiums are the characters – influencer, gamer, muscle man, pop star and businessman. These are valued at from 0.5x for 3 influencers up to 10x for 5 of the businessman.

The Devil Wild is a permanent fixture in the middle position, substituting for any pay symbol to complete a win way. Others wilds may randomly appear at any time as we will find out in the next section.

Features and Gameplay

The gameplay is actually quite simple, though it will take a while to get used to the reel configuration.

There are the features to look out for.

Avalanche Wins

The game has an avalanche wins mechanic where winning symbols are removed from the reels, causing remaining ones to fall towards the Devil Wild in the middle whilst new symbols fill the spaces they leave behind.

Cross Wilds Transform At Random

Where a symbol is adjacent to the Devil Wild in the middle position it can randomly become a Wild. This can happen at any time so watch out for it.

Cross Multipliers Are Progressive

With the reels divided into four, when a win triggers on one section, matching symbols on another section are removed if they aren’t forming part of a win themselves. This creates another tumble and the chance to score more wins. At the same time, for each symbol removed from a section, a progressive multiplier applied to wins in that section increases by 1x.

Scatters Cause Further Tumbles 

Another fascinating feature of the gameplay is triggered by the scatter. These symbols only land on the middle row or reel of each section of the reel set. If they land on the position adjacent to our Devil Wild then the symbols in their section are deactivated AND the same symbols in other sections of the reel set are removed and can’t drop in the following tumbles.

As symbols are removed in this way, so the progressive multiplier for the section they are removed from increases by 1x.

Redemption Spins With Deadly Sins Features

The highlight of the show is the Redemption Spins feature, a free spins round with a difference … of course!

You need 4 scatters to land at once to trigger the round. Now, only coins or blanks are going to land on the reels, each with a multiplier value. You get 3 spins, and provided a coin lands, the spins total will re-set to 3. If only blanks land, then you lose a spin.

The key is to try to fill each reel with coins. Once you’ve done this, a new phase starts where a feature is applied to the full column for all remaining spins. Each feature is themed on a Deadly Sin.

• Gluttony – a new value is added to all coins on the reel.
• Wrath – multiplies all coin values on the reel by one randomly chosen coin value.
• Lust – progresses one step towards upgrading the round.
• Greed – one coin is chosen from the reel and all other coin values on the reel are added to it.
• Envy – one coin is chosen to take the value of the highest value coin currently on the reels.
• Pride – one coin is chosen and its value is added to all other coins on its reel.