Fire Portals

Fire Portals Slot Review

Slot Provider: Pragmatic Play

RTP: 96.06% | Variance: High | Maximum Win: 10,000x

Our Score: 7.4

Play at Casumo Casino
QUICK LINKS: Game Information | Where To Play | Full Review | Testing Notes | Tips For Players | About The Developer

WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About Fire Portals

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 27th February 2024

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Fire Portals is a magic-themed cluster pays slot from Pragmatic Play. It features Fire Portal Wilds that appear in spaces left behind by tumble wins. Fire Portals move around the grid with increasing multiplier values, merging with other wilds as they do. There is also a free spins round with up to 18 spins where Portal Wilds are persistent between spins allowing for huge multipliers. The top payout is 10,000x and spins start at 20p.

Fire Portals Game Information

  • Release Date: 21.03.24
  • RTP: 96.06% | 95.04% | 94.08%
  • Variance: High
  • Maximum Win: 10,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 7
  • Rows: 7
  • Paylines: Cluster Pays
  • Minimum Stake: £0.20
  • Theme: FantasyMagic
  • Features: Cascading WinsFree SpinsMultipliersWilds
  • Format: Cluster Pays

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Fire Portals

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

I played 250 spins on Fire Portals on Pragmatic Play’s test server prior to release to test the game. This is what happened.

  • Stake Size: £1
  • Start balance: £100,000
  • End balance: £99,877.60
  • Hit Rate: 25.2% (63 winning spins in 250)
  • Biggest Win: 149.3x
  • Free Spins Round: 1

Fire Portals held off for a long time before kicking out a nice, big free spins round win of 149.3x towards the end of the session. Before that there were plenty of small wins – the overall hit rate was 25.2% across the session with 63 winning spins – but multipliers rarely got into double figures. Nevertheless its fun watching those portals move round the reels and hoping to see them merge, waiting for a big cluster to drop. And the visuals and sounds create a good atmosphere too.

Free Spins with wild multipliers
Fire Portal Wilds with multipliers during free spins

The free spins round eventually delivered a real treat with 24x and 151x multipliers by the time the 10 spins were played out. It’s a small taste of what Fire Portals can undoubtedly deliver on a good day.

Free Spins Round Win in Fire Portals
The 149.3x win in the free spins round

What We Liked

  • Fire Portal Wilds appear after every winning cluster
  • Portal Wild merge and multiply
  • Get up to 18 free spins with re-triggers
  • Portal Wilds are persistent and grow huge in the bonus round
  • Cool magical theme with epic visuals

What We Didn't like

  • Very volatile so can be a grind at times
  • More than one RTP - be careful to find a site with optimum RTP

Fire Portals Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 8
  • RTP and Variance 7
  • Maximum Win 8
  • Symbols and Paytable 7
  • Features and Gameplay 7

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"A truly magical cluster pays slot with superb wild multiplier action in both base game and free spins round but comes with a BIG volatility warning!"

Overall Score: 7.4

Theme & Design

Our Score 8

Epic Visuals In This Magic-Themed Slot 

Pragmatic Play have invoked a world of magic and other dimensions in Fire Portals. There is no stated narrative to the scene, so you are free to imagine what it might all mean. One thing is for sure, the visuals are spectacular. The backdrop is what might be the landscape of some distant rocky planet where a giant portal, represented by a huge metal circular structure, has just opened up, emitting a strange turquoise light as it does. In the foreground you see the immense 7×7 grid that forms the game area. Whilst the backdrop says sci-fi, the paytable take us into a more traditional world of magic potions, wizards staring into crystal balls and fiery swords. Who knows what it all mean. Probably not even Pragmatic Play. But whatever … if you like your immersive, magic-themed slots this could be a good one for you.

Fire Portals by Pragmatic Play
Fire Portals – an epic visual feast for fans of magic and sci fi slots

RTP and Variance

Our Score 7

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

Fire Portals has 3 available RTP settings – 96.06%, 95.04% and 94.08%. Whilst there isn’t much to choose between those we recommend that you find a casino that is running the game at the optimum setting of 96.06% for the maximum chance of coming away with a positive balance. If you want to check the RTP once you’ve loaded up the game, just hit the ‘I’ button under the reels and scroll through until you see Return to Player.

MrQ from Lindar Media consistently runs Pragmatic games at the optimum RTP and would make a good choice.

The developer themselves have classified Fire Portals as a ‘very high’ variance slot so don’t expect an easy ride with this one. It will be highly volatile so choose a sensible stake so you don’t burn out too quickly.

Maximum Win

Our Score 8

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

The maximum payout from one spin on Fire Portals is 10,000x which is about average for a Pragmatic Play slot. You can find games from the same studio with higher max wins, but they are rare these days. Playing at the 20p minimum stake you could win £2,000.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 7

This is a cluster pays slot and it plays on a 7×7 grid. You’ll need to land 5 or more identical symbols on adjacent positions that touch horizontally or vertically to form a win. The beauty of this type of slot of course is that you can build massive clusters with big pay outs.

Fire Portals Paytable
Fire Portals Paytable with 150x for 15 or more top paying symbols

There are 7 symbols in all – a goblet, hourglass, potion bottle, amulet, ring, sword and magician. These are valued at from 0.2x for 5 goblets up to a massive 150x for 15 or more of the magicians.

There is also a Wild symbol, represented by a fiery ring, or portal. This will substitute for any pay symbol to complete a cluster. However, it does not drop onto the reels like normal symbols but appears as the consequence of a winning cluster as explained below.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 7

There isn’t a huge number of features in Fire Portals but the ones that are there are very good, with persistent wilds that merge and move around the grid with potentially spectacular results. Here is how it works

Tumble Wins

The classic Tumble Wins feature is in full effect here. After any winning spin, winning symbols are removed from the grid in mini explosions. Existing symbols drop down to fill any gaps left behind and new symbols drop down into the grid from above to fill remaining spaces. If more wins are created, then the process repeats. And so on, until no more wins are formed. Then a payout is made for all wins from the initial spin and subsequent tumbles.

Fire Portal Wilds and Multipliers

The Fire Portal Wilds are integral to the game. When a winning cluster is formed, after the symbols in the cluster explode, then ONE position is taken up by a Fire Portal. It is given a multiplier value of 1x and that value will increase by 1x every time the Fire Portal is used in a win.

The Fire Portal moves one place up, down, left or right with each win, always staying within the cluster area of the win it was just a part of, and its multiplier is applied to that win too.

You will also notice that if a cluster already contains a wild, then when the winning symbols are removed, a new Fire Portal is NOT added in that area.

Fire Portal Wilds get more powerful though when two or more appear in a winning cluster. Then, when the winning symbols are removed, the Fire Portals all MERGE and their multipliers combine like this: a 2x and a 5x become a 10x, or a 5x and a 4x become a 20x. And so on.

The Fire Portal Wilds remain on the grid as tumble after tumble plays out, merging, growing their multipliers and moving with each win, until the sequence ends.

Free Spins With Persistent Fire Portals

The Free Spins round is triggered by landing the spell book scatter. When 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 scatters land then 10, 12, 14, 16 or 18 spins are awarded.

The important part about the free spins round is that any Fire Portal Wilds that were on the grid when the round triggered are carried over AND between spins, Fire Portal Wilds do NOT disappear. So, you can keep adding more and more, and keep increasing their multipliers higher and higher. Powerful stuff!

Better still, this one also comes with re-triggers so you can claim another set of free spins by landing scatters in the same way that you triggered the round in the first place.

The Final Verdict

Fire Portals builds a wonderfully magical atmosphere with its visuals and ethereal soundtrack then backs it up with simple but compelling gameplay. The Fire Portals are all you need worry about when you take this game on. They will frustrate more than they will deliver, but if you are patient enough you will eventually unlock the free spins round where the real action. Then there is potential for some truly thrilling moments as the wild multipliers just stay on the grid and keeping moving around, growing more powerful as they do. A top game, but only for those who like high risk slots.

Useful Tips When Playing Fire Portals

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. Play With A Low Stake

This is a ‘very high’ variance slot by Pragmatic Play’s own admission. Therefore, to avoid burn out you should exercise good bankroll management and set a low stake relative to your balance.

2. Watch For Merging Wild Multipliers

The power is all in the Fire Portal Wilds when they combine. You’ll need more than one to appear in single cluster for this to happen. When they do, they multiply. So 5x and 2x become 10x!

3. Look Out For Spell Book Scatters

The free spins round here has HUGE potential thanks to those persistent Fire Portal Wild multipliers. You need at least THREE to land during one spin to trigger the feature. But keep watching during the round itself as you can re-trigger with more scatters!

4. Play At Recommended Slot Sites

Make sure you choose a slot site from this page to play at. These sites have been chosen for their generous bonuses and because they operate under a UK license which makes them fair, safe and secure.

Who Made Fire Portals?

  • Name: Pragmatic Play
  • Established: 2015
  • UK License: Remote 046683-R-325951-014
  • Total Games: 500 +
  • Known For: Wide range of themes and styles, live casino including gameshow formats, and bingo
  • Popular Slots: Fruit Party, Dog House Megaways, Big Bass Bonanza, Release the Kraken
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