Dead Canary Slot

Dead Canary Slot Review

Now a mine-themed slot may not be something new, but the darkness and hardship of working in one have never been explored in the world of iGaming.

In the Dead Canary slot, you will be faced with the true hardships and harsh realities that were the standard for many years. The name itself is derived from the practice of sending canaries to check for carbon monoxide levels.

The Dead Canary slot also comes with many bonus features, and all aspects of the game will be discussed in the appropriate sections below. Enjoy!

Table of Contents

1. About Dead Canary Slot
2. Design, Symbols, and Graphics
3. RTP, Variance and Payouts
4. Gameplay and Features
5. Our Verdict

About Dead Canary Slot

The Dead Canary slot plays across 6 reels on a 3-3-2-2-1-1 setup, with 36 paylines in total. However, during the Canary Free Spins Feature, the grid will be upgraded to 7 reels and a 4-3-4-3-4-3-4 setup. This is yet another extraordinary release from Nolimit City, boasting innovation and quality.

You can start playing the Dead Canary slot with bets that range from £0.20 to £100 per spin. Winning combinations are formed by landing 3 or more matching symbols across a payline, starting from the leftmost reel. And, the best thing about this slot is, wait for it... its maximum payout can reach 65,000x the stake!

The Dead Canary slot comes with many bonus features that can deliver the biggest payouts. These are the Reel Area feature, Wild Mining feature, xBet feature, and the Canary Free Spins feature. I'll tell you how to trigger them and what they offer in the bonus section below.

Design, Symbols, and Graphics

The Dead Canary slot has a mining theme in which the main part is played by the Angry Dwarf. The name of the slot comes from the practice of letting canary birds into a tunnel to check if it’s safe.

Since canaries have a high metabolism, they were used to check for levels of carbon monoxide. If the bird died, then it was unsafe for the miners. With this dark backstory, it is no wonder that the slot has a relatively dark theme to it. The reels are set in a mineshaft with a dark background, producing high-end gameplay.

The low-paying symbols are the standard card royals (10, J, Q, K, A), and they pay up to 1.5x the stake for 5-of-a-kind winning combinations. The high-paying symbols are the rope, bottle, compass, rat and the Angry Dwarf. These symbols pay up to 7.5x the stake.

Furthermore, the Dead Canary slot has a couple of bonus symbols that trigger innovative features, starting from the Canary Scatter, which can land in either a Silver or Gold Cage. There are also Wild Bombs and the xBomb Wild Multiplier Symbol, which I'll explore in the bonus section below.

RTP, Variance and Payouts of Dead Canary Slot

The RTP of the Dead Canary slot is capped at 96.02%, which is the industry average. Volatility-wise, it's rated high in this game, resulting in less frequent but more valuable payouts. Speaking of payouts, you can win up to 65,000x the stake here, which is brilliant.

If you want to learn more about RTP and variance in online slots, check our in-depth Variance, Volatility and RTP Guide.

Gameplay and Features of Dead Canary Slot

The Dead Canary slot has a bunch of unique features, which is fantastic! In this slot's gameplay, you can benefit from the Reel Area Feature, Wild Mining Feature, xBet Feature, and the Canary Free Spins Feature. Let's see how these work!

Reel Area Feature

The base game is played on a 3-3-2-2-1-1 setup with the bottom positions locked. These positions can be unlocked by creating wins, through the Wild Mining Feature, or xBomb explosions. Once unlocked, these positions reveal a multiplier which the player can take advantage of or reveal a scatter symbol.

Wild Mining Feature

If 3, 4, or 5 of the same symbol land diagonally and do not form a win, the Wild Mining Feature is triggered. The triggering symbols will be removed, and create a Wild Symbol in the middle.

Depending on how many symbols triggered the feature, there may be either 1, 2, or 3 Wild Bombs. The multiplier will be increased by 1x, and all symbols will be removed except for the Wild Bombs to help create winning combinations. If a scatter is removed, it will reappear with the other symbols.

xBet Feature

Players can choose to pay an additional 40% of the current bet in order to activate the xBet Feature. Once triggered, it guarantees a scatter to land and to remove one of the barriers on the grid.

Canary Free Spins Feature

Landing 3 scatters on the same spin will trigger this feature and give you 3 Free Spins. Once triggered, the Free Spins are played out on a 7-reel grid with a 4-3-4-3-4-3-4 setup. The four corners are locked and collect Coins and multipliers from 3 adjacent positions.

These Corner Vaults can only be unlocked by xBomb explosions. Once unlocked, they will pay their collected value at the end of the feature. Landing an xBomb will reset the spin counter back to 3. 

During the feature, scatter symbols in a silver or gold cage can land. The Silver Cage Scatter collects in an x-pattern 1 position from itself, while the Gold Cage Scatter collects in an x-pattern from the entire row. The birds within the cage have 3 lives and pay out the value of their death. Once they pay out, they respawn in the same position.

There are also Enhancer Symbols that can land:

• Coin Symbol - lands with a value between 1x and 100x the stake. The values are added to the Scatter that collects them;
• xBomb - reduces the lives of the scatters by one and reset the spin count, as well as exploding in an x-pattern;
• Gas Symbol - decreases the lives of the scatters by one if they are next to them;
• Dwarf Symbol - it's collected by scatters. Once collected, they become persistent collectors and collect in the pattern of the Scatter they replace. It also adds life to the scatter, and when it dies, it respawns as a Canary;
• Rat Symbol - it's collected by scatters and becomes persistent payers, sharing its collected value with other scatters. In addition, it collects in the pattern of the scatter it replaces. It also adds one life to the scatter, and when it dies, it is replaced by a Canary;
• Upgrade Symbol - upgrades Silver scatters to Gold, as well as adding one life to them.

Other Nolimit City Slots

Nolimit City is a leading developer known for its innovation when it comes to creating slot mechanics. I love Nolimit City slots; they're packed with state-of-the-art graphics and unique features! If you want to explore other Nolimit Slots, take a look at my current favourites: Folsom Prison, Misery Mining, and True Grit Redemption.

Our Verdict

All things considered, Dead Canary is a brilliant but overly complicated slot. Although the bonus features are unique and in abundance, the game mechanics might be hard to follow for some. Still, I enjoyed this slot, and I highly appreciate Nolimit's uniqueness which is evident in every game they release. Experienced players will definitely enjoy playing the slot, but beginner players should look out for fewer complex games.

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