Baywatch

Some people stand in the darkness, afraid to step into the light. Some people need to help somebody when the edge of surrender’s in sight. Wise words indeed, and instantly recognisable for anyone who has ever watched Baywatch. Making the careers of David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson and countless others, Baywatch has become the stuff of legend. And with the release of a Baywatch film much more recently, it’s back in the public consciousness once again.

This is good news for IGT, who are also the creator of online casino classics such as Western belles and Golden Main. IGT, who have taken the sunkissed Baywatch theme to develop a slots game that stays true to the original, while remaining relevant to the present day. It probably comes as no surprise to learn the game is set at the beach, with golden sands and an invitingly blue sea the backdrop to the main reels action. While you’re spinning through, the more eagle-eyed among you will notice a range of symbols that speak back to the smash hit TV show, in addition to several other related symbols that complete the beach/lifeguard theme.

Looking further at the game’s specifics, as like many of our online slot machines, this is a standard five reel game, with 3 rows of symbols running from left to right. There are 15 paylines in play, and payouts are awarded for combinations of the same value symbols across the reels, with three or more symbols the trigger for a winning combination. The main game symbols are complemented by bonus, or feature, symbols, plus there are a range of other in-game features that help keep the action flowing.

Spins start at £0.25, and you can play for up to £50 per whirl if you’ve got the bankroll. The game’s main jackpot is an impressive 250x, which means there’s £12,500 up for grabs in the top prize. This isn’t a progressive slot, so there aren’t millions to be won, but there are few who would sneer at such a generous jackpot, and from a main game feature, it’s still a very impressive maximum win.

More good news here comes in the form of the RTP, which stands at 96.25%. It’s generally said that anything over 95% represents a high paying slot, and Baywatch surpasses that threshold with room to spare.

Aside from the main symbols which comprise the bulk of the reels – the characters and other props from the show, for the most part – there are also a couple of feature symbols that will prove important as the game progresses. As with all our online slot game reviews, let’s take a further look at them, and the features they trigger within the game.

Feature Symbols

Wild Symbol: The tidal wave is the game’s wild symbol. Whenever this appears, it’s usually good news for your bankroll, as it helps to complete any paylines that are missing a symbol. So if you’ve got two match symbols either side of a wild, you’ll get paid as if you had three in a row. The wild is also useful for extending combinations, so if you have four symbols on a payline plus a wild, you’ll be paid as if you had landed all five.

The only symbol it won’t switch for is the game’s bonus symbol, but that’s a pretty standard feature of wilds in most slots games.

Bonus Symbol: The bonus symbol is the lifeguard Baywatch logo, which has ‘Bonus’ in that famous Baywatch font written over the top of it. You need to land the bonus symbol across the three internal reels to trigger the bonus feature, and you need three of a kind in order to benefit from the bonus.

Bonuses & Jackpots

The main bonus feature is a free spins bonus. Players are asked to pick one male and one female character, who will become stacked on the reels, occupying two vertical spaces to make it easier to complete paylines. The characters you didn’t choose leave the reels for the duration of your free spins, and you get a set number of risk free spins to play through. Anything you win in this round is added to your bankroll, and given that the spins are free and some symbols are stacked, it’s theoretically easier to make this feature pay.

There are also random expanding wilds, which can take up one or even two reels during the game. This has the effect of turning the entire area wild, which means you’re virtually guaranteed a winning payline on that spin. There’s also the Teamwork bonus feature, where two characters join forces to merge into one symbol, paying out at a higher rate than would otherwise be the case.

Play Baywatch at PartyCasino

Baywatch is a hugely fun slot that fans of the original will definitely enjoy. Even if Baywatch the series isn’t your thing, there are still enough innovative and potentially profitable features here to make this worth your time. Don’t stand in the darkness. Step out into the light, and take Baywatch from IGT for a spin, available right here at PartyCasino.