Neptune Rising (Plank Gaming): Review

These days, as tends to happen, Microgaming leaves much of the heavy lifting to its army of independent partner studios, while we imagine the main crew doing something else entirely—like sprinting around a sunny beach or pelting each other with sacks of cash.

With six studios currently signed up to the Microgaming partnering program, most of what’s come out has been average at best, and since Microgaming itself hasn’t delivered anything truly exciting in what feels like the era of 56k dial-up, our anticipation for upcoming releases keeps slipping. Still, given Microgaming’s legacy of creating some of the greatest slots ever made (Immortal Romance, yes, you), there’s always that lingering “what if” attached to anything they’re involved with.

Plank Gaming is the blandly named newest addition to Microgaming’s lineup—a studio so new it hasn’t even launched an official website yet. Plank… what’s that supposed to mean? No idea—maybe it’s Maltese slang for “Hotshot”. We tried digging up more info, but the only thing we found is that the studio currently has just two games to its name: Puffer Goes Wild and Neptune Rising.

From the outset, it’s clear Neptune Rising is a straightforward slot, built on a classic setup of 5 reels, 3 rows and 10 paylines. It runs smoothly on all devices and allows stakes from 0.20 to 50€ per spin, while the 95.92% RTP sits slightly below the usual 96% benchmark. There’s only one feature in the game—the Neptune Rising feature—which can randomly trigger on any non-winning spin to add modifiers that boost your results.

Atlantis-style themes are everywhere (including the recently released Master of Atlantis by Blueprint Gaming), but this one gives off definite Novomatic energy. Neptune—Roman counterpart to the Greek sea god Poseidon—looks fitter than ever in Plank Gaming’s take, and while it’s not a visual showpiece, Neptune Rising is unexpectedly polished. Blue dominates the palette, and the transparent reels act like a window into the sea. You’ll spot waves rolling in and crashing on the shore, flashes of animated lightning, and dramatic sunrays cutting through the clouds. Yes, a few wave effects feel a little budget, but it’s nothing deal-breaking.

The reel symbols include 9, 10, J, Q, K and A card suit icons, alongside higher-value treasure chests, dolphins, sea horses and mermaids. Neptune is the premium symbol, though, paying 75 times your stake for 5 across a full payline.

Neptune Rising (Plank Gaming): Features

Signalled by a lightning strike and Neptune sticking his face up from beneath the grid, the Neptune Rising feature may activate at random on any spin, upgrading the reels with stacked matching symbols or even adjusting the layout to drop in extra scatter symbols as well as standard symbols on a near miss. That said, the game teases this moment relentlessly—often making it look like Neptune Rising is about to kick in, only for it to vanish again.

Hitting 3 or more gold coin scatters anywhere on the reels launches the Free Spins bonus. You begin with 10 spins, and during the round the Neptune Rising feature triggers on every spin, adding winning stacks so you’re guaranteed to land winning combinations. A full screen of the Neptune/wild symbol awards 750 times your stake, and the game carries a maximum payout cap of 250 000€. In classic Novomatic style, the free spins round appears to retrigger fairly frequently, with 3 or more scatters awarding 10 additional spins.

Neptune Rising (Plank Gaming): Verdict

For a release from an independent studio, this is a solid showing. It doesn’t bring anything truly new to the table and it’s not a game changer that’s going to spark a major breakthrough for Plank Gaming, but it’s a confident debut all the same. On top of that, Plank Gaming seems to understand both visual presentation and gambling mechanics—more than can be said for some other Microgaming partners.

Even with a max win potential of 5000 times your stake available, the experience would feel more exciting if the payouts hit with a bit more punch. It’s hard not to think that 750x is a modest prize for landing a full-screen of the top symbol—and pulling it off more than once in the same bonus? Don’t count on it.

Overall, Neptune Rising is a decent slot with decent upside. Sadly, it doesn’t have that extra spark that would keep us returning for more. One session will likely do—unless we win, of course, in which case we’ll be back.