Phantasmic Fortunes: Overview

Developer iSoftBet has put together a slot packed with eerie touches to introduce their new Xpanding Ways mechanic; a fresh concept where reels expand whenever certain symbols appear. This not only increases the number of rows and therefore the ways to win, but completing a reel to full height also unlocks Orb prizes. Alongside Xpanding Ways, you’ll find two wild-based modifiers plus a free spins round.

Expect a dash of sorcery as soon as the game boots up – on the left of the reels is a David Copperfield-type character. If anything, he feels even more old-fashioned than Copperfield, maybe Victorian or Edwardian? Or perhaps he’s simply a modern guy with a taste for the occult, partly because he’s fascinated, partly because someone close to him is. Either way, he went too far, stirred something best left buried, and now sports glowing green eyes and can conjure flames with his bare hands.

The rest of the scene is filled with skulls, candles, and thick, heavy curtains. It can seem a little sparse initially, but that’s because the standard 5-reel, 243 ways to win grid needs room to grow. Importantly, the expansion mechanic is active throughout the game, not only during the bonus. A moody, string-driven soundtrack ties everything together.

Phantasmic Fortunes runs smoothly on any device and allows stakes from 20 p/c to $/€20 per spin, while high volatility will appeal to players who don’t mind grinding for bigger hits. Even with the increasing win ways and the Prize Orbs, long stretches of dead spins can still show up. Testing, in particular, felt unexpectedly unforgiving.

The pay-all-ways format is one many players enjoy. Here, landing three or more matching symbols on any row creates a win. As long as they connect on adjacent reels starting from reel 1, the combination pays. This system also pairs neatly with the Xpanding Ways mechanic, as you’ll see.

Next up is the paytable, featuring 9 symbols overall – 4 low pays and 5 higher-paying icons. The low pays are clubs, diamonds, clubs, and hearts, which don’t pay much, followed by ravens, pocket watches, potions, cards, and top hats. Five-of-a-kind premium wins return 1 to 5 times your stake.

Phantasmic Fortunes includes three separate wild types – a standard wild, a Phantasmic Wild, and Magic Wilds. All wilds substitute for regular paying symbols. Two are introduced via features, while the standard wild can land at any time on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Phantasmic Fortunes: Features

When you begin, the game “reads” your fortune by placing five Orbs along the top of the screen, each showing a different random prize. These prizes can include xbets, wild-related features, or bonus Orbs.

Watch for the diamond symbol – every time it appears, the reel it lands on expands by one extra position. If a reel grows enough to reach an Orb, you collect the prize shown in that Orb and the reels return to the default 5×3 layout. The Orbs also refresh, revealing five new prizes. As the reels expand, the number of win ways increases too. At the maximum 6-row height, 7,776 ways to win are in play.

One of the Orb prizes is the wild feature called Phantasmic Wilds. If you hit this Orb, then 2 to 4 reels become stacked with Phantasmic Wilds. After the win is paid, both the reels and the Orbs reset.

The second wild modifier is Magic Wild. When a Magical Wild Orb is reached, a random number of 1×1 Magic Wilds are placed onto the reels. As with the other modifier, once wins are calculated, the reels and Orbs reset.

The last Orb type is the Bonus Orb. Reaching it triggers the Phantasmic Free Spins Bonus. The bonus can also be activated if 3 scatter symbols land on reels 2, 3, and 4.

Free spins begin on the standard 243 ways layout. While the core rules match the base game, Orb values are boosted, with a chance for prizes of up to 1,000x from a single Orb. The feature finishes when you reach one of the bonus Orbs marked COLLECT.

Following any Orb prize or a bonus round, the Magic Boost feature may randomly activate. When it does, up to two reels increase in height, making it easier to reach the prize Orbs sooner.

Phantasmic Fortunes: Verdict

Phantasmic Fortunes holds up reasonably well, at least for a time. It feels unlike a lot of other slots, and the theme is delivered in a distinctive way. Part of the early appeal is simply watching the Xpanding Reels mechanic in action. It’s fairly engaging, adding the extra objective of chasing Prize Orbs.

That extra objective is helpful, because plenty of spins can pass without much happening, and the Phantasmic Free Spins Bonus may take a while to show up. To give you a sense of the pace, the first set of free spins didn’t trigger until 573 spins in. The next set arrived sooner, thankfully. Interestingly (for better or worse), diamonds appear far more often during free spins than they do in the base game.

Overall, Phantasmic Fortunes begins strongly; the Xpanding Reels idea seemed full of potential. The gameplay is fine, but the newness fades rather quickly. The main issue is the slow tempo. On top of that, the patience required to make progress often isn’t matched by the rewards. Orb prizes tended to land around x5- x20, and getting one roughly every 100 spins didn’t feel worth the wait.

Phantasmic Fortunes definitely has its fun moments, but it can be difficult to stay motivated long enough to reach them. In the end, it’s a decent enough slot, though if you catch it at the wrong time, it can feel like the “magic” is working against you.