Balloonies Farm Slot
Balloonies Farm is a 5-reel, fixed 20-pay line slot from IGT. This game is a follow-up to the original Balloonies slot, which was released in 2014. Initially, Balloonies was a mobile-only slot, but this follow-up is available immediately on desktops and laptops as well as all mobile devices.
The original balloonies were simply balloon animals, but the graphics here are a little more sophisticated. These new balloonies definitely belong down on the balloonie farm – pigs, sheep and cows. Also making a (re) appearance is the 'blue elephant' symbol from the original Balloonies game. Completing the available symbols are playing card values queen, king and ace.
This game features 'cascading' symbols, but with a difference as symbols cascade up, and not down – well, what else do you expect with balloons?! When you secure a win the winning symbols 'pop' and new symbols float up to take their place. If these new balloonies trigger a fresh win, then these too pop … and so on until no new wins are formed.
There are twenty pay lines in this game, and that's a fixed number. You can select your coin size though – anything from 0.01 to 10.00. Your total bet is your coin size multiplied by twenty. When you're ready to get popping, hit the spin button.
Payout & bonus rounds
The lowest winning payout in this game is for three identical playing card symbols. That will win you five coins. The top prize of one thousand coins is awarded when you land five of the 'blue elephant' symbols on a pay line.
The 'yellow star' balloon is wild in this game and substitutes for all other symbols aside from the bonus symbol. The star will also award a 2x, 3x or 5x prize multiplier. Wilds only appear on the central three reels.
A rosy red balloon acts as the bonus symbol in this slot. If you land at least three bonus symbols anywhere on the reels you are awarded a payout of double your total bet. If the three land on the central three reels, then you trigger the Free Spins Bonus game. Here you get to choose from a number of coloured balloons, each of which awards you a bonus feature:
- Blue: Fifteen free spins with 2x wild multipliers
- Green: Twelve free spins with 2x and 3x wild multipliers
- Purple: Nine free spins with 3x and 5x wild multipliers
- Red: Five free spins with 5x and 10x wild multipliers
It's up to you to balance the number of free spins you get with the wild multipliers that become available.
So, how decent a sequel is Balloonies Farm when compared to the original Balloonies? Well, like its parent game, gameplay is simple which is something that adds to its effectiveness. You don't have to watch out for complicated combinations in order to win big, and you'll find it a thrill whenever two stars or bonus symbols pop up in the hope that a third will appear. This game is certainly more eye-popping than balloon-popping!