TopSpin is renowned for creating video slots that break away from the usual formula and Vikram aur Betaal is the perfect example. We loved the way the use of its features mirrors the backstory of Vikram and Betaal, with the two protagonists fighting to undo each other’s work on the reels.
The setup here is unique. You’re presented with three symbol prize towers that offer five prizes each. Above them is the ultimate prize tab which offers the game’s biggest win of 500x your stake. Below the towers is the 3×1 single payline you’ll be interacting with.
The aim here is to land identical symbols on the single payline to form a win. Whenever you do, you advance one tier on that symbol’s respective prize tower. You can choose to cash out your wins at any time, although this will reset your progress across all symbol prize towers. Whenever you spin the reel, you risk landing three Betaal symbols, which will also reset all of the symbol prize towers and discard all your winnings.
It may sound a bit complicated, but we got the hang of it after just a few rounds and enjoyed the thrill of deciding whether to cash out our winnings or risk another spin in the hopes of pushing our streak further.
Symbol Towers – There are three symbols in Vikram aur Betaal, each with their respective prize towers. The gold, pearl and diamond towers award up to 10x, 50x and 350x your stake respectively. We enjoyed the sense of progression in making our way up each tower. Sure, the gold one was easier to fill up, but we managed to make our way up the others too, especially when we got wild boosts to help us out. If you manage to fill up all towers, you get a bonus prize of another 500x.
Wild Symbol – Vikram himself is the game’s wild symbol. He steps in for missing pay symbols to complete winning combinations, but the biggest help comes from landing three of his symbols in one payline. This boosts your progress across all three towers, unlocking a new prize tier for each symbol. It’s quite the sight, although it always made us rethink our next spin, fearing that old Betaal might show up and ruin the party.
Reset Symbol – Betaal serves as the game’s reset symbol. You’re fine as long as you get one of two of these symbols in a payline, but a total of three will effectively reset all towers. It removes all of your winnings before you can hit the cashout button to collect them. Ultimately, the fear of having Betaal take away all your winnings is what adds stakes to the game. Some might want to play it safe and cash out any winnings they get, but high rollers will want to keep pushing in hopes of defying Betaal and unlocking the ultimate prize.