Babushkas slot review

Grab your earmuffs and mittens. We are heading to Russia and meeting the friendly Babushkas. Inspired by the babushka stacking dolls is this 5-reel, 3-column slot with 17 paylines. Developed back in 2016, Babushkas still holds the test of time.

This slot is bursting with colours. The animation is super cute and features a really interesting mechanic. Thunderkick really pushed the boundaries with Babushkas as it’s a truly original slot. Then there is the soundtrack which will get you dancing the Russian Cossack in no time.

Symbols

All of the symbols (bar the wild egg) are depicted by differently coloured - and aged - babushkas. The older the babushka the higher their value. There is also a Tier 0 babushka known as ‘the ghost.’ This can only appear when the Wipe feature is activated.

The symbols, from highest to the lowest consist of:

• The Wild tile is an intricately designed egg. It appears only on reels 3 substitutes for all other symbols.
• Tier 1, the yellow babushka yields 2x with 5-of-a-kind on a payline.
• Tier 2, the orange babushka yields 1.5x with 5-of-a-kind on a payline.
• Tier 3, the red babushka yields 1x with 5-of-a-kind on a payline.
• Tier 4, the pink babushka yields 0.8x with 5-of-a-kind on a payline.
• Tier 5, the purple babushka yields 0.7xx with 5-of-a-kind on a payline.
• Tier 6, the blue babushka yields 0.5x with 5-of-a-kind on a payline.
• Tier 7, the green babushka yields 0.4x with 5-of-a-kind on a payline.

Features

• Winning symbol upgrade

All winning symbols of the same value will upgrade to the next value when it creates a new or longer paying line. This will continue happening until there are no more upgrades to be made or all the reels are covered by the same symbol.

• Wipe

If all the 15 symbols on the reels are of the same value they will upgrade one tier. If the symbols are on tier 1 they will upgrade to the ghost symbol (tier 0) and a special award of 100x is rewarded.

• The Wild Mystery features

The egg appearing on reel 3 can either be wild or it can turn into a Wild Mystery Feature. If the egg shows a star it will open to reveal one of the features.

• Scare Bear - The wild egg will open to show an angry bear. When this happens the lowest valued symbols will sequence upgrade 1, 2, or 3 times according to how large the bear in the egg is.
• Charm Bear - With the Charm Bear, all symbols upgrade 1 level.
• Dance Bear - Dance Bear brings with it the bonus round, award 7 free spins. During the free spins round the wild egg will always appear on reel 3 and it even has a chance to be a Mystery Features egg.

In conclusion

I am pretty sure that whoever designed this slot was on some form of psychedelic microdosing. That is how wild this slot looks! The graphics, the colour palette, even the animation give you that vibe. But then there’s the soundtrack that sends you straight to cold, Mother Russia. I’ve reviewed a good share of slots in my life but hands down, this is the weirdest one.

Then there are the mechanics which are quite pleasant. There is something very satisfying in seeing the babushkas getting smaller and smaller and your wins getting larger and larger. Volatility is set between low and medium so you do get a lot of entertainment for your money. Of course, that also means the max win is quite low and stands at 390x.

Although Babushkas does sound complicated, it is rather simple once you get used to it. I do suggest quickly going through the information before playing. This is an original game through and through and despite its age, it is still fun to play today.