Miles Bellhouse and the Gears of Time slot review

Miles Bellhouse and the Gears of Time is a mouthful for a game that is about an eccentric inventor who has created the time machine. Players can watch him play around with it, while they use Wilds, Free Spins, Multipliers and more to see if there is a big win in their future.

The 2020 game feels lively and inspired, the developers of Betsoft apparently in a creative mood when they came up with the setting. Although the title reads like it is part of a series, so far there are no other Miles Bellhouse slots that I could find. If it will turn into a series obviously remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Miles and his pet robot are shown standing next to the 5-reel, 5-row playing field. The game doesn’t use regular paylines but the Cluster Pays mechanic which counts any group of 3 or more symbols touching vertically or horizontally as a win. The combination of features, symbols and gameplay results in Medium Volatility for the slot, which fit my experience.

If you’re interested in a rather complicated but nice-looking and entertaining slot, Miles Bellhouse and the Gears of Time might be exactly what you want. The time machine itself is shown on the right, all of the symbols are original and we can see that Miles himself is affected by the time machine during the free spins mode as he travels through time and gets older or younger!

Symbols

Miles Bellhouse and the Gears of Time has a selection of original symbols to help create wins. Most of these are somehow related to how a time machine might work, including gears and control panels. Obviously, Miles himself is one of the high-paying symbols as well as his robot. Wins aren’t very animated but considering the things we can see in the background, I think that’s okay.

The symbols in the game are from highest to lowest:

• Wild: Wilds substitute all other symbols in the game.
• Miles: Max. 200x your bet with a cluster of 25 symbols.
• Robot: Max. 150x your bet with a cluster of 25 symbols.
• Control Panel: Max. 100x your bet with a cluster of 25 symbols.
• Lens: Max. 70x your bet with a cluster of 25 symbols.
• Gold Gear: Max. 50x your bet with a cluster of 25 symbols.
• Iron Gear: Max. 30x your bet with a cluster of 25 symbols.
• Bronze Gear: Max. 20x your bet with a cluster of 25 symbols.

Although the payouts might seem large, keep in mind this requires the entire playing field to be filled with the same symbol which is unlikely. In general, the payouts are reasonable but not excessive. As I played, I found my funds to slowly go up since it is likely to get multiple winning clusters in a single spin but it was a slow process. Players can look forward to a max. win of 1,085x your bet. I think it’s an acceptable amount considering the volatility.

Features

Miles Bellhouse and the Gears of Time has a number of features that impact the gameplay in different ways.

• Non-Standard Reels: The game has a 5-reel, 5-row playing field on which the symbols dropdown.
• Cluster Pays: Get a symbol on 3 or more tiles that touch each other horizontally or vertically to trigger a win. When a win is created, all other tiles drop away and new ones dropdown. If these new tiles include the winning symbol they are added to the win.
• Free Spins: 5 random tiles on the playing field are lit up every spin. If there is a win on each of the tiles, the free spins mode is activated.

The base game looks a bit complicated but it isn’t with only the Cluster Pays being really important. Getting wins will automatically cause the tiles that weren’t part of the win to drop away and be replaced by other symbols. If these symbols match the current win, they are added to the winning cluster and the cascade is repeated. This continues until no more symbols are added to the win.

When the free spins mode is activated, players are presented with a choice. I found this mode to be relatively hard to activate but the base game was entertaining to watch so this wasn’t a huge detriment. For your funds, it is better to get into the free spins mode though.

• Past: Players receive 12 free spins that get an extra cascade at the end of every spin.
• Present: During the present, players receive 10 free spins. Every spin, a random multiplier between 2x and 20x is applied to all wins that spin.
• Future: You receive 6 free spins to play with. During these free spins, 10 or more of the same symbol are guaranteed to appear on the screen. Each spin will select another symbol.

A nice detail is that Miles looks different depending on the time you pick, with either a younger Miles, current-day Miles or older Miles standing in front of the portal.

The different features are varied enough to be interesting but I found the choice to be rather simple as the Future feature has a much bigger impact on the volatility than the other ones. Having tried all of them, I considered the Present feature the least helpful since it still requires the game to get wins organically.

If you like a non-standard game, the features you can find in this slot are a good selection. The slot feels very active with a tonne of different things happening all the time. If you’re more a fan of laid-back, relaxing games you might want to take that into consideration.

In Conclusion

With Miles Bellhouse and the Gears of Time, Betsoft has a character in their hands that might turn out to be a very fun addition to the roster. This slot offers a lot of design choices that I respect, especially the commitment to the setting and the idea of time travel. Players will have a lot to see and experience.

That said, the number of features and graphics might be overwhelming to a lot of players. The non-standard playing field isn’t especially large compared to other slots but there are many things happening with every spin that does require a certain level of attention. If you prefer something standard that you can play while watching TV, another game might be more appropriate.

I enjoyed my time with the slot, seeing some big wins come by. The possibility to choose from different free spins was a nice touch as well as the fun details in the background of the game. I can see how other people won’t like it though, which it’s why I recommend giving it a try before really committing.