Play Sahara Nights for Free in Demo Mode by Yggdrasil Gaming

Sahara Nights review

Theme and Storyline

Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Sheherazade had a thousand tales… but the one we keep retelling is that of Aladdin and the magic lamps. Here it is rendered in a slightly more realistic looking vein than the traditional Disney knockoffs.

The characters of Aladdin, the Shah, and the Princess still appear, as does the bright blue Djinn.

It’s a familiar tale, given new life by a new take. It’s just a shame slot makers don’t try one of the other thousand Arabian Nights.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

The graphics have a charming medieval Arabian look to them, stylised to fit in with the fantasy setting. They have all the usual attention and care that Yggdrasil Gaming slots are given. The characters are individual and have clear silhouettes.

The animations add to the effects of the graphics, adding personality and weight to the game.

They also blend well with the spin and win sounds which have been custom designed to give this slot its particular feel, that of desert romance.

Gameplay

The gameplay is more or less what you would expect from a standard slot.

There are five reels with three rows each in the base game. With 20 win lines playing out on the reels.

The main event is the bonus (details below), though this turns out to just be a straightforward free spin bonus. There are no random features or gamble features.

Wilds, Bonuses and Free Spins

The Wild symbol substitutes for all symbols except the Free Spin symbol. They appear only on reels two, three and four. Wilds expand to fill the reel whenever they are going to make a winning combination by doing so.

Three or more Free Spin symbols trigger a Free Spin bonus. This consists of 8 free spins for three symbols, 12 for four and 16 for five. Three or more symbols also come with a cash pay out of x1, x10, or x100 the total bet for three, four and five symbols respectively.

During free spins, Wilds are sticky. Filling all three middle reels with Wilds triggers an additional two free spins. Extra free spins are also awarded for two or more Free Spin symbols (whereas you need at least three of them to trigger the free spins in the base game).

Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance

The return to player of this game is 96.20%, a little over our yardstick for average of roughly 96%.

The range of bets on the site we tested ran from a minimum bet per spin of $/£/€0.10 up to a maximum of $/£/€100.00 per spin.

The volatility of this game is medium, which makes it a poor match for our preferred slot machine strategies. Our slot strategies target the highest possible volatility.

Conclusion

Sahara Nights is a straightforward slot. Especially for something coming out of Yggdrasil Gaming, a company that tends to innovate with even the simplest of ideas.

But it does everything it sets out to do well. Perhaps a little too solidly, we could have used higher returns for the player and much higher volatility.

Still, taking it on its own terms it is a pretty good slot.