The Border Free Play in Demo Mode by Nolimit City

The Border slot review

Theme and Storyline

The Border is themed around the US-Mexico border and its security.

In the dark of night, players will approach an intimidating metal wall and encounter a host of colorful characters and animals who exist between the United States and Mexico.

This slot’s gritty theme will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for those looking to explore borderland fantasy, The Border presents a dramatic narrative.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

The soundtrack is packed with tension and delicate guitar notes that give a nod to the Southern side of the border. Upon spins, the music picks up and takes on a mournful tone, adding to the sense of hopelessness in the setting.

On the reels, players will find a gunslinging sheriff, a latina heroine with a rose adorning her hair, a soldier, and both American and Mexican organized crime members. Some of these characters lean into stereotypes, however, in the world of The Border, this seems to be somewhat the point.

A variety of desert animals also appear among the symbols, including a scorpion, a vulture, and a snake. The beautiful but menacing creatures further the sense of peril in this high stakes setting.

Behind the reels, a ridged metal wall topped with barbed wire looks menacing. It is clear that this is not a border where folks happily make their way to holidays, but rather a point where smuggling of many kinds might take place.

Overall, the animation and soundtrack of The Border create a dark and intimidating vision of life at the US-Mexico border. Whether players are comfortable with the dramatization of this real-life world is up to them.

Gameplay

The Border is a six-reel, six-row slot.

Wins are awarded for landing at least five matching symbols in a cluster. Symbols in a cluster may be connected horizontally or vertically.

Once winning combinations have paid out, the symbols vanish, making way for new symbols to fall into their place.

The maximum win for The Border is 44,288x players’ total bet.

Wilds, Bonuses and Free Spins

The Wild symbol substitutes for all symbols except the Scatter symbol.

The xWays symbols can change into regular paying symbols 2x or 4x the size of a single symbol. Should players land multiple xWays symbols, they will all transform into matching symbols.

The xSplit symbols appear on reels 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. It divides all symbols to its left and doubles symbol sizes. Meanwhile, the xSplit symbol itself transforms into a Wild.

The xNudge Cluster Wild symbol nudges either up or down if it is part of a winning combination. As it nudges, a win multiplier increases for each symbol it moves.

The xBomb Wild symbol substitutes for all symbols, excluding the Scatter symbol, and upon exploding destroys its adjacent symbols, with the exception of Wilds and Scatters. A win multiplier also increases by +1 for each xBomb Wild collapse.

When players achieve a cascade with at least two unique symbol clusters, the xCluster feature is triggered, increasing a win multiplier by +1 for every unique symbol cluster.

Landing 6 Scatters initiates the Mule Spins feature, starting with 10 free spins. This feature includes special features and if players land an additional Scatter, the feature is upgraded to Coyote Spins.

Landing 7 or more Scatters triggers the Coyote Spins feature, starting with 12 free spins. This feature includes enhanced special features and if players land any additional Scatters, they are awarded 2 additional free spins per symbol.

If players wish, they can opt to increase their bet with the Boosted xRIP feature, which guarantees a Scatter symbol will appear on the first reel.

Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance

The return to player of this game is 96.17%, our yardstick for average of roughly 96%.

The range of bets on the site we tested ran from a minimum bet per spin of $/£/€0.20 up to a maximum of $/£/€100 per spin.

The volatility of The Border is high, making it a good fit for our preferred slot machine strategies. We suggest a strategy of targeting the highest possible volatility.

Conclusion

We recommend this average RTP, high volatility US-Mexico border-themed slot.

Though the subject matter may not be the right fit for everyone, the reasonable RTP and robust volatility make The Border a solid find for mathematically-inclined players.

The great variety of bonus features add extra appeal to this gritty slot.