Fortune Frog Skillstar Slot Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Fortune Frog Skillstar Review

Developer Lightning Box expands its range of Skillstar games with a second addition to the series called Fortune Frog. In the greater scheme of things, it's a reskin of the studio's older slot Chicken Fox 5x Skillstar designed to appeal more to the Eastern audience, though, it has a slightly tweaked gameplay and math model. Fortune Frog Skillstar revolves around a similar Free Spins feature, and the self-titled bonus game gives players a lil' break from spinning action and keeps them engaged throughout the session.

Fortune Frog Skillstar - Slot Outlook

Fortune Frog Skillstar makes use of quite a common Asian theme, with the reels set in a backdrop of a serene pond. In the rear, we see a traditional Chinese bridge and buildings, surrounded by blooming flowers and sakura trees. The slot actually sticks out from Lightning Box's portfolio when it comes to the outer look, since the graphics are unusually sharp and pleasing to the eye. Great job by the design team indeed, though, there's little originality in Fortune Frog Skillstar, to be honest. We've seen similar background images in numerous other Asian-styled slots, and much like many others, the developers didn't get really creative.

The musical theme is also nothing short of natural for the genre, and you hear familiar Chinese music whilst you spin the reels. Anyway, it captures the essential Asian vibe and fits the gameplay perfectly, so there's nothing to complain about. You can't say the same when it comes to sound effects though, taken from classic arcade slot machines, which are pretty annoying.

Fortune Frog Skillstar Slot - Reel Screen

The actions take place across a 5-reel 4-row layout, producing 40 ways to play on each spin, and players drop in by setting bets from €0.4 to €60 per spin. The volatility is high, while the RTP is slightly above the average level at 96.07%. While Chicken Fox 5x Skillstar provided nearly a 20k potential, the Fortune Frog release doesn't deliver even half of that power.

The 4,672x top prize isn't really on a par with what volatile blockbusters usually offer, yet it's still decent and can result in cash wins of up to €233,600.

The paytable in the Fortune Frog Skillstar slot comprises 8 regular symbols that are split into lows and highs. They start with classic A-10 royal symbols on the lower side, and the latter lot consists of Koi fish, Prosperity Tree, and a long-haired man. Coin symbols are bonus symbols that display a fixed cash value, though, they also act as normal symbols during the base game. All those pay out when formed into combinations of 3 or more symbols on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost, and 5-of-a-kind wins are worth from 2.5x to 18.75x your bet. There are two Wild symbols included, with the first one available in the base game and the second during the free games. A Lady Wild substitutes for any other regular symbols in the main game to help you score payouts, plus it pays up to 125x the stake for line wins. The other one, Frog Wild, doesn't have any own value but is your key to success during the bonus, covered below.

Fortune Frog Skillstar - Bonus Features

Keep an eye for Scatter Symbols during the base game. Landing 3 or more instances anywhere in view awards the Free Spins feature with 3, 4, and 5 Scatters giving 8, 12, or 20 free games to begin with.

Once activated, players will proceed to a new set of reels where only blanks, Coin, Ingot, and Frog Wild symbols are available. The feature is similar to the one found in the legendary Fishin' Frenzy slot, where Wild symbols accumulate all cash values in view when landing simultaneously. The same applies here - whenever a Frog Wild lands on the reels alongside a bonus symbol, that value is collected and added to the respective counter:

• Coin Symbol - awards a cash prize of 2x, 4x, 10x, or 40x the stake.
• Ingot - awards 1, 2, 3, or 5 additional free spins.

You can get multiple rewards if more than one Frog Wild lands in view. Moreover, Wilds can land with a 5x Multiplier attached to them that multiplies all coin values and free spins won by 5. Finally, if a Wild or 5x Wild symbol lands without either a Coin or Ingot symbol in view, then +1 or +5 extra free spins are awarded respectively.

Players can also access Free Spins via the Bonus Buy feature. You can either Buy the bonus for the cost of 50x your stake, or Gamble for a chance to win the bonus. The minimum Gamble cost is 6.25x, though, you can increase your chances by adjusting the gamble bet to 12.5x, 25x, or 37.5x.

Fortune Frog Skillstar Slot - Skillstar Mini-GameEvery time you activate the Free Spins feature, a Skillstar side mini-game is offered to be played before the bonus begins.

It won't give you any financial benefit but give you a little break from non-stop slot spinning with an exciting arcade game. The goal is simple - help frogs cross the waterfall and save as many as you can by controlling the bridge with Up and Down buttons on the screen or your keyboard. The game ends when 3 frogs are missed, and the best performing players will go down in history on the leaderboard. Anyway, the Skillstar mini-game is optional, and you can skip it and jump straight into the action.

Fortune Frog Skillstar - Slot Verdict

Well, to conclude, Fortune Frog Skillstar is a lovely slot, with a lot for players to get stuck into. Even though the Skillstar mini-game is absolutely pointless in its essence, it's still a fun option and surely adds some more excitement to the gameplay process. However, it's the Free Spins that make the game worth a spin with its engaging coin collect mechanic and random Multiplier Wilds that can turn even the lowest win into a big one. All up, it's bound to be enjoyed by players into Asian slots, and if you relate to those, don't miss it out.

Potential for huge wins and simple enough for anyone to play.Craig TurnerContent Specialist, SG Digital

Pros

• Charming Chinese artwork
• Exciting Free Spins round
• Skillstar mini-game

Cons

• Relatively low top prize of 4,672x