Fairytale Legends: Red Riding Hood Slot Overview
Fairytale Legends: Red Riding Hood is a 5x3 fairytale-themed slot from NetEnt with 20 fixed paylines. It came out back in October 2016, so it's not exactly new, but the charm is still there. You're basically walking through the woods with Red Riding Hood, dodging the Big Bad Wolf while fairies randomly pop in to help you out.
My first impression was that it felt really polished for its age. Plenty of bonus bits to keep things interesting, though the 400x max win is proper low by today's standards. Medium volatility keeps the session ticking along nicely, so you're not sat there watching your balance drain with nothing happening.
Symbols and Paytable
Red Riding Hood herself is the Wild, showing up on reels 2, 3 and 4 during the base game. She subs in for everything except the Treasure Chest scatter. Land two or more Wilds and they stick in place for a re-spin, which is a decent little touch. During Free Spins she can appear on any reel.
Top paying symbol is the FL Logo at 400x for five. Shield comes next at 250x, then the Key & Lock at 200x. Rose and Fairytale Book round out the mid-tier stuff. Card symbols J through A all pay 60x for five, so nothing exciting there. The Treasure Chest scatter only needs to land on reels 1, 3 and 5 to kick off one of three bonus rounds.
Symbol Payouts
Bonus Features
Right, here's where most of the fun lives. There are three random Fairy Features that can trigger on any spin. Fairy Magic Spin fills a reel with matching mid-value symbols and gives you a re-spin. Fairy Surprise only shows up after a losing spin and turns all low symbols into one random mid-paying symbol, then keeps spinning until you win. Fairy Wild Spin drops 3 or 4 Sticky Wilds onto the middle reels.
Land three Treasure Chests and you pick from three different bonuses. Coin Win Bonus gives a flat 15x your bet, which is honestly a bit underwhelming. Free Spins Bonus awards 10 free spins, and each chest that appears adds 2 more. Beware the Wolf Bonus is the standout; it's a board game where you spin a wheel to move and collect prizes until you hit a Collect space.
Seven bonus features sounds generous, and the fairies do pop up more than you'd expect. But I'll be honest, the Coin Win Bonus at 15x feels like a letdown when you finally trigger the scatter round. You're really hoping for the Wolf board game or the free spins.
Bonus Buy Options
A fairy turns a whole reel into one medium-paying symbol, then awards one re-spin.
After a losing spin, a random medium symbol is selected and all low-value symbols transform into it, then reels spin until a win appears.
Generates 3 or 4 Sticky Wilds on the middle reels, guaranteeing at least a Sticky Wilds re-spin.
Awards an instant cash prize of 15x your current bet.
Awards 10 free spins with the chance to extend by 2 extra spins each time a bonus chest lands on the reels.
A board game where you spin a wheel to move along and collect prizes until you land on a Collect cell.
RTP, Volatility and Betting
RTP sits at 96.33%, which is just above the industry average. Not variable either, so what you see is what you get regardless of where you play. Medium volatility means you'll get a fair mix of smaller wins with the odd decent hit. Not going to blow your mind, but it won't empty your wallet in five minutes either.
Bets range from 0.20 up to 200 per spin. Max win is 400x your stake. I know that sounds a bit rubbish compared to modern slots that offer 10,000x or more, but for a relaxed session where you just want steady play, it does the job.
