SunTide

Everyone knows the beach as a place to go enjoy some peace and quiet so that you can relax in the sun. The Suntide online slot by Microgaming gives you the virtual version of that, and along those lines, this game is completely based around having a relaxing experience. Everything from the background to the symbols themselves have been designed from the ground up to let you just chill out and enjoy chances to win on the reels.

Format and Layout

The format of this game is a nine-payline video slot. It has the usual five reels with three rows that are associated with this style of game as well. Like most slots (read more), you'll have a choice between multiple coin sizes and multiple numbers of coins per payline. However, you shouldn't change the number of paylines since playing with fewer than all nine will give you a lower RTP since some features won't be activated. Coins go from $0.01 to $1 each, and you can bet up to five coins per payline, so the betting range is $0.09 to $45 per turn.

Wild Symbols and Payouts

The payouts that we describe in Suntide in the following are based on a bet size of $1.80. Your wins will be scaled larger or smaller proportionately depending on what bet size you choose per spin.

The wild symbol shows up on every reel, and by all standards, it's the most important symbol in this game. The top jackpot is 2,000x, and that's for five of the wild. You can also get a 200x win for four. This wild symbol will expand on the middle reel, meaning that it will stretch vertically to cover all three positions. This means that getting five wilds on the reels will give you lots of individual payout, and this builds up to huge overall wins.

Scatters and Free Spins

The sunset is the scatter symbol, and it triggers wins and chances for a bonus feature. Five of them give you 180x, and you can get 36x for four, 9x for three of 3.6x for two, anywhere on the reels, no matter if they line up on a payline or not. These are some nice payouts that round out the pay table a bit.

Three or more of these symbols, anywhere on the reels, give you a set of 15 free spins. While there is no multiplier during these free turns, you get extra value in a different way. Instead of the wild symbol only expanding on the middle reel, it will expand on the second, third and fourth reels during this feature. This gives lots of chances for huge wins, especially if you line up multiple wilds. It also increases the effective top jackpot since five wilds will now have better chances to give you multiple instances of five of a kind in wilds.

Other Payouts

The diamond symbol will give you a 200x win for five of a kind, and that drops slightly to 150x for five of the lucky purple seven. Both of these symbols pay for as few as just two of a kind, and they're the only regular symbols to do that. The bell and bar pay out 80x and 50x apiece for five of a kind each. This rounds out the top end of the payouts.

Familiar fruit symbols make up the rest of the wins. A 36x payout is there for five oranges, and five watermelon will get you 30x. The win for five lemons is 20x, and you'll get 16x and 10x for five of the strawberries and cherries, respectively. It's cool to see these symbols on the reels along with the other top wins because it's a major throwback to an older style of slot, and that's a great example of Microgaming (read more) working to create a friendly, fun, relaxing atmosphere.

Our Thoughts

Suntide is a game that players will either love or hate. It's targeted towards a specific type of player who likes a specific type of low-volatility, high hit-rate, relaxing experience. Players who prefer modern slots with modern features and super-strong graphics will not find much to be happy about for this game, but it's still a solid overall slot. If you like relaxing games and don't care about all of the latest bells and whistles, then you'll enjoy this game just fine.