Book of Oz Lock ‘N Spin Slot Free Play
Book of Oz Lock ‘N Spin

- Some unique features
- Book of Oz Lock ‘N Spin not so different from the original,
If this slot feels a little too familiar, don’t worry, it’s not déjà vu. Instead, Microgaming and Triple Edge Studios have decided to come back to a recent favourite, and give it a slight update! And we do mean slight. Apart from some changes to the special features, you’ll find everything else has remained exactly the same. Not that this update was needed either, seeing as the original game isn’t even a year old.
Visually, this release is alright. It has some cool elements, but nothing that’ll knock your socks off. We like the new visual effect which appears when you lock a reel in place! Furthermore, Book of Oz Lock ‘N Spin will make suggestions on what reels you should lock. Why do we mention this? Because it has a neat little highlight animation to draw your attention to it!
In terms of special features, some are new, and others stay the same. The ability to lock reels has replaced re-spinning an individual one. Meanwhile, free spins with expanding symbols have remained the same! There’s also the addition of the Second Chance mechanic, which we quite like.
Developer
From the moment it was founded in 1994, Microgaming knew online gambling was going to be huge. The studio focused on making online versions as good as the real thing, and were richly rewarded for it! While no longer the giant it once was, Microgaming and its partner studios can still deliver on a fun and engaging slot.
This game, in particular, was created by Triple Edge Studios, with Microgaming serving as a publisher. There’s not much to say about this developer, beyond the fact they’ve made a dozen or so releases for Microgaming.
How to Play it
Book of Oz Lock ‘N Spin is played on a 5×3 board with 10 fixed paylines, which pay left to right only. Players cannot turn individual paylines on and off at will. Instead, they control their total bet by clicking on the Bet button, and selecting one of the offered values. Gamblers can stake between $0.10 and $25.00 on each spin.
No big changes have been made to the layout from the original Book of Oz. Re-spin buttons now allow for reel locks, and there’s a bit more space between the reels and the status bar. This extra space now houses the lock ‘n spin suggestions, which tries to assist the player.
Autoplay options are quite barebones. You’re given the option to choose the number of autospins, up to 100, and that’s it. There’s no win or loss limits, or the ability to set Autoplay to stop under certain circumstances.
Visually, this slot isn’t better or worse than its predecessor. The new additions look cool, but aren’t enough to bump this game’s rating up. Put everything together, and this release is just average. We’d have liked to see some more improvements, but sadly, that didn’t happen.
But, we can at least say there were some changes and additions to the graphics as a whole. Icons, meanwhile, have received no changes or updates. They’re exactly the same as they were before.
Special Features
After each spin, you will be offered to lock up to 4 reels at once. Each reel you lock up comes at a cost, and changes as you lock additional reels. The cost shown per reel is the new total bet if you choose to play with those reels frozen. This is a big improvement over re-spinning individual reels. This makes it easier to target a win, but also to keep costs down. You could freeze a random reel that doesn’t help you, but brings the overall cost down!
Three, four or five Scatters earn you ten, twelve or twenty five free spins, respectively. An expanding symbol is chosen randomly at the beginning of extra turns, and pays like a Scatter, with no need for adjacent icons. The new thing Book of Oz Lock ‘N Spin offers is the ability to reshuffle the chosen expanded symbol. If you’re not happy with what you’ve got, just try again!
Maximum Payouts
This high volatility slot offers a maximum jackpot worth 5000x your total stake. The game’s RTP is between 96.35% and 96.60%, which is above the current industry average.
Summary
This release could have served as an excellent definite edition. With the improvements to its special features, it’s already half-way there! Touch up the visuals a little bit here and there, maybe add an extra reel or more paylines. Then let players fall in love all over again. This half-way approach doesn’t quite cut it for us.