White Orchid

We pride ourselves on having played a lot of slots in our time as reviewers. But even still, some games will simply slip you by. It could be that it was purely a physical machine, and we never came across it.

Or maybe it just didn’t appeal to us at the time, and we didn’t see the need to review it. White Orchid falls into the first category for us. We usually do our best to try everything from IGT, but their library is huge. So, when this release got a visual update in 2018, we thought it was the perfect excuse to try it!

White Orchid Slot Review

White Orchid is played on a five reel board, where each reel is four symbols tall. Players get a total of 40 flexible paylines that they can turn on and off at will. If you’re willing to pay double your usual wager, you can also enable the 1024 MultiWays system. Using MultiWays, each position on the reels spins for itself. It drastically increases your chances of achieving a win, so it’s well worth the extra cash. That said, if you cannot afford it, we do not recommend forcing yourself. You’ll want your balance to last a while.

To win, collect three or more identical icons, starting with the leftmost reel. These symbols must follow one of the active paylines, or the cash prize won’t be awarded. If gamblers are using MultiWays, then they can forgo following active paylines. Simply collecting the required number of icons is enough for the win to count.

Like many other IGT slots, this one also suffers from a chronic case of no special features! Back in 2010 when it first came out, just MultiWays and free spins was more than enough to carry a game. But times change, and so do player expectations. Free spins that can be retriggered are in almost every recent release we have played.

Theme & Symbols

If you were hoping for groundbreaking graphics that can compete with NetEnt, you’ll be sorely disappointed! This re-make was on the same level as Cleopatra. They added a new background and upscaled existing symbol art into HD. Beyond that, White Orchid looks like so many other IGT slots we played recently. Very basic, with big blocky reels and an absence of interesting animations. If the developers went out of their way to improve the graphics, they could have done a little more.

Just for comparison’s sake, we went back to see the old version to compare it to the new one. The background image is one of the obvious improvements. Back then, the game had a physical machine exterior, which would ‘bloom’ with orchids when the Multiways were triggered. Now, you get a much cooler close-up of the flowers that IGT’s release takes its name after. But while there are obvious improvements from the older version, White Orchid still cannot compete with newer slots.

Icon designs are about as plain as you’d expect from a game originally made in 2010. This is the second most obvious graphical upgrade after the background image. Since the symbols are no longer a blurry mess, it has our vote. As you’d expect, however, we’re left wanting more. As more and more developers create releases with animated icons, their absence in White Orchid is quite obvious.

How to Play White Orchid

You play this slot on a 5×4 reel with 40 flexible paylines. Gamblers can turn these on or off at will, and can use them to lower their total stake. Alternatively, you can double your current wager to activate the 1024 MultiWays system! In our opinion, it’s not worth playing this game without the MultiWays enabled. Without them, this is just an old release with one bonus. Heck, even with MultiWays enabled, it can be a tough sell. Especially with the RTP being as abysmal as it is.

White Orchid serves as a perfect reminder of why we didn’t really get into slots until online gambling really took off. While the games of this era were lucrative, they often bored us to tears. If you’re used to seeing multiple special features, you’re in for a rough time! This IGT release offers you exactly one bonus. It’s not two or three special features. It’s not one bonus with several stages. Oh no. You get a plain, boring free spins round that you can retrigger. And you’ll be happy you even got that much.

Unfortunately, coin-only is present in White Orchid, too. This has to be one of the most infuriating things that video slots can do. Coins, by themselves, are little more than leftovers of physical machines. Many newer developers have completely given up on them, as a matter of fact. Just look at anything by Playtech in recent years as the perfect example. IGT should have added the ability to see how much everything costs in cash. Your maximum prize is worth 5,000x your total stake.

Bonus Features

The game has only one special feature available. Two, if you count activating MultiWays with more money as a bonus. However, MultiWays is just an alternate way of awarding wins. It doesn’t sound good as free spins or bonus Wilds. And speaking of free spins..

• Free Spins

Collect two, three or four Scatters to win ten, fifteen or twenty free spins. During free spins, your chances of winning big are increased. If you collect two or more Scatters while the bonus is still active, you win additional extra turns! A maximum of 130 free spins can be played with a single activation.

White Orchid Payouts

White Orchid has a medium variance and a jackpot worth 5,000x your total stake. The slot’s RTP ranges between 92.90% and 95.03%. The entirety of that value range is below the current industry average of 96.00%.