Introduction to Area Link Bank Baron
Area Link Bank Baron is a casino slot from AreaVegas, following up previous games such as Area Link Piggy Bank and Piggy Vault Bonanza Rush Express, where the second one is a mix of the piggy bank series and the Rush Express games, which started out with several train-themed slots. In this release, it seems like we’re getting to know a royal pig since a baron is a title of nobility used in several European countries. It’s the rank below viscount but above a few other noble titles. Back in medieval times, barons often owned land and owed loyalty and military service to a king or higher noble. Today, the title is usually honorary and may be inherited or granted for distinguished service.
Let’s see if the golden piggy bank, the Bank Baron, can spice things up in this slot series.
Theme, Gameplay, and Payouts
Area Link Bank Baron is a video slot from AreaVegas featuring 5 reels, 3 rows, and 20 paylines. The Min.bet is 0.2, and the Max.bet is 50. Area Link Bank Baron has an RTP of 96.47% and mid-high volatility. The max win is capped at 5,000x the bet, and the hit frequency of 30.63% means that about 3 spins of 10 are winners.
The game invites you to a huge vault with an enormous pile of coins. On top of the pile, above the slot’s reels, sit six piggy banks in different colors. They’re your ticket to the bonus game, each representing different enhancers in the respin feature. To the left of the reels is a display of the jackpots with the 5,000x Mega Jackpot at the top. To the right stands a big golden piggy bank, wearing a monocle. To make a win, you need to land 3 or more matching symbols on one of the paylines going left to right. All wins must start on the leftmost reel, and you can play the game on mobile phones, tablets, and desktop computers.
The lower-paying symbols in Area Link Bank Baron are 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A. They pay 1x the bet for wins of 5 symbols. The higher-paying symbols are rings, coins, money bills, gold bars, and diamonds. They pay between 2x and 5x the bet for a 5-of-a-kind win. The Wild Symbol substitutes all symbols except the Coin Symbols. It’s also the best-paying symbol on its own, awarding 10x the bet for a win containing 5 symbols.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Area Link Bank Baron?
You can win up to 5,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Area Link Bank Baron?
The features are Wild Symbols, Area Link Feature, and Bank Baron.
Wild Symbols
The Dollar Sign symbols function as Wild symbols and can be used to replace all the regular symbols in order to complete winning combinations, but they cannot be used as a substitute for Coin symbols.
Wild symbols can also create winning combinations when they come up on a payline. Although these stacked symbols can appear on all reels, they are only available in the base game.
Area Link Feature
There is a possibility that the Area Link feature will be triggered whenever one or more Coin symbols come up. Each Coin is gathered by the Pig of the corresponding color, which is shown above the reels. If a symbol has two Coins, it will be picked up by both of the matching Pigs.
The Coins that have been collected determine which Piggy Bank Upgrades are given as a result of the feature, and the animations are included solely for visual effect and have no impact on the probability of triggering the feature.
As soon as the feature starts, you get 3 respins. The Coin symbols become fixed in position, and each new Coin that appears causes the respin counter to be reset to 3.
Each coin gives rise to either a cash prize or one of the Mini, Minor, or Major jackpots. The feature comes to an end when there are no more respins or when all the positions are filled. The Grand jackpot is also awarded when the grid is completely filled.
Red Piggy Bank Upgrade
When you start a spin, the Red Piggy Bank Upgrade gives you a random multiplier, which can be 2x, 3x, or 5x. The value of a Gold Coin is multiplied by the selected multiplier when it first locks into place.
Purple or Indigo Piggy Bank Upgrade
The Purple or Indigo Piggy Bank Upgrade includes a second Area Link grid as part of the feature. When both the Purple and Indigo Piggy Bank upgrades are in use, you will have four separate Area Link grids to play with. These grids function independently of one another, and the feature will only cease when each of the grids has either filled all its positions or used up all its respins.
Green Piggy Bank Upgrade
As part of this upgrade, Green Coins may show up on the reels. The Green Coin picks up all the cash prizes and jackpots as soon as they land. Once its effect is complete, the Green Coin is then replaced by a Gold Coin.
Blue Piggy Bank Upgrade
The Blue Coins are introduced during the feature as part of the Blue Piggy Bank Upgrade. The value of each Blue Coin is combined with a random number of Gold Coins, and a single Gold Coin may receive value from more than one Blue Coin during the same feature. After the Blue Coin has completed its effect, it becomes a Gold Coin.
Pink Piggy Bank Upgrade
Pink Coins may appear while this upgrade is in effect. With each spin, the Pink Coins that land are randomly given a boost to their prize amounts, which means they have a chance to increase in value before the feature finishes.
Multiple Piggy Bank Upgrades
More than one Piggy Bank Upgrade may be active at the same time within an Area Link feature, enabling their effects to function together.
If the Purple and Indigo Piggy Bank Upgrades are both activated, the feature will be displayed on four separate grids. When the Red Piggy Bank Upgrade is combined with either the Purple or Indigo upgrade, its multiplier is applied to all new Gold Coins on each grid.
When both the Red and Green upgrades are in use, the multiplier is applied to the Gold Coin that is produced after the Green Coin has completed its prize collection. If the Blue upgrade is also active, then the multiplier is applied before the Blue Coin adds its value. In the case where both the Pink and Red upgrades are active, the Pink Coin's prize is increased before the multiplier is applied.
If the Green upgrade is used together with the Purple or Indigo upgrade, then the Green Coins will only collect prizes from their own grid. When both the Green and Blue upgrades are in effect, all of the Blue Coin effects are carried out before the Green Coins collect their prizes. And lastly, when the Blue upgrade is combined with the Purple or Indigo upgrade, the Blue Coins will only add value to the Gold Coins in their own grid.
Bank Baron
The Bank Baron Coin is obtained from the Bank Baron depicted above the reels. Once the feature has been activated, it immediately initiates an Area Link feature by selecting a random number of Piggy Bank Upgrades. The animations, however, have no impact on whether the feature is triggered.
Final Thoughts on Area Link Bank Baron
Area Link Bank Baron attempts to give the well-known piggy bank concept a sophisticated look by adding a fancy monocle, a noble title, and a large amount of gold, but beneath this royal appearance, it is still the same pig that we have seen numerous times before. Although the various Piggy Bank Upgrades introduce a few new elements to the Area Link feature, they fail to make the gameplay seem any different. On the contrary, it often feels as though you are playing through an older game that has merely been given a more expensive outfit. The respin feature, too, follows the same predictable pattern, so it's hard to get excited about it if you've already spent time playing with the previous Piggy Bank titles.
The game can certainly get quite busy when several upgrades are running at the same time; seeing additional grids show up, the value of the coins increases, and the multipliers build on top of each other, which does provide a certain amount of entertainment, but it's more comparable to adding extra toppings to pizza than to serving a completely new dish. Although the mechanics function well, they never manage to surprise the player. The 5,000x maximum win is decent, even if it no longer stands out in a market where much larger prizes are now common. And the base game doesn't really offer much variety apart from waiting for the next Area Link feature to come up.
People who are already familiar with the Area Link series will certainly know what they're dealing with here, and this is at the same time its greatest advantage and its greatest disadvantage.
Area Link Bank Baron from AreaVegas achieves very little in terms of distinguishing itself from the earlier titles. Those of you who have already played the previous titles shouldn't expect the Bank Baron to suddenly turn into the noble hero who saves the kingdom.
