Introduction to Totally Reckless
Totally Reckless is a casino slot from Northern Lights Gaming that takes us out on the high seas in search of lost treasure. Most players may know Northern Lights Gaming for their Unusual Suspects series, and that’s largely because the studio doesn’t want to step outside of its comfort zone by sticking with safer and more typical themes and settings. Totally Reckless, in this context, is a pretty standard Pirate-themed game with Pirates of the Caribbean vibes, but it’s also, sadly, a reskin of Totally Headless, a game released earlier in the same year. While it comes with a new setting, the gameplay and stats are more or less the same, with a focus on its Landfall Bonus game that’s filled with Special Symbols and Coin Prizes. The bonus game comes in 5 levels, ranging from Bronze to Diamond, and can be quite volatile thanks to the many Special Symbols with bonuses such as Multipliers, Extra Lives, Level Ups, and Jackpots, but it just doesn’t hit the same way that it did earlier in the year. But, if you’re still interested, join us out on the seas to learn more about Totally Reckless, its features, and you may even find the max win of 5,679X the bet.
Northern Lights Gaming delivers a reskinned sequel to Totally Headless as Totally Reckless, a pirate-themed title with the same features and stats.
Theme, Gameplay, & Payouts
Totally Reckless is a video slot from Northern Lights Gaming with 5 Reels, 3 Rows, and 243 ways to win. You can choose between making a Min.bet of 0.2 and a Max.bet of 40. Totally Reckless comes with an average RTP of 96.07%, a hit frequency of 36.67%, high volatility, and a max win of 5,679X the bet.
The game is set at sea, with the ocean as the background and a boat trying to navigate the storm. The playing grid is the standout here, as it’s surprisingly detailed and interesting to look at, especially in contrast to the rather boring reels. You can play the game on most notepads, mobiles, and desktops.
The lower-paying symbols are 10, J, Q, K, and A. Creating a win with 5 of the same symbols will pay out 0.5X the bet. The higher-paying symbols are the various pirates, including the green skeleton, the blue swabber, the red pirate woman, the purple pirate, and the red pirate captain. Landing a win with 5 of the same symbols pays out 1X to 5X the bet. There are also quite a few Special Symbols, including Wilds, Coins, Scatters, Level Ups, Mystery, and more, which we go over in the Feature Section.
Special Features & Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Totally Reckless?
You can win up to 5,679X the bet.
What features are available in the slot Totally Reckless?
The features are Wild Symbols, Landfall Bonus, Special Symbols, Ante Bet (Charged Bet), and Feature Buy.
Wild Symbols
Wild Symbols help form winning combinations by being able to substitute for all regular symbols, but can only appear in the base game.
Coin Symbols
There are 5 types of Coin Symbols, including Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond,
Landfall Bonus
Whenever a Scatter Symbol lands, the symbol changes to a random anchor color, then strikes the matching anchor above the reel with a chance to trigger the Landfall Bonus with the corresponding Anchor bonus. There are 5 types of Anchors, ranging from Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, with each Anchor unlocking its own corresponding Coin Symbol. The Landfall Bonus starts with 3 Respins and a special playing grid where only Coins, Special Symbols, and Blanks can show up, with the first two resetting the spin counter each time one hits.
Special Symbols
Special Symbols can only land during the Landfall Bonus, each with its own bonuses, and they are as follows:
Coin Symbols = There are 5 types of Coin Symbols, including Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, with prizes ranging from 0.1X to 50X the bet.
Coin Multiplier = Adds a random Multiplier of 2X to 5X to 1-3 Coins.
Level Upgrade = Land 3 Level Upgrade Symbols to Upgrade to the next Landfall bonus level.
Extra Life = Increases the maximum amount of Respins to 4.
Mystery Symbol = Randomly transforms into a Coin Symbol, Extra Life, or Level Upgrade Symbol.
Jackpot Gem = Collect 3 of the same Jackpot Gem Symbols to be awarded the corresponding Jackpot Prize.
Ante Bet (Charged Bet)
By turning on the Ante Bet, you remove the Bronze and Silver anchors from the top of the reels and add additional Scatter Symbols to your spins, but at the cost of increasing your current bet by 2.5X.
Feature Buy
Through the Feature Buy, you can instantly enter a bonus game for a price based on the current bet.
100X = Awards the standard Landfall Bonus with a random Anchor trigger.
200X = Awards the Super Landfall Bonus with more Special Symbols.
Final Thoughts on Totally Reckless
Totally Reckless, in a vacuum, is a rather forgettable experience, as its theme is one of many Pirates of the Caribbean wannabes, its visuals are uninteresting, and its gameplay loop doesn’t feel well-balanced. So, taking into account the context of the game also being a reskin of a game released in the same year, Totally Reckless just feels a bit disappointing through and through. That isn’t to say it’s a bad game, just one we feel is a bit lackluster and not very compelling, especially since we feel most reskins are just downright lazy, and we wish we saw something changed between releases beyond the addition of the Ante Bet mechanic.
When it comes to gameplay, as we said earlier, it all feels a bit unbalanced, as nearly the entire feature line-up is centered around the Landfall bonus game, with only Wilds being active during the base game. Coupled with the rather weak paytable, that means that the base game feels more like a waiting room than an actual part of the game, and might have even been the incentive to add the Ante Bet to squeeze out just a bit more out of players as they wait for the next bonus game trigger. Speaking of, the Landfall Bonus doesn’t feel much different from a typical Hold & Spin feature, just with added Special Symbols to make the spins a bit more interesting, but even these don’t feel very original or necessarily interesting. All in all, Totally Reckless is a disappointing reskinned release that feels way too similar to its original game, but, even so, we don’t think its features are completely worthless, just not very original.
Totally Reckless is a reskinned release of Totally Headless, which we would’ve been fine with as a sequel if the studio had delivered on some much-needed polishing, but sadly falls flat as a clone of a game released earlier in the same year.
