Texan tea, black gold… call it what you may, but oil is what makes billionaires rich. It’s what makes countries like Saudi Arabia, America and Norway rich.
While you may not be sitting on a personal oil reserve in your backyard, you too can strike gold, by playing slots of course.
No need to find a hard hat or buckle your boots, though. We can play pretend with this slot machine by NextGen Gaming titled Oil Mania.
This game mimics the long and potentially rewarding search for oil wells. Players have to spin for a while, dig and keep digging, until suddenly… You stumble upon a spurting oil well and just bathe in newfound riches!
Gameplay Screenshots
Oil Mania Mobile Slot Game Mechanics
Oil Tycoon is quite a simple and straightforward game. It has five reels, three rows and 25 paylines. The reels are populated with nine different symbols. The payouts range from 5x to 2,500x your wager in a single spin, and the game has an RTP of 95.66%. Bets start at 25p and can go up to £100 if you prefer.
That said, we found Oil Mania slot to pay out pretty frequently, averaging one payout every three or four spins. However, maintaining your bank balance is difficult in the base game alone.
To win anything substantial, you have to trigger the free spins bonus symbols or The Wild symbols. They always save the day, as long as they show up every now and then.
Bonus Features & Free Spins
This online slot packs a punch in its single feature – the UpWild bonus feature. It is basically a set of free games with extra random wilds splashed on top. It's a merry package that always pleases any slot player.
How UpWild Bonus Works
The UpWild bonus is triggered when the oil tycoon bonus symbols appear on the reels. When this happens, you’ll immediately kick off your round of three free games.
At the same time, the reels that contain the Oil Tycoon starts to spurt oil from the well below. The oil gushes upwards and creates wild symbols on the rows. By the time you hit your third spin, the entire reel will become Wild.
These Wild symbols can stand in for all other symbols in the game and complete winning paylines. However, not all UpWild sessions are made equal.
The UpWild feature can appear on either of the middle three reels (second, third or fourth). This depends on which reel produced the bonus symbol.
Wilds that appear on the second reel definitely generate more winnings than those in the fourth reel. That's simply because wins are paid from left to right in this game. It's more likely to complete a match-three winning payline than a match-four winning payline.
Gamble Feature (x2 or x4)
Aside from UpWild, there’s the popular Gamble bonus to spice up your game. Pick the correct colour (black or red) to double your winnings. Feeling frisky? Go ahead and quadruple your risk.
You can even guess the suit of cards (spades, hearts, clubs or diamonds). This allows to potentially multiply your winnings by four. Of course, any gamble involves quite a good deal of risk.
If you guess incorrectly, you’ll lose everything that you had won in the spin. You don’t have to play the gamble game after every winning spin. Though a few rounds here and there will definitely make your heart race.
In order to play the game, simply click the small button with a heart and spade on it, located next to the spin button. This button is only activated after a winning spin.
User Interface And Gaming Experience
Like all themed mobile slots, this NextGen game is decorated with related items and animations. In this case, it includes all things oil-related.
There are hardy oil workers, graphs predicting oil prices, barrels of oil, gold cars and suitcases full of money. The reel itself is set on some sort of exploration rig with oil dripping along the platform.
The game is well optimized for mobile players. The controls are designed for easy configuration of your wager size and number of paylines.
What's Great About Oil Mania Mobile Slot?
It’s important to remember that this is a high volatility slot game. So, don’t go in expecting a stream of small wins. In fact, the game may even feel slightly dull with whole streaks of low activity.
If you persevere, the Up Wild bonus feature will compensate you for your patience. As with the actual oil business, you’ll only rack in the profits when you find a good oil well.
To play these kinds of “high risk” games, you must start your gaming session with three things:
- A nice stockpile of cash
- Some patience
- And a watchful eye
Your casino balance can dip quickly if you don’t have enough to play with and cannot wait around for the UpWild bonus.
A handy tip is to choose a certain amount to play with during that gaming session. (I usually go with around £10.) Then, simply activate the autoplay feature, sit back and wait for your spins to hit gold.
So, Here's Our Take On This Game
If you’re up for an oil hunt of your own, you mustn't miss out the Oil Mania experience. The game definitely mimics the same ups and downs of oil exploration. It's complete with the enormous potential for surprise paydays too.
Don’t forget, all new players at GoWin get plenty of deposit bonuses and 50 extra spins too. Who knows, maybe you could turn that 25p spin into a proper oil fortune?