Football or soccer is probably the most universally popular sport in the world, and as a result there are plenty of video slot titles themed around the great game. The title Football Cup from GamesOS does a good job of capturing the excitement of top football competitions like the European Championship. The soundtrack is the same kind of intense electro-synth pop used in TV coverage, enhanced by the cheers of the crowd.
The reels themselves are transparent, hanging in a simple frame resembling a TV scorecard against a midnight-blue sky above a packed, floodlit stadium. There are five reels and 25 pay lines. Players can adjust bets per line through six levels from 0.20 to 2.00, and the number of lines played is also fully adjustable. It pays to play all 25 lines, even if this means lowering the bet per line, as this will allow the player to win more often.
All Icons are Theme-Related
Football Cup slot uses 10 ordinary icons on the reels, but none of them are the hackneyed symbols. Instead, the seven lower-value icons are all amusing caricatures of different European football players backed by their national flags: English, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French. All these icons win identical prizes: 15, 40 or 100 coins for three, four or five consecutive matches on a pay line, starting from Reel 1.
The three higher-value icons are a referee’s whistle, goalkeeper’s gloves, and a gold football-boot trophy. For five of a kind, these icons win 250, 500 or 1,000 coins, respectively. The Wild, a gold wreath surrounding the flags of all the participating countries, can double for any other symbol except the Bonus icon to complete line combinations.
Free Spins on Every Win
Comparing to free bets in darts betting, there is no free spins bonus round available in Football Cup slot, but the game makes up for this by giving the player an extra spin on every win. Whenever a spin produces a winning combination on a spin, unless the win covers all five reels, the reels involved in the win are locked while the other reels get a free re-spin. If the first win ran to Reel 3 and any wins are extended to Reel 4 on the re-spin, the player gets a second re-spin to try for five of a kind.
This creates the possibility that held three-of-a-kind combinations can be turned into more profitable four-of-a-kind or five-of-a-kind pay lines on the re-spins. It also makes for more versatile wins created by any Wilds that remain on the held reels.
Bonus Icon is Not a Scatter
Where Football Cup departs from most other slot titles, is in not having any Scatter symbol. There is a Bonus icon: another gold wreath surrounding change-room lockers, a football and triumphant bugles. However, players require three or more of these symbols on one pay line, beginning on Reel 1, to trigger the Lucky Locker Bonus game; they cannot be in any position on the reels, as is the case with Scatter bonus icons in other games.
Although as a result it may be triggered less often than in other games, the Lucky Locker Bonus can nevertheless net players worthwhile prizes. When the bonus game is activated, it plays on a new screen featuring change-room lockers. The player must open their choice of locker to discover what the player has left behind while he’s out on the pitch, and the discovery corresponds to a bonus prize amount.