Remember Gulag

Remember Gulag: Slot Overview

Hey players, you know how people have mental filters that govern thoughts from forming into words, depending on their internal guidance system? These filters appear in other walks of life, too, one being online slots, where not every cockamamie idea makes it from the whiteboard to casino lobbies. Like people, software providers have varying degrees of filtration, and one studio's filter, which is arguably less vigorous than most, is none other than Nolimit City. This is a team that isn't afraid to power walk through territory most others are afraid to tread. If you're after a prime example, look no further than the Soviet era-inspired online slot, Remember Gulag.

Yes, the Gulag, the system of labour camps that existed in the Soviet Union in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, which for many were a one-way ticket. This is deep and heavy stuff from a studio famous for making deep and heavy slots. Yet, a deeper point is being made here, too. As the home screen says: 'Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it', a quote paraphrased from philosopher George Santayana. Interestingly, Karl Marx also famously said, 'History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.' Is an online slot going to stop tragedy or farce? We'll let pundits argue that one out. On a tangible level, Nolimit City has chosen to use Remember Gulag as a historical reminder and plans to donate a portion of the game's profits to Humanitarian Assistance. So, while Nolimit is no stranger to doom-laden slots, this is one with a potential silver lining.

Visually, Remember Gulag certainly looks pretty doom-laden. It's presented as an old black and white show, the screen largely monochrome aside from some muted colour on its symbols. Barbed wire surrounds the 6-reel game grid, laid out in a 3-3-4-4-5-5 formation, while the national anthem blasts across the airwaves. The more you think about the theme, the more mind-blowing it becomes, a puzzle with countless how's and whys that are tough, if not impossible, to be fully grasped by the mind.

Plodding thoughtfully on, we come to the game's inner workings. Here we find comfort in the emotionlessness of numbers, such as RTP, which is either 96.08% or 94.37% when playing naturally. Winning ways consist of at least 3 matching symbols and have a hit rate of 22.56%, whereas the bonus game hit rate is 1 in 211 spins. As expected, the volatility is cranked to high, whilst allowing players to place regular bets of 20 p/c to $/€100 or engage the Propaganda Bet, which increases the cost by 20%. In return, it guarantees a scatter on reel 2, thereby unlocking reel 5. Or, as Nolimit City puts it, you get a 'more brutal, but less awarding base game and increase the probability of triggering Gulag Spins.' In any other arena, Nolimit City might be accused of being bad salespeople, yet this is sure to be music to their ears for certain hardcore gamblers.

Popping over to the paytable, we find Cyrillic style 10-A royals as the lower value symbols, worth 2 to 3 times the stake for a six of a kind win. Moving on up to the highs are five-character symbols, including a saluting beer, Joseph Stalin, and someone who looks like Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Landing a winning way of premiums gets you a payout of 4 to 6 times the stake.

Remember Gulag: Slot Features

Remember Gulag serves a banquet of features, including xWays, xNudge Wilds, xSplit Wilds, three types of Gulag Spins, and the Nolimit City bonus menu. The first thing to know is at the start of each base game spin, reels 5 and 6 are locked. Landing 1 scatter unlocks reel 5, while an additional scatter unlocks reel 6. When all reels are opened, it is possible to have up to 614,656 ways to win in play.

xWays

These land on reels 1-2 in the main game and reels 5-6 in free spins. When xWays hit, they reveal 2-3 instances of a random pay symbol – if more than one xWays hit, they all show the same symbol. If xWays are split by an xSplit Wild, the xWays multiplier is doubled.

xNudge Wild

These symbols land on reels 3-4 in the base or bonus game. They create a stacked wild symbol that is always nudged to cover the full reel. Each nudge increases the wild multiplier by +1. When more than one xNudge Wild multiplier is in view, their values are added together, and if split by an xSplit, one more wild is added to the reel.

xSplit Wilds

Normal wilds can land on all reels, but xSplit Wilds appear on reels 5-6 in the base game, reels 1-2 in the bonus. When xSplits land, they split all symbols to the left or right, doubling them. If the split happens more than once, the symbol shows a multiplier. Also, if scatters do not trigger free spins and an xSplit hits them, they are transformed into a full reel of wilds. xSplit Wilds turn into two wilds after landing, and they, in turn, can be split by other xSplit Wilds.

Free Spins

Entering the bonus round occurs when 3, 4 or 5 scatter symbols land to trigger Gulag Spins, Gulag Spins: All Aboard, or Gulag Spins: Double Vodka, respectively. In all cases, the grid is flipped into a 5-5-4-4-3-3 pattern, and all reels are unlocked for the full duration.

Before the round begins, a set-up spin takes place to determine how many spins players are awarded, and what win multiplier the four top premium symbols get. In Gulag Spins, only one premium symbol gets a multiplier; in the other two bonuses, all symbols get a multiplier. Multipliers are doubled in Gulag Spins: Double Vodka. During free spins, a reel along the top of the grid can randomly increase the active premium symbols' multipliers:

• Gulag Spins – randomly increases the multiplier by +1, +2, or double the value.
• Gulag Spins: Double Vodka – randomly increases the multiplier by +2, +4, or double the value.
• Players can also collect scatter symbols during the bonus. Each scatter awards +1 free spin, and every 3 collected upgrades the bonus round to the next highest mode.

Nolimit Bonus

If the option is there, players can pick from four bonus buys. Gulag Spins cost 78x the bet (RTP 96.56%), Gulag Spins: All Aboard costs 270x the bet (RTP 96.82%), Gulag Spins: Double Vodka are 486x the bet (RTP 96.94%), or the fourth is a lucky dip option costing 198x the bet where you are given one of the previous three options (RTP 96.83%).

Remember Gulag: Slot Verdict

Remember Gulag is a game that starts heavy and, well, pretty much gets heavier the deeper you go. There is no denying the entertainment value to be found from a strictly gaming point of view, but Nolimit City has done something else too. Whatever your thoughts on the game are, and they are bound to be as wide as they are numerous, what's inescapable is the maturation of the slot industry, thanks in part to software providers like Nolimit City. How would one go about classing Remember Gulag? Historical, political, philosophical, a signpost reminder of man's inhumanity to man, an act of charity? You could say it is all of these things and more, so we wait with bated breath to see how the enterprise is received by the gambling community at large.

Setting the immense emotional baggage caused by the theme aside for a moment, let's look at how Remember Gulag plays out. The gaming side of things is a lot less controversial and consists of many Nolimit City darlings such as xWays, xNudges, and xSplits, which can be shockingly effective when the right symbols are split, wayed, or nudged. Factor in a staggering number of possible ways, and when the full load is let loose, a single spin can turn a session on its head. True, you could say that about any game, but there is something unique about the way it happens in a Nolimit City slot. Remember Gulag is no different.

And yet, it is a little different, at least during the bonus round, which isn't as maniacal as they can be from Nolimit City. Each reel spins at a fairly relaxed pace, you can see the symbols land one by one, and there's time to mentally line everything up. To use an extreme comparison, Remember Gulag is not like Mental, where the bonus round action is so frenzied it's hard to tell what just happened at times. In Remember Gulag, you've got time to eyeball symbols as reels stop spinning, weigh up multipliers, contemplate Marx's words on the power struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and still have time to work out if you've won something. Sort of. Anyway, come out on top, and you're looking at wins of up to 30,000x the bet – or achieve 'Oligarch Status', as the game calls it. Seriously, Nolimit certainly live up to their name.

We've probably said this before, but there are few, if any, studios that would have the brass nads to pull off a game like Remember Gulag. Some might see Remember Gulag as insensitive, a little too soon, and from a gaming perspective, it's not quite the red-hot poker of fiery delights as they can be. However, when viewed in its totality, Remember Gulag is utterly unique and as courageous (or foolhardy?) as anything the studio has done.