Fatz’s Diner

Diners might be an American phenomenon, but thanks to TV and movies, they’re well known throughout other parts of the world as well, often popping up as ‘theme’ restaurants. These are places where you can sit at a booth, order a slice of apple pie and a cup of joe while listening to a rocking tune on a jukebox. In Yggdrasil’s Fatz’s Diner Gigablox, players get the chance to have what the BBC has called ‘a quintessential American experience’ while trying their luck. In fairness, this won’t be a typical American diner experience, though, because Fatz’s patrons are non-human members of the animal kingdom.

Credit where it’s due, from the chequered floor tiling to the light colouring and the rockin’ music, Fatz’s Diner is one swinging joint. Very clean looking too, which is always a bonus when picking a place to eat. What prevents Fatz’s from being like a hundred and one other diners is not only the animal patrons but the food symbols have been designed to match animal needs, too, so it’s not all cheeseburgers, shakes, and fries. In short, Fatz’s Diner is a pretty sweet spot to not only grab a bite to eat but an energetic place to have a punt.

There are a few ways of doing so – by picking a stake of 20 p/c to £/€40 and slamming the spin button or buying one of the two bonus features. No matter how you play, the default return to player is 96%, and it operates on a highly volatile math model. Front of house, we’ve got a 5-reel gaming grid with 5 rows and 40 ways to win.

All pay symbols in Fatz’s Diner Gigablox pay out when landing 3 to 5-of-a-kind, and there are nine regular pays in the game. The 4 low pays are food items – bananas, berries, foliage, and meat, while the 5 high pays are what look like a crocodile, a monkey, a goat, a lion, and a Hippo. Hitting a five-of-a-kind winning line awards 0.8x the bet for the low-pay food items and 1 to 4 times the bet for the animal premiums. A record symbol is wild, substituting for all regular paying symbols.

Fatz’s Diner Gigablox: Slot Features

Gigablox is one of the main events around here, and the Expand & Respins feature is directly linked to it. As well as these two are free spins and the two bonus buys.

Gigablox

On each spin, 2 to 5 reels can merge to create a Gigablox reel. Gigablox are larger than normal symbols that function as individual symbols in 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, or 5×5-sized blocks. All symbols except the Expand & Respin can land as Gigablox.

Expand & Respin

When an Expand & Respin symbol lands, a respin is awarded, and the current Gigareel expands by one position towards the triggering symbol. Multiplier Expand & Respin symbols may land for additional respins and extra expansions. Expand & Respin symbols only land on single reels.

Free Spins

When landing at least 5 scatter symbols, free spins are awarded. The number of free spins you get is 5, plus the number of triggering scatter symbols. During free spins, every 3 Expand & Respin symbols collected increases the minimum Gigareel size for the rest of the round. A multiplier is also added to the highest-paying symbol, the Hippo. The multiplier begins at x3 and increases by +3 each time a Hippo win occurs. The multiplier does not reset till the round ends. Lastly, extra free spins are awarded whenever scatter symbols land.

Buy Bonus

Players have the option of laying out 100x the bet to be awarded 10 to 30 free spins. Or, by spending 600x the bet, players get 30 free spins with the Hippo multiplier starting on x9.

Fatz’s Diner Gigablox: Slot Verdict

For proponents of Gigablox, Fatz’s Diner Gigablox is a well put together game that should be right up their street. It looks as slick as you like it, bounces around jovially to its rocking tunes, and the quintet of animal characters help up the charm factor. As far as theme goes, Fatz’s Diner Gigablox adds depth to the extensive range of Gigablox slots, offering something which the others do not.

Another one of Fatz’s Diner Gigablox’s positives is the way the Gigablox mechanic has extra attention shined on it by the Expand & Respin feature. The Expand & Respin literally grows Gigareels while triggering a respin, meaning the mechanic gets a bit of extra room to perform. One less positive thing about Fatz’s Diner Gigablox is that its symbol values are quite low. A situation highlighted after the first full-screen win, the monkey symbol, returned a result worth 48x the bet. This means a lot is riding on hitting the Hippo symbol in free spins since it has a multiplier, and results could be decent, though Hippo wins were not exactly a common event during the review.

However, none of this has had a majorly adverse effect on Fatz’s Diner Gigablox’s max winning potential which is capped at 9,000x the bet. So, while Fatz’s Diner Gigablox might have its ups and downs, it still manages to serve a big, greasy, cheesy burger of a slot for Giga fans to devour.