Why does the ways counter in Carnival Queen 2 keep changing?
Because the board is rebuilt on every spin. In our log each of the 750 paid spins started with the six reels two to seven symbols tall in a new order, which always multiplies out to 5,040 ways. An exploding wild then adds one symbol of height to its reel, up to seven, and the counter rises with it. Our base game reached 10,584 ways at most. In the free spins, where grown reels keep their height, our filmed round finished on 14,112.
Six reels shuffled from two to seven symbols tall
Every paid spin in our log began the same way: one reel two symbols tall, one three, then four, five, six and seven, in a shuffled order. Multiplied out, 2 × 3 × 4 × 5 × 6 × 7 is 5,040, the number the rules give as the game's pay ways and the figure on the WAYS counter when a spin starts. Six reels of seven would make 117,649, the maximum the rules name.
A win needs the same symbol on adjacent reels from the leftmost one, and winning symbols are replaced by others dropping from above for as long as new wins appear. The rules screen we captured shows only the top of the paytable: the crown pays 1.00 for two up to 10.00 for six at €1.00, and the red-haired woman 0.60 for three up to 3.00 for six. Small wins are the norm: of our 257 winning spins, 142 paid less than the stake, and the median win was 0.8x.
The strip under the reels starts at x1, and every avalanche adds 1; each payout is made before the multiplier goes up. In the base game it always began a paid spin at x1 again. Over the session, 308 spins moved it at least once, the highest it went outside the bonus was x6, and 63% of the money the base game paid us arrived at x2 or above.
A wild that always goes off and leaves its reel taller
Its wild, a W wrapped in fireworks, stands in for every symbol except the scatter, and the rules say it always explodes: after the win if it is part of one, otherwise straight away. The blast destroys the other symbols on its reel and one random symbol on each other reel, unless winning or protected symbols block it. The reel then grows by one, up to seven. Our capture stops a line later.
In our base game 209 wilds went off in 165 of the 750 spins. Of those, 177 made a reel taller and 32 landed on a reel already at seven. And 95 exploded on a screen with no win; each of those still made the symbols drop and moved the multiplier up by one. In all, 145 spins finished above 5,040 ways, and four passed 10,000.
The wild joined that win, so it waited. Once the 18.00 was paid, it went off.
Only reel 1 changed, from two symbols to three, which is exactly the step from 5,880 to 8,820 ways.
No ceiling on the multiplier, and no reset once the free spins begin
Three or more scatters, the green-haired dancer with a BONUS banner, start the Bonus Game with 12 free spins, plus 4 for each extra scatter. Inside it, 2 scatters award 3 more and each further one adds 2, all counted after the avalanches. The rules add two lines that matter: the Bonus Game starts with the current multiplier, which does not reset during the feature, and there is no upper limit to the multiplier.
Our log adds a third: in all three bonus rounds we recorded, a reel that grew kept its height to the end. The round from spin 185 entered at x3, finished at x9 on 10,080 ways and paid 10.5x in free spins. The one from spin 384 entered at x5 with 7,056 ways left by its trigger spin, grew to 11,760 and ended with the multiplier at x17; its last free spin paid 32.00 at x16.
Small wins and short droughts across our 750 logged spins
At €1.00 a spin, €750.00 went in and €620.00 came back, 82.7% against the 94.18% the game lists. So few spins settle nothing on a high volatility slot.
- 750paid spins at €1.00 in the demo
- 82.7%of the stakes paid back
- 109.9xbest round, free spins included
- 2free spins rounds triggered
In all, 257 spins paid, 34.3% of them, 12 wins reached 10x, and no dry patch lasted longer than 15 spins. Our high-water mark was €5,010.90 after spin 56, the floor €4,831.90 on spin 725, immediately ahead of our best base-game spin. That spin, number 726, paid at x1, x2 and x3 before its fourth screen put one symbol on 12 ways at x4 for 38.40, 43x in all.
Spins 185 and 384 were the only ones to open the Bonus Game, and their rounds paid €120.90 between them, 19.5% of everything we got back.
We filmed the clip in a separate media session at the same stake, and there the bonus arrived on spin 95. The trigger spin paid 6.00 and carried x3 and 5,880 ways into the free spins. The first free spin paid 21.80 in three steps. After that only three of the remaining eleven paid anything: 7.20, 22.40 and 11.60.
Of the 69.00, the 12 free spins paid 63.00 and finished at x10.
Two buy prices we left untested
Behind the BUY FEATURE button next to the bet, the demo server lists two Bonus Game buys: one at 100x the stake and a higher-priced one at 175x, each with its own RTP. We did not buy either, and the rules pages we captured do not say what the dearer option changes, so we leave that blank.
| Option | Price | At €1.00 | RTP of the buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus Game buy | 100x | €100.00 | 94.28% |
| Bonus Game buy, higher-priced option | 175x | €175.00 | 94.31% |
For normal play, Thunderkick's game page and the rules screen inside the demo agree on 94.18%, and that is the version this demo runs. Casinos may pick a different version, and regulators in some markets ban bonus buys outright.
What changed since the first Carnival Queen
The first game, in its Reborn build, plays on a fixed 6x4 board of 4,096 pay ways at medium volatility, with 94.16% and a cap of 22,700x. The sequel moves to 5,040 to 117,649 pay ways, high volatility, 94.18% and 25,000x.
The wild changed most. In the first game it explodes only in the free spins, on a spin without a win, clearing its row and column. Here it goes off in every part of the game, win or no win, and leaves its reel taller. Our two logs hit at almost the same rate, 35.7% there and 34.3% here.
Another six-reel game here, Pink Elephants 2, keeps its 6x4 grid and 4,096 connecting pay ways fixed, at high volatility with a 10,000x cap.
A louder sequel that pays in smaller pieces
The good part is the bonus. Reel heights and the multiplier both carry through the free spins, so a round that starts well keeps building: the one from spin 384 went from x5 to x17 and paid 109.9x.
Set against that are the numbers. An RTP of 94.18% is lower than 18 of the 23 other games on this site, most of our winning spins paid less than the stake, and we saw free spins only twice in 750 spins. Carnival Queen and Esqueleto Explosivo 2 also raise a multiplier with avalanches; what the rules add here is that this one has no ceiling and does not reset during the bonus. For a higher listed return, most of the other games here offer one.
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These replies rest on the in-game rules, the demo server and our logs.
Do the reel heights carry over from one spin to the next?
Not in the base game. Every one of our 750 paid spins started again at 5,040 ways, with the six reels two to seven symbols tall in a new order. In the free spins it was different: in all three bonus rounds we logged or filmed, a reel that grew kept its height until the round ended.
Does the exploding wild need a win to go off?
It does not. The wild always explodes, the rules say, and when it is part of a win it goes off after the win is paid. In our base game 95 of the 209 explosions came on a screen with no win at all, and each of those still made the symbols drop and moved the multiplier up by one.
Is there really no limit to the multiplier?
The rules say so: "There is no upper limit to the multiplier." What is capped is the round. The configuration of Thunderkick's demo server stops one round's total win at 25,000x the bet. The highest multiplier in our log was x17, at the end of the free spins from spin 384.
Can the free spins be retriggered?
Yes: inside the Bonus Game, 2 scatters award 3 extra free spins and each further one adds 2. None of our three bonus rounds retriggered: each one ran its 12 spins and stopped.
Does the crown pay as much as in the first Carnival Queen?
Less per way. The rules screen of the sequel shows six crowns paying 10.00 at a €1.00 bet; the first game's rules showed 20.00 for the same six. The red-haired woman, second on both paytables, goes from 7.50 to 3.00 for six. Every spin of the sequel starts at 5,040 ways against the first game's 4,096, about 23% more.