Royal Express: Hold and Win

Apart from familiarising yourself with the base game symbols and hold and win bonus, I also suggest trying out different bet levels during your free demo playthrough. This will help you decide on the ideal setting to suit your gambling budget once you decide to start playing the game for real money.

Royal Express: Hold and Win is a rather straightforward online slot, but that doesn’t mean it’s a walk in the park. During my playthrough, the game proved to be quite tough, with the bonus mode only triggering around once every 150 spins. The base game wins can be rewarding in their own right, but you’ll want to trigger that bonus mode as many times as possible to maximise your rewards’ potential.

So, I recommend the following:

• Set a low bet level: Given how long it can take to access the online slot’s hold and win bonus, I suggest setting a relatively low bet level. This will ideally extend your bankroll, buying you enough base game spins to activate the bonus several times over.
• Approach the bonus buy cautiously: The bonus buy option can take you straight into the hold and win bonus. But this will cost you 75x your stake for every trigger, which can add up significantly. So, only use this if it fits in your gambling budget.
• Avoid video slot strategies and myths: There are loads of so-called experts who claim to offer video slot strategies, but most of them amount to myths. Video slots run using random number generators, so the outcome of each spin is random and cannot be manipulated. Avoid any false claims of winning at video slots and stick to efficiently managing your bankroll.

Retro video slots and fruit slots remain a popular niche among players, especially those who stick to a simpler set of features, instead of the sometimes-overwhelming mechanics that come with modern video slots. So, I approached Royal Express: Hold and Win, hoping for the game to offer a fresh twist on the tried and tested formula.

On the one hand, I appreciated the way that the online slot created a sense of progression, with bonus and boost symbols offering some rewards during the base game, only to then enter the full form during the bonus rounds. I’m also a fan of the high payout symbols in the base game, which can lead to some satisfying wins, even with just three symbol combinations.

With that being said, the game suffers from several issues. The first being a lack of original features. We’ve all played through similar games with hold and win features, and the online slot doesn’t add anything meaningful to the popular mechanic. But what makes matters worse is the limited max win cap.

I would have been fine with the disappointingly low RTP of 95.6% if the game offered the chance to score impressive wins. But when the biggest reward you can claim is 1,000x your stake, that RTP becomes a big problem. It means that even if you patiently wait for the biggest possible win to drop, it will most likely not be worth the wait.

So, overall, I feel that Royal Express: Hold and Win misses the mark. While its gameplay loop can be quite fun and its visuals hold up immensely well, the lacklustre math model makes it a somewhat difficult slot to recommend.