Slot reviews
[Slot review] Avalon — Microgaming
A review that reads Avalon as a baseline for Microgaming's 2012 slots. Among this catalogue's seven titles from that year, its 96.01% RTP is the lowest, and its High volatility matches the majority. A look at how narrowly one year's published specs clustered.
Overview
Avalon is a slot Microgaming released on 6 November 2012. The published RTP is 96.01%, volatility is High, and the bet range is 0.2 to 200. The hub's theme tags are Fantasy and Mythology.
This catalogue has seven Microgaming slots from 2012: Thunderstruck and Mermaids Millions (22 March), Spring Break and Ladies Nite (21 August), Avalon (6 November), and Adventure Palace and Burning Desire (5 December). This review uses Avalon as the reference point for that year.
Layout and rules
The format field says only 'Video slot', so the reel, row and line layout is unpublished. Most of the other titles from the same year do publish theirs: Thunderstruck, Spring Break, Ladies Nite and Adventure Palace are 5 reels and 9 lines, Mermaids Millions is 5 reels and 15 lines, and Burning Desire is 5 reels and 243 ways. Of the seven, Avalon is the only one with an empty format field.
The hub's feature field is empty too, and the paytable and feature conditions are not in the published specification. The same year's titles being five-reel builds is no reason to write that in for Avalon; its layout has to be checked on the demo's rules screen.
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2012 as a baseline
The published RTPs of the seven 2012 titles fall between 96.01% and 96.56%. The lowest is Avalon's 96.01%; the highest is Mermaids Millions at 96.56%. Four sit at exactly 96.10% (Thunderstruck, Spring Break, Ladies Nite, Adventure Palace), and Burning Desire is at 96.19%. A whole year's releases fit inside a 0.55-point band.
Five of the seven are High volatility; Burning Desire is Medium and Mermaids Millions is Low. Avalon sits with the majority at High. Its 0.2 to 200 bet range is higher at both ends than the 0.09 to 90 of that year's nine-line titles.
Max win is blank in the hub for Avalon as well. Comparisons among the 2012 titles can therefore run across RTP, volatility, bet range and format, but the cap cannot be part of them.
Presentation
The cover shows a robed figure inside a stone frame holding a chalice, face lost in shadow. The chalice is not raised. Grey-blue tones, a hood and complete stillness make it an unusually solemn slot cover, and it contrasts with the bright caricature on that year's Thunderstruck cover.
The demo is embedded on this page. As the only title from that year with an unpublished format, it is worth checking the reel layout and pay type on the rules screen first.
Strengths
- RTP, volatility and bet range are published, so it can sit next to the other 2012 titles
- The seven same-year titles cluster in a narrow RTP band, which makes the period's baseline easy to read
- The cover has a mood clearly distinct from its same-year peers
Weak points
- The only same-year title with an unpublished reel, row and line layout
- Its 96.01% RTP is the lowest of the seven 2012 titles
- Max win, the feature list and the paytable are unpublished
Verdict
On its own, Avalon is an ordinary High-volatility slot; set among the seven 2012 titles, it shows how narrowly that year's published specs clustered. A baseline does not need to be special, only to make comparison possible.