Black Swan - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Introduction

Take a break from fantasy themed slots and keep it simple in the most elegant way possible with Black Swan from Altea Gaming. This gentlemen’s club comes with four standard card symbols at the bottom of the paytable and seven more interesting themed symbols, including a wild that pays in its own right in addition to being a substitute and a scatter that can trigger free spins. Some symbols pay from two matches, while others need at least three. You will need them to land on one of the ten paylines in this 3x5 slot.

Theme, graphics & soundtrack

The big strength of this slot is its setting, which is the classy interior of a gentlemen’s club - complete with the easy-to-listen-to lounge music you would expect. You will find elegant symbols such as a pocket watch, diamonds, a brandy glass and - of course - a case of cigars and the titular black swan figurine, all of which are depicted up close to allow more detail to be shown. There is also a handy safe to protect all these valuables, the door of which will swing open in animated style when triggering free spins. The graphics are technically HD and although not the most vivid you will ever see, it is still an atmospheric slot.

Black Swan RTP & volatility

Unusually, Altea Gaming has not provided an official RTP for Black Swan; what’s more, as with many slots, there is no official volatility. This makes it difficult to judge the likely returns without playing the slot first. Luckily, we have plenty of Altea Gaming demo slots available to play for free here at Slots Temple to give you a feel for the gameplay.

How to play Black Swan

Once you have stepped into the club, you will soon find everything you need for a rewarding game:

1. The three lines to the top left of the screen will open and close the adjustors for your number of paylines, coin value and coin bet.

2. Below this is a question mark symbol that will reveal the paytable. Click it again for a guide to the bonus features, and once more for a display of the available paylines.

3. The next symbol down is a musical note. This can mute the soundtrack and turn it on again.

4. There is one more button on the left of the screen, which is the X that represents close and will immediately shut your game (not just your page). It is quite easy to press this accidentally if you have the paytable open, so be careful.

5. Across the bottom of the screen are all the displays you need to know - cash, bet, win and coins - so keep an eye on them.

6. On the right of the screen are three larger buttons. The bottom one is gamble, which only comes into play after a winning spin. You click this if you want to risk your prize.

7. The top button can open a very simple autoplay feature if you don’t want to manually spin the reels. You can set 5, 20, 50 or 100 spins, but there are no win and loss limits.

8. Finally, there is the spin button in the middle, which will turn into a collect button after a winning spin if you don’t want to gamble. Once you have set your budget, click it and you are ready to play responsibly.

Bet sizes & paytable wins

You have the choice of setting your coin value between 0.02 and 0.20 and your coin bet between one and five, which isn’t the largest range. Your bet will be automatically set to the lowest level when you open the game, which makes rewards on the paytable look like this:

- Ten, jack, queen = 0.10, 0.50, 2.00
- Cigars = 0.04, 0.10, 0.50, 2.00
- King, ace = 0.20, 1.00, 2.50
- Brandy, letter = 0.30, 1.50, 5.00
- Mask, diamonds = 0.04, 0.50, 2.50, 15.00
- Black Swan = 5.00, 50.00, 180.00
- Safe - 0.40, 1.00, 4.00, 100.00

Any win that includes the Black Swan wild will be doubled.

Black Swan bonus features & free spins

Gamble

- After every winning spin, you will be given the opportunity to flip a coin. Correctly pick heads or tails and you will double your prize, but guess wrong and you get nothing. You can repeat the gamble up to ten times to keep increasing the reward, but you will also have more to lose.

- Fairy Bonus

This is a progressive jackpot featured across Altea Gaming slots. It is awarded at random, so keep a lookout for it and you could have a delightful surprise win.

- Free spins

Free spins are triggered when you match three safe scatter symbols. You start at ten free spins, but they can be retriggered and there is the bonus of a 2x multiplier on all your wins.

Our verdict

This is a classy offering that uses its relatively simple format to create an aura of easy elegance. There aren’t a huge number of bonus features; however, this sometimes makes it easier to appreciate the finer details, which is the main focus of this slot. Many players will enjoy being immersed in this luxurious gentlemen’s club; alternatively, if you want something a bit more fantastical with a few more features, you could try the Blood Lust slot from ELK studios.

Disclaimer: Black Swan trademark / license is owned by Altea Gaming. This site is not endorsed by Altea Gaming.