Matinee - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Introduction to Matinee

Matinee is, as the name suggests, a cinema-themed slot game from the team at Nucleus. It is easy to play and will suit anyone who likes straightforward slots without too many complicated betting options and special features. There are 25 paylines, which are variable to enable you to choose how many lines to bet on. The free spins feature is particularly exciting, as up to 20 spins can be awarded - all with doubled wins. Fans of the Silent Movie slot demo are sure to also enjoy this game. 

Theme, graphics & soundtrack 

The theme of Matinee is a cinema, with the entire game set against the backdrop of a traditional-looking cinema on a busy street. The reels are set into the facade of the cinema, with the game's title displayed on the light sign over the entrance. 

The game symbols are all things you might expect to find inside a cinema, such as popcorn, movie tickets and film projectors. The lower-paying symbols are the standard playing card symbols but with the fun touch that they are made up of reels of film. The soundtrack is low-key, with sound effects as the reels spin but no background music except when you land a winning combination; when you do, you will get movie score-style music to accompany your win. For other movie themed slots, take a look at the TV and movie section of our site. 

The game is very smooth to play with no delays or lags. This is a slick slot that is enjoyable to play and offers animated symbols whenever they form part of a winning combination. 

Matinee RTP and variance 

The game's RTP (return to player) is 94.75 per cent. While this is slightly below the industry average for online slots, it is still a respectable return. As this is a medium volatility slot, you can expect wins to come fairly frequently, although many will be small. 

 
How to play Matinee

With 25 paylines and a simple betting structure, this is an easy slot to pick up. All you need to do is choose your bet size and decide how many lines to play. Here are step-by-step instructions to help you get started:

1. Launch the game and wait for the intro screens to finish playing.
2. Open the menu to the left of the screen and select ‘change bet’. A pop-up window will appear with all the betting options.
3. Choose your coins size using the ‘bet denomination’ section.
4. Choose how many coins you want to bet per line. To keep things simple, you might like to just bet one coin per line initially.
5. Decide how many lines you want to play. The maximum is 25 but you can choose to play fewer lines if you prefer, including just one line.
6. Check the total bet amount displayed is the amount you are happy with. 
7. Hit the spin button to set the reels in motion. Always remember to play responsibly.

There is an autoplay function if you prefer to set up a number of spins in advance. You can access the autoplay menu from the betting options menu, which is where you set your regular bet amount.

Bet sizes & paytable wins 

The smallest bet size possible is just one coin. To bet this amount, you need to select the smallest coin size of one, choose to bet one coin per line and select to play with a single active payline. For the best chance of winning, however, you will want to choose to bet on all 25 paylines. The largest bet size is 100 coins and you can choose to bet 5x this amount per line, equating to a top bet of 500 coins per line. 

The largest win from a single active payline is 1,000 coins, which comes courtesy of the movie award symbol. You will have to land five on a single line to land this top prize, although even landing three or four symbols will net you a decent return of 200 and 500 coins respectively. 

You can win on multiple lines in a single spin, meaning the top possible payout is far higher than 1,000 coins. You also need to factor in the wild symbol, which carries a multiplier of two for any winning combination it helps to form.

Matinee bonus features 

Free spins

Matinee features a great free spins bonus round, awarding you up to 20 free spins. To trigger the free spins round, you will need to land scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. Five scatters gets you the top prize of 20 free spins, four will land you 12, three gets you 8 free spins, and landing two scatters gets you a payout of 50 coins but doesn't award any free spins. During the free spins, all wins are paid out at double the rate of the base game, meaning the lucrative combos become even more rewarding. 

Wild

The game's other special feature is its wild symbol, which is present in both the base game and the free spins bonus rounds. The wild doubles any win it is part of and only appears on the second and fourth reels.

Overall Matinee review: our verdict

We award this slot 7/10. It is a fun slot with a great free spins round, particularly if you are lucky enough to land five scatters for 20 free spins. If you enjoy this game, check out some of our other Nucleus Gaming demo slots.

Disclaimer: Matinee trademark / license is owned by Nucleus Gaming. This site is not endorsed by Nucleus Gaming.