The Grand - NZ Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Introduction to The Grand

Quickspin have created a solid reputation for themselves amongst the online casino community, for creating a diverse and interesting catalogue of slots game covering a huge variety of themes. The software house’s slots games usually feature plenty of exciting side games and bonus features, as these are elements that slots fans love, and The Grand is no exception.

It’s a classy game, which is made clear from the moment that the game opens. Against a rich purple background, dotted with muted lights, the reels are set within a highly polished chrome border, featuring the straight lines and minimalist decoration of the Art Deco movement. The game’s logo also plays into the theme, featuring decorative elements and the unique font style of the 1930s.

Six reels are set out in a graduated schematic, with two sets of three rows, followed by two sets of four rows and two sets of five rows, which looks unusual, and also informs the game’s Ways To Win mechanic, which does away with traditional paylines, but doesn’t involve the fairly common 243 Ways To Win formula either. It all serves to make this game feel just a bit different from other types of slots game.

On the reels, you’ll find just six different symbols. The highest rewards come from the two magnificent jewelled symbols, but you’ll also find representations of the playing card suits, here depicted as having been crafted from richly enamelled metal, with just a hint of decoration.

Payout Ratio (or RTP) of The Grand Slot

Some new slots players approach the RTP, or Return To Player ratio as some kind of guarantee of returns, but this is far from the case. The RTP is actually calculated over a period of around a month or so, collecting data from numerous players to assess the amount that they spend wagering on a game, together with details about winnings. In the case of The Grand, the RTP has been calculated as being 96.58%, which indicates that for every $100 spent on spinning the reels of the game, $96.58 is paid out in the form of winnings. That doesn’t mean that you can count on this level of return personally, although if you played the game for long enough you should theoretically reach this percentage of returns. But you might have to play for a long, long time to do so!

Some players will fail to win back their stake money, whereas other players will receive huge cash awards, so never rely on the RTP as any kind of guarantee of returns. We suggest turning the figure on its head instead, which would show in this case that the house has just under a 3.5% edge, which is very good for an online slots game.

How to Play The Grand Slots

The Grand doesn’t provide the usual payline structure - in fact, there are no actual paylines at all, since the game offers a 214 Ways To Win mechanic instead. So all you need to do as a player, is to decide on the amount of your wager for each spin of the reels. Place your bet at just $0.20 per spin if you’re a cautious player, or go for broke and wager the maximum sum of $100 if you’re feeling lucky. Then hit the Spin button to see where the reels take you.

You’ll find the game’s Spin button to the bottom right of your screen, at the end of your player console. Here is where you can alter your wager, check the level of your current bet, view your current balance and access the game’s settings and paytable too.

Directly to the left of the Spin button you’ll see a button with two chevrons on it - click or tap here just once to speed up the reels, making for a faster, more up-tempo game, or click again to restore the game back to its usual speed settings if you prefer a more sedate gaming experience. Just above the chevrons, you’ll find the Autoplay button, which allows you to select from a number of pre-set automatic spins, removing the need to keep on tapping or clicking every time you want to set the reels into action. If you find that your balance is running low, or you change your mind partway through your spins, there’s no need to panic! Another tap or click on the button will deactivate the feature and restore the game back to manual controls again.

The Grand Game Volatility

Volatility in slots games is something that not all slots players understand, but it’s important to know the volatility of a game that you’re playing, to be certain that it’s the right type of game to suit your playing style and your bankroll.

Low volatility games provide loads of fun and excitement, but without generating huge cash payouts that high-risk players love so much. Wins tend to occur very frequently, but the sums of money involved are on the small side, at least so far as high rollers are concerned. However, more cautious players flock to these games as they offer up so many wins. High volatility games, such as The Grand, don’t offer very many small wins, and winning streaks can be few and far between, so players need to understand how to handle their bankroll to make the most of their available funds. Once wins do start occurring though, they tend to be highly generous, and these are the sorts of games that tend to offer the very highest financial rewards, which is why high rollers actively seek them out. Medium volatility games combine the best of both worlds, delivering up sufficient small wins to keep low-stakes players engaged, with occasional big wins to satisfy the high-stakes player.

How To Win at The Grand Slots

With no paylines, you might be wondering how exactly you achieve a win at The Grand. The game makes use of an unusual 214 Ways To Win mechanic, thanks to its unique structure, which operates in a very similar way to the popular 243 Ways To Win that can be seen across so many modern online slots games. But whereas the latter format just needs matching symbols to appear on adjacent reels, starting from the reel furthest to the left, in the case of The Grand, simply being on an adjacent reel isn’t enough on its own to achieve a win. Each symbol on consecutive reels needs to be actually in contact with the same symbol on the previous reel, even if it’s just the corners touching, otherwise it won’t count as a win.

Max-win 2,900x

Volatility High

Top RTP 96.58%

The Grand Bonus Features

For the majority of slots fans, it’s all about the bonus features, and in that regard, The Grand certainly doesn’t disappoint. There are three bonus symbols to watch out for, but they have to be randomly triggered, so you won't find Wild symbols cropping up on the reels unless the Wild button underneath reels 1 and 2 is in play. There are also buttons for Sync and Nudge, providing extra chances of scoring a winning line.

Any of these features can come into play randomly following any spin of the reels, at which point the relevant button will light up. Only one feature can be triggered at a time in the base game.

When the Random Wilds feature is triggered, between 4 and 8 Wilds will be scattered across reels 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. And since the Wild can substitute for any other symbol on the reels, apart from the Free Spins Scatter and Bonus symbol, this can greatly enhance your chances of achieving a win.

The Nudge feature is bound to be popular with old-school slots fans who remember this appearing on slots machines in bricks-and-mortar premises, although here it’s been brought bang up to date. When this button lights up, you’ll find that up to three separate reels will nudge up or down by one position, which could lead to some big wins.

The Sync feature appears as the reels are spinning, syncing between one and three pairs of same-sized reels together to display matching symbols, which again could provide some generous payouts if the symbols fall into line appropriately.

Free Spins on The Grand Slot

The Grand also features an exciting Free Spins round, which is triggered when you manage to spin 3 or more Scatter symbols across the reels. Three Scatters will award you with 6 Free spins, 4 Scatters gives you 9 Free Spins, 5 Scatters gives you 12 Free Spins, and if you’re lucky enough to achieve 6 Scatters across the reels, you’ll benefit from a generous 15 Free Spins in total.

Throughout the Free Spins rounds, all three features - Nudge, Wilds and Sync - can be triggered simultaneously, which potentially can create some huge wins. But they don’t just crop up randomly, as they do in the base game. In fact, you need to spin 3 Bonus symbols, which only appear in the Free Spins rounds, to generate the appearance of the Grandomizer. Also conforming to the Art Deco aesthetic, the Grandomizer decides how many extra Free Spins you will receive, as well as allocating one or more of the features, which will each play out in turn to increase your prize payout.

The Grand Slot On Mobile - Android, iPhones and Tablets

The Grand has been created in the lean code of HTML5, so you can easily access the game from your smartphone or tablet, in addition to playing on your desktop, Mac and laptop.

The Grand FAQs

Can I play The Grand for free?

Yes, all of the games across our website are completely free to play, so you can play The Grand, and also try out our other free Quickspin slots if you’re looking for other games from this developer. We’ve got hundreds of great games to show you, including the highly engaging Wins of Fortune slot demo, also from Quickspin. But we also hold titles from all the other current software houses too, so you’re certain to find something that captures your imagination.

Is The Grand available to play for real money in New Zealand?

Yes, but you’ll need to visit an online casino first, as the games on our site only use virtual money for information and entertainment purposes. Just make sure that your chosen casino offers Quickspin software.

Can I play The Grand in NZ$?

All of the casinos that we list on our site accept NZ$ as standard, so just follow our links to start playing for real bucks.

Which NZ Casinos offer The Grand?

Try out one of the casinos that we review and list on our site, such as Casimba, Spin Palace or Sloty Casino. And if you’re looking for a mobile casino, we can help you there too - why not try LeoVegas Mobile, for example?

Does The Grand have a Free Spins feature?

Yes, it most certainly does. Spin three or more Scatters across the reels to trigger between 6 and 15 Free Spins.