Microgaming is one of the founding fathers of online gambling. The Isle of Man based business is behind some of the biggest games in the business, including Mega Moolah, Immortal Romance, Thunderstruck and Break Da Bank. If you spent most of 1984 thinking about Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks, you clearly spent a couple of hours watching the hit rom-come Splash. We think Ariana is probably a mermaid but it’s not a given. Even when the reel is expanded, you never see her from the waist down. Is she wearing heels or a flipper? Who knows

Ariana Slot Look and Feel

Ariana is a great looking game and a good-looking dame, beautifully detailed and perfectly rendered. The five reels are suspended below the water, sat on top of a coral reef, bathed in light and surrounded by tropical fish. It’s all so very blue.

Ariana Slot Gameplay - Winning Lines
Ariana Slot Gameplay – Winning Lines

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Microgaming released the game in 2015, describing its artwork as ‘breath-taking’. It is certainly illustrated with lots of love. The detailed drawings on the icons – a testament to that. However, it does feel a little short on content. It’s almost as if the designer got bored and decided ‘enough was enough’. You are left wanting more.

The audio is non-existent. In the base game, you hear only audio clips that recreate the old electronic slots. If you hit two scatters, a ‘tension’ noise kicks in to ramp up the excitement.  There are other small audio hits and splashes, when you land a winning payline. Again: it’s all a little half-baked.

The only music in the Ariana slot kicks in with the bonus round. Hit three scatters, and the free spins, and you get to hear the game’s secret score. We don’t want to spoil the surprise but it’s the cheese-fest that follows the seafood platter.

How To Play Ariana Slot

Ariana Slot Gameplay
Ariana Slot Gameplay

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The Ariana online slot comes with five reels in a classic 5 x 3 grid. Your goal is to hit at least three matching icons on any one – or more – of the 25 paylines. The winning lines pay out from left to right, with the wild substituting for everything – except the scatter.

Microgaming are masters of simplicity and function. This is elegantly demonstrated in this game, where there are only a few icons on the main game screen. They are concise, well-designed, and simple to understand.

Hit the coin icon to choose the value of your bet. It can range from £0.50 a spin to £250. Go easy on the big ones! There is no option to choose how many paylines to play with each spin. You have to bet all 25 every time.

Ariana also comes with both turbo play and auto play. The latter starts with a minimum of 10 unattended spins, up to 100. Check what version of the game you are playing. Recent UK gambling legislation has clamped down on both turbo play and automatic play. These days, you need fit fingers to keep on spinning.

The final icon on main screen links to both the basic and the detailed game rules, as well as an option to mute the minimal sound on offer. When it comes to gameplay, Ariana has no significant surprises.

Ariana Slot Symbols

Ariana Slot Symbols
Ariana Slot Symbols

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This slot seems to straddle two worlds exceptionally well as it pays homage to the traditional look and feel of a slot machine as it does contain a number of traditional symbols. To begin with, you will notice that this game has traditional card symbols which include the 10, J, Q, K and A. These are the low paying symbols which means that prizes are smaller when you land these symbols but that is not the end of the world because the prizes are still worth taking home!

Along with these, you will also find the likes of the Underwater Treasure symbol, a sea dragon and a mermaid symbol while there are other symbols here such as the game logo which is used as the Wild symbol. If you’re wondering what the scatter might be then this is a Starfish.

So, this is a game that stays true to its theme by ensuring that it provides a good blend of symbols, all of which add to the game play and the overall feel.

Our Verdict

Is Ariana a mermaid? This is the burning question for which we have no answer. It’s certainly a smart, quick, beautifully designed slot from a development house you can trust. The RTP is an average 95.48%. The maximum pay-out is £30,000.

This is a game that has been kicking around for nearly a decade but it still looks fresh. The gameplay is light on features. The bonus round is underwhelming. The game’s sound track is missing in action. It’s a little bit like a walk in the park or – perhaps – a swim in the surf.

All in all, the Ariana online slot is a good game – not a great game. If you fancy hanging out on the reef, with a sassy sea siren, who may or may not be legless, grab your diving gear, snorkel up, and have a splash on this online slot. Enjoy.

Ariana Slot Bonuses

Ariana packs in one bonus. It’s the ubiquitous free spins. There is also an expanding symbols opportunity on reel one. Any full symbol on reel one expands all matching symbols on the remaining reels.

Bonus Name Bonus Explanation
Free Spins

If you are lucky enough to land the purple starfish scatter icon at least three times, you trigger the free spins bonus round. You get 15 free spins and the wild symbol is stacked on reel one. If you reel in more starfish, you get more free spins

This is where the music kicks in but – sadly – there are no multipliers or additional features. Microgaming are playing it safe here with a very generic and straightforward bonus round. You get only 15 free spins, even if you land five scatters.

Having said that: when we were testing the game, we landed this bonus round several times. It seems to hit quite often.

Ariana Slot FAQs

As is common with many different slot games, it is possible to try this slot for free. This gives you the chance to play the game without losing any money.

There are two bonus features on offer with the Ariana slot. This includes the free spins feature and the expanding symbols feature.

The RTP of Ariana slot is 95%.

The free spins are a great way of winning more prizes and to get the free spins all you need to do is land the scatter symbol which is the starfish. You will need to land 3, 4 or 5 of these to get 15 free spins.

About the Author

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Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen is an online gambling industry veteran, with more than 25 years in the sector. After an early career in journalism, Cullen took a marketing role at the world’s first online sportsbook: Intertops.com. Since then, he has worked at dozens of online gaming businesses, been held at gunpoint, seen his boss arrested, and was witness to the Absolute Poker cheating scandal.

Reviewer since April, 2023

Ariana Slot Details

👨‍💻 Developer
blank
📅 Released
2015
✅ Paylines
25
🎰 Reels
5
🔽 Min Bet
0.01
🔼 Max Bet
0.5
🔽 Min Coins
N/A
🔼 Max Coins
N/A
📈 RTP
95.48%
🏆 Jackpot
30,000
Rate This Game:
(3 Votes)

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