Fruit Shop Slot
Written By
Last Updated
The Fruit Shop slot is an old school style game that’s enjoyed a contemporary makeover, at the very capable hands of one of online gaming’s most exciting development houses: NetEnt. Under the bonnet of this old-fashioned looking slot lurks a thoroughly modern engine. The connection between fruit and gambling goes back more than a century. When the first mechanical slot machines appeared, circa 1900, some US states were wary of cash gambling. The machines were adjusted to dispense gum. The flavour would be determined by the winning combination of fruit. A line of cherries won you a stick of cherry-flavoured gum Simple, eh?
- Fun, cartoon design.
- Free Spins trigger frequently.
- Wilds double up the wins.
- Free Spins the only bonus feature.
- Maximum of five free spins.
- Low number of paylines.
The symbols were very popular and quickly copied by every other slot machine manufacturer. Even today, slots are known as fruit machines or ‘fruities’. The symbols are easy to recognise, immediately associated with slots, and are design classics that have stood the test of time. The Fruit Shop slot is a celebration of these iconic icons. It’s a high energy game, packed with vitamin C and fruity goodness. Is it worth a squeeze? We think so. Although whoever wrote the music should be forced to endure the fruits (sorry) of their labour for 24 hours non-stop. If they are sane at the end, we would be very surprised. With this particular game of fruit, mute is your friend.
Fruit Shop Slot Look and Feel
NetEnt have a fabulous reputation for producing fine looking products. From Gonzo onwards, the Stockholm-based business has always crafted great looking slots. They get it: quality sells and quality get the clicks.
The Fruit Shop slot is achingly simple, by design. It’s a basic 5 x 3 grid. Across the top of the five reels, a striped awning sets the scene. The shop is open and ready for business. The look is pure cartoon: bright, garish, and colourful.
Alongside the reels, are numbers indicating each of the 15 paylines. If you move you mouse over the number, the relevant payline is revealed. Although you can select each individual payline, you still have to bet all 15 with every spin. The game has no background audio during regular play. Just the mechanical noise of the roll of the reels when you give it a spin, with a loud fanfare on every win.
However, when the free spins are activated, a gabba-style, techno-tempo, oom-pah-pah band suddenly bursts into life with one of the most annoying online slot themes ever. It’s almost enough to make you want to forego the free spins. Overall: the design hits the spot: fruity and fun. The audio is great, when it’s not playing.
How To Play Fruit Shop Slot
The Fruit Shop online slot has 15 paylines. You have to play them all, with every spin. On the main screen, there are several options to explore. The game was first released in 2011 and has both autoplay and a quick spin option. Today, gambling regulation limits these features. One thing we really like about this game is the clarity of the wagering options. You can bet in either coins or cash. If you opt to bet in coins, the amount you wager can sometimes be a little abstract. You have to select both the coin value, as well as the bet level from one to ten.
If you decide to ‘show bet in cash’ you deal with just the one option: the cash value of a single spin, in this case anything from £0.15 to £150 a spin. You will need deep pockets to keep rolling the reels at £150 for every spin. The Fruit Shop online slot comes with a slightly unusual bonus mechanic. There will be more detail on this below but – basically – there is no scatter symbol and there is no separate bonus round. Free spins are awarded during regular game play, when you successfully line up specific winning combinations on one of the fifteen paylines.
Fundamentally, Fruit Shop is a very basic online slot to play. Spin and hope for the best.
Fruit Shop Slot Symbols
Spoiler alert: there may be fruit involved. All this game is missing is a bell and a BAR, to complete the full set of every classic slot machine icon ever created.
The base game, low value, symbols are card rankings from 10 to ace. At the very bottom of the pecking order is the lowly 10. Line up five of these, on a winning payline, and you pocket 5x your total bet. Hit the ace five times and it’s a multiplier of ten.
The Fruit Shop slot’s high value symbols are fruit. In last place, the humble watermelon. Next in the fruity pecking order come the orange and lemon. In second place, cometh the plum. The winning fruit is – of course – the main man maraschino: the cherry.
The only other symbol in the game is the eponymous Fruit Shop logo. This the slot’s wild. Hit a winning combination with this and all bet line wins pay 2x.
In Summary
Fruit Shop is a very basic online slot, with a fairly complicated turbocharger. It really is the chassis of a Morris Minor, powered by the engine of a Bugatti Veyron. It’s a straight up, 15 payline fruity, with a big free spin ‘bell and whistle’. The Return to Player is pretty good at 96.71%. Definitely in the higher RTP category.
It’s not a huge amount of fun to play and it lacks a bonus round that you can really aim for. However: it’s generous, quick, and easy to grasp. As long as you flick the audio to mute, it’s worth taking a bite out of this juicy little game from NetEnt. Squeeze to please…
Fruit Shop Slot Bonuses
There is no bonus round on the Fruit Shop online slot. There is – however – an embedded free spin feature triggered by winning spins. It’s all good.