Hacksaw Gaming’s friends Backseat Gaming designed Commander of Tridents, an underwater online slot. Poseidon, with his golden trident, stars in this underwater adventure. From then, Commander of Tridents becomes weird because many of its features are recognizable from other games. While copying concepts is nothing new, Commander of Tridents’ use of components from other slots is borderline ludicrous, even while it builds on them.
Commander of Tridents takes place under Poseidon’s kingdom, deep down in a murky sea. Floating like the Gates of Olympus, the deity is accompanied by fish, boulders, and plants. A columned edifice beside Poseidon signifies the theme’s Greek ancestry, while a Disney-like harp-heavy ambient melody plays in the background. The background is relaxing, yet a high-paying shark emblem resembles Push Gaming’s Razor Shark’s non-metal-mouthed shark sign. Take this as a sign.
It’s not floating about in the weeds since Commander of Tridents uses a medium-volatile math model. It has four RTP models, starting at 96.28% and rising to 96.36% when buying the bonus round. Players may anticipate 35.04% hits at this level. Matching symbols on a wager line from the first reel on the grid win in this 5-reel, 5-row game with 19 fixed paylines. Bets range from 10p/c to £/€100.
Coral, sea urchins, a trap, an anchor, a Nemo-like fish, a lionfish, a green fish, and the shark are next on the paytable after the Razor Shark chappie. A winning combination of 5 matching symbols is paid 2 times the wager for the 4 lower paying symbols and 4-15 times the stake for the 4 premium fish symbols. All conventional pay symbols are replaced by the wild golden Trident. A Trident symbol grows to span the reel if it would be part of a victory.
Tridents Commander: Slot Features
Mystery Gates, Poseidon’s Treasure, and free spins are also available underwater.
Gates of Mystery
Mystery Gate full reel symbols nudge to conceal a reel if partially visible. Mystery Gates disclose payout symbols or Golden Chests. Golden Mystery Gates rotate to reveal a pay symbol if 3 or more land at once. This is Scrolling Tile Animation. After the Scrolling Tile Animation selects a symbol, Poseidon may improve it. Scrolling Tile Animation symbols pay left to right regardless of where they land on the grid, even if non-winning symbols are between them. All Mystery Gates show the same symbol.
The Poseidon Treasure
Mystery Gates revealing Golden Chests activate this function. All Golden Chests open and spin to reveal a Bronze, Silver, Gold, Multiplier, or Gather symbol:
Bronze Coin values are 1, 2, 3, or 5.
Silver Coins are worth 10.
Gold coins cost 100, 250, 500, or 1,000.
Multiplier values are x2, x3, x5, or x10. This value applies to all Coins and Gather symbols.
Gather symbols aggregate all Coin and Gather symbol values. After gathering, all positions except active Gather symbols are spun again. New Coins, Gather, and Multiplier symbols can arise. The Gather symbol will accept the values of all Coins and Gather symbols. You can only activate gather symbols once.
All Coins and Gather symbols are multiplied by the bet and rewarded after the feature.
Extra Features
The extra feature awards 10, 12, or 14 free spins for 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols. Mystery Gates stay sticky during free spins and turn golden when at least 3 land. In free spins, Reel Multipliers start at x0 above each reel. Golden Temple symbols add x2, x3, x5, or x10 to the Reel Multiplier. The Reel Multipliers above each winning reel multiply all winning combinations. When using multiple multipliers, the values are added first. Reel Multipliers apply to Poseidon’s Treasure Coin and Gather symbols.
Free spins may be bought for 150 times the wager but not retriggered. Buy-free spins are volatile.
Commander of Tridents: Slot Decision
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Push Gaming should blush. Someone at Backseat Gaming may have loved Mystery Museum and believed they could improve it. This contentious ‘acquiring’ of features is nothing new. Game designers steal concepts all the time, but Backseat Gaming’s shark insignia obviously references Razor Shark, as if pointing out a middle finger and saying, ‘Yeah, we’ve done it, and?’
After discussing one of Commander of Tridents’ greatest issues, we go to the games. How well have this legendary crossover’s features performed? Overall, outcomes were mixed. Commander of Tridents lacks Mystery Museum’s striking visuals. The artwork aren’t particularly striking, and the music was often too ambient, but it reminded me of Mystery Museums’ sweeping songs. Reel Multipliers and Poseidon Treasure enhance the experience from Backseat Gaming. Even though, Poseidon Treasure may have impressed more if Push Gaming hadn’t added another layer of mimicry over Commander of Tridents like a crusty old blanket.
This is amusing. As a standalone game, Commander of Tridents has appealing features and a 15,000x max win. Backseat Gaming’s sticky Mystery Gates in free spins and Poseidon’s Treasure, however rare, can be augmented by Reel Multipliers to add excitement. Knowing that much of Commander of Tridents’ content was inspired elsewhere dilutes the experience. It may not be a deal-breaker for Commander of Tridents fans or those who want less instability, but the concept feels cheeky.