When a casino slot game opens with a video introduction of a helicopter dropping off an archeologist/treasure hunter, you have to wonder if the game can live up to the self-hype of the developer. It takes some brass balls to do such things, and very rarely does the game live up to such fanciful intros. 

The game Ancient Tumble comes from the minds of Relax Gaming, a developer known for having a mixed bag of games. When they get it right, the slot can be incredible, but when they get it wrong, you wonder how they manage to stay afloat. 

In this review, I put Ancient Tumble to the test. I play this game for real money and reveal how the game plays, how it is programmed, and how it performs. I discuss design, bonuses, special features, and possible payouts. This review also contains the game's free-to-play demo, allowing you to experience the adventure without cost or risk. If you like the game, try your luck with the real money version held in the top casinos online.

Beyond the movie-like intro, the Ancient Tumble game presents a slot game found deep within some tropical forest. The slot comes with a 6-row and 6-reel layout. This is a tumbler game which holds 46,656 ways to win. The atmospheric layering of sound is a winner and comes with some quiet evil whisperings.

The first action, after loading the game, is to set the value of your bet. This price is paid per spin played. The betting prices start at $0.20 and rise to a max bet cost of $100. With this set, you can begin the game by pressing the spin button. Now, to win, you must land matching symbols across adjacent reels. 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the same symbol will constitute a win. The higher-valued symbols are the red and green masks, followed by the red, green, and blue gems. The lowest-valued symbols are the A, K, Q, and J.

The tumbler mechanism used in this game means that symbols do not rotate on a reel but instead drop in and out of the reels. When symbols form a win, they then crumble from their position, and the blocks or symbols above then drop into the vacant space. New symbols or blocks are then dropped into the reels from above to complete the slot. This tumbling formation of play allows for new wins to be produced from a singular ‘spin.’ 

As with all slots, the basic rules are to continue pressing the spin button to play the game and hopefully land enough wins to help you end the game and cash out a return. Ancient Tumble doesn’t just end there because it’s a game filled with many resourceful features. 

• Unbreakable Wild: Any stone block can reveal the Unbreakable Wild symbol [reels 2 to 6 only]. Their power helps break normal symbols beneath them when they produce a win after a tumble. Once the Unbreakable Wild drops to the bottom row, they remain till the round of play is over or produce a win.
• Coin Symbols: These are found hidden within stone blocks and can land within the game as normal symbols. They can carry multiplier values ranging from x1 to x25.
• Coin Multiplier Symbols: Should a Coin symbol become destroyed, it will activate the Coin Multiplier. These multiply the Coin values that are shown on the slot grid, if there are any.
• Colossal Symbols: Symbols can appear as 2x2 or 5x5 colossal symbols. 
• Free Spins: You will be awarded six free spins if you manage to destroy all the stone blocks within a base game. You will then get to pick one free spin mode from four options. Additional spins can also be retriggered in this round of play.
• Coin Free Spins: This mode of play provides 3-to-14-coin stone blocks that will land with each spin played. You might also get Coin Multipliers.
• Classic Free Spins: In this mode, you will play with blocks, awarding extra spins within the stone blocks. 1 to 3 spins can be won with these. 
• Colossal Free Spins: In this mode, with each spin played, you will land either a 2x2 or 5x5 Colossal symbol. 
• Multiplier Ladder Free Spins: This mode of play includes a multiplier ladder. With each win made, the counter on the ladder moves up one multiplier value. There are many values on this ladder, starting at x1 and ending at x100.
• Golden Spin: This feature is active in both base games and the bonus rounds. On any random spin, you can destroy all blocks to unlock the Super Free Spins game. 
• Super Free Spins: This round of play includes all features found within all the Free Spins modes.
• Hot Mode: Randomly, this feature can trigger at the start of any spin and it increases the chances of landing a big win.
• Buy Bonus: Players can buy normal Free Spins or the Super Free Spins. The normal spins cost 50x your bet, and the super ones cost 400x your bet.

When a game packs this number of features into its play, it is a must-play for me. I loaded the game and set my bet to $2 and played 50 auto spins.

The game came to life on the fifth spin, landing a $10 spin. The animated treasure hunter to the left of the reels moves when you succeed. There are lots of spins played with nothing in return. It took till my 33rd spin to strike another big win, and this came in at $35.30. So far, none of the big features have unlocked, but another $25 win helped me to go beyond my original balance. 

With all 50 spins played, I could cash out $7.40. It was an odd game. I won three big payouts, but between this, nothing much happened, and none of the main features were triggered. Still, it is one of Relax Gaming best slots. 

The max payout possible is 10,000 times the player's bet. If you pay $100 per spin, you can win up to $1,000,000! The RTP is 96.10%, with the volatility programmed to a high setting. This possibly explains the whole lot of nothing I experienced.

With so many in-play features and bonuses, this really is a game that packs a lot of potential and entertainment. But players, be warned. This is a game built for long-haul gaming, which will make it costly. Nevertheless, it’s one of the best that you’ll find within the catalogs of Relax Gaming.

If you like this style of gameplay, then check out these other highly recommended slot games:

• Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead by Play’n GO
• Lara Croft: Tomb of the Sun by Games Global
• Cursed Treasure by NetEnt

All games can be played for free at akfxoqsd.shop, the place where you will also find all the real money casinos hosting all these games.