Today’s Weather Slot Machine
Released to all Quickfire operators in late 2014, Today’s Weather is a meteorological video slot from the Genesis Gaming software suite. The instant-play slot, which was initially released exclusively for William Hill, features five reels and 25 pay-lines and takes as its theme a topic that is debated endlessly – the weather. Will the sun shine on you as you play? That’s anyone’s guess, but whether it’s a heat wave or a thunderstorm, you’re sure to enjoy getting to grips with this seasonal slot although it may have already been eclipsed by Yggdrasil's Seasons slot.
Today’s Weather is an easy game to play, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a bunch of extra features to keep things interesting. Indeed, the game was the first to use the developer’s ‘Random Features’ bonus. Actually, there are five different free spins series, each with a different wild variation or multiplier. More on the bonuses later, though. Let’s peer out the window and see what the weather’s like.
Blue Skies and Green Hills
Several seasons are showcased in Today’s Weather, but the base game takes place with the sun burning back clouds in the firmament. The five transparent reels are set in a green valley, against the backdrop of a blue sky. The munificent sun is illuminating the green grass and as the reels start to spin, the background can change depending on your fortunes.
Before getting started, you’ll need to make a few decisions, namely on how many pay-lines you want to play, what you wish to stake per line and whether you want to activate the Autoplay mode. The minimum you can wager per line is 0.02, meaning this is very much a game beginners or low-rollers can enjoy. Regarding the Autoplay function, you can set the reels to spin 5, 10, 15, 25, 100, 250 or 500 times without any player input. We’re not sure how many people would want to play 500 consecutive spins, but hey, the option’s there.
Gauging the Weather
Symbols in the game include a sun, a raincloud, a cloud leaking snowflakes and a wind icon. Like most Genesis Gaming games, this one also features six low-value playing card icons: 9, 10, J, Q, K, A.
The best-paying of these symbols is the sun, which pays 1,000 for five, 500 for four, 50 for three and two for two. The raincloud pays 750/150/20 while the snow cloud pays 500/100/15. The wind pays the same as the snow cloud.
Weather Gone Wild
The wild icon is the one with one boiling hot temperature monitor, one ice cold temperature monitor, and the words Wild Weather stamped in the middle. The wild acts as a substitute for all the other symbols, except for the scatter, to help you formulate winning combinations. When a wild substitutes in a win, the highest win is paid. The wild is also linked to some mammoth pay-outs. Even if you only wager one coin, five wilds pays 2,000 while four pays 1,000; you’ll win 100 for three and two for two.
The scatter is the emblem marked Weather Forecast. Scatters pay in any position and are multiplied by your total wagered amount. Three or more scatters activates the Today’s Weather 5 Day Forecast. When this feature is activated, a second screen appears with the 5 Day Forecast. Your job is to choose one of the five days, from Monday to Friday; you’ll then be awarded with one of four different free spin series.
In the Wind series, you’ll be granted five free spins and stacked wilds. On each free spin, any wild that pops up will nudge the stacked wilds to cover the entire reel. In the Snow series, you’ll be awarded eight free spins and sticky wilds. If a wild appears during the spin, it’ll stick to the reels and remain in place for the duration of the bonus.
The Rain series grants you five free spins, and supplies between one and 15 randomly added wilds. The Sun feature, meanwhile, gifts you 10, 15, 20 or 25 free spins with a multiplier of x2, x3, x5 or x10.
Will the sun shine on you?
Today’s Weather is worth a whirl. The game takes an original theme and marries it to advanced gameplay. Not only are there scatters and wilds to find, but both are linked with values in the pay-table. When you factor in the presence of a dynamic 5 Day Forecast bonus feature, you can’t deny that Today’s Weather forecast is something to get excited about. If talking about the weather bores the socks off you, you could always check out one of their more unique games like Time Voyagers.
