Microgaming Launches Innovative Anderthals™ Online Slot
JustForTheWin’s Anderthals, released with Microgaming in April 2020, is a video slot set on a prehistoric cave-era adventure. It has 40 pay-lines across 5x4 reels and introduces a new way to trigger its features.
Anderthals imagines a prehistoric world where cavemen and cavewomen may have shared the landscape with dinosaurs. The reels feature cave-dwelling hosts Andy and Annie Anderthal, bringing their ancient setting to desktop and mobile screens.
Vibrant artwork and frequent animations give the game a lively look, accompanied by energetic spins and a jaunty theme song. Gameplay features stacked standard symbols and wilds, expanding wild reels, free spins, spin-bet multipliers, and wild-symbol multipliers. A mechanic called ‘feature symbols’ activates these features.
Instead of using scatter and bonus symbols to trigger predetermined features, Anderthals uses ‘feature symbols’ to decide which features appear when the trigger lands. The mechanic is easy to understand, while the result can vary from spin to spin.
Five spaces above the reels act as ‘feature spots’. Their symbols rotate during a spin before stopping on possible awards from the game’s feature set. Since the outcome is not known in advance, players can’t tell which feature will be selected.
The ‘feature spots’ can land on any of these outcomes:
- Multipliers worth 1x or 2x the total spin bet
- Free spins
- Expanding wilds
- Additional wilds placed on the reels
- Wild-symbol multipliers of x2 and x3
- Respins
The symbols in the ‘feature spots’ can change after every spin, but an award requires 2 ‘feature symbols’ to land on the reels together. When they do, the features displayed above the reels are activated. For example, a 2x bet multiplier above reel 2, together with an expanding wild above reel 5, doubles the spin bet and turns every position on reel 5 into wild symbols, followed by a re-spin.
Among the stacked symbols, Mr and Mrs Andethal—the hosts of this stone-age setting—are the third- and fourth-highest-paying symbols. A winning combination pays 5x the spin bet; with one of the slot’s x3 multiplying wild symbols, that could reach 15x.
The dinosaur wild and Anderthals logo are the game’s highest-value symbols. Either can combine with the other along any a pay line for a 8x spin-bet multiplier, which a wild multiplier could raise to 24x.
Microgaming explores new slot mechanics in Anderthals, combining ‘feature symbols’ and ‘feature spots’ in a design intended to bring variety to the provider’s catalogue. Its prehistoric theme, varied wild effects, and unpredictable feature selection give the game a distinctive style.
Evan Carrington brings more than 12 years of experience in the iGaming industry, specializing in online casino reviews, slot game analysis, and player safety assessments. Their expertise includes casino licensing, RTP, volatility, bonus terms, and withdrawal policies. Combining hands-on reviews with independent research, Evan provides clear, evidence-based coverage to help players understand gambling platforms, their features, and possible risks.
