Four by Four

Four by Four is an online video slot machine from the developers at Microgaming. It's one of the new style games, about as far away from the classic one-armed bandits as you can get. It's a slot designed to be played online on any computer or device, and we love its modern feel – as well as its interesting bonuses.

This slot game, as you would expect, has four reels and four rows in a grid. But the game plays on the cascading slot principle. That means that the “reels” don't spin, but rather, the screen is cleared and the icons drop down from above. Also, when you get a win, the winning icons disappear and the ones above them fall into place. This can trigger additional wins. You have to match four in a row vertically or horizontally to win, so there are not “pay lines,” per se.

The symbols in this game look like a tic-tac-toe grid, or naughts-and-crosses if you're from the UK. You'll see Xs (payout .2x), crosses (.5x), circles (3x), stars (5x) and diamonds (1x). Nice and simple! And the bold design of the icons make them all very clear to see, no matter what size screen you're playing on.

A purple star is your wild, and can substitute for any icon you need to make a win. Also, during free plays, the stars are locked into the corners.

Four free play icons on the screen, mean that you'll be rewarded with four free spins. All four corners of the board will have frozen wilds during free spin mode, greatly increasing your chances of winning. Meanwhile, get four or more “Bonus Nudge” icons on the screen and you'll get four chances to nudge the reels to produce a win.