Sunset Delight

Thunderkick’s new slot makes use of perhaps the least controversial theme in slot history – ice cream cones. Sunset Delight cools warm hearts with its three reels and five paylines; each gaming symbol takes the form of a scoop of ice cream. In addition to providing a taste of the summer sun as the weather turns cold, this game offers a 1000x jackpot, up to 100x win mulitipiers in bonus play, and a better-than-average theoretical return to player of 96.3%.

Theme

Three triple-stacked ice cream cones stand against a beautiful background: sunset over sea and mountains, with a carnival wheel and a boardwalk besides. But which flavors of ice cream are to be enjoyed on this magnificent summer evening? The reels will decide. All gaming symbols are flavors of ice cream, descending upon the cones in threes. Lower-value symbols include pink, red, yellow, and orange-colored scoops, with higher payouts occurring for those with toppings built int: cinnamon streaked with fudge sevens, chocolate caramel with bar symbols, and a pink variety with sparkles and big blue W’s, which acts as wild. Scatter is signified not by a separate symbol, but by a small cookie that can appear attached to any game symbol.

Betting Options and Functions

For its considerable charms, Sunset Delight’s biggest weakness if hiding in plain sight: only five paylines are available, assuring long wait times between wins. In other respects, however, design is sharp and convenient. Bet size is set simply between 0.10–100 times the betting currency, while autoplay can be engaged for up to 5,000 spins of the reels, with an option to stop whenever a bonus feature is activated. Two separate pop-up menus explain game rules in detail and launch information about payouts, paylines, and bonuses.

Features

Three scatter cookies trigger bonus games. Players begin with five free spins and a win multiplier decided at random, but additional cookie symbols continue to appear on the reels, with each one awarding either an additional free spin or an increased win multiplier. There is no limit to the number of free spins that can be played, and the win multiplier can reach a total of 100x. As such, hope is never lost: the chance for continuation and even greater wins is always within reach.

Our Take

Thunderkick’s idea for this game is a charming one, and the execution is both visually simple and wonderfully effective. However, by building only five paylines into this slot, the design team has let this treat melt into mush… with so few opportunities to win, players are assured long waits between wins of any kind, with larger payouts occurring very rarely indeed. While the overall RTP does not suffer terribly, the fact remains that, without more in the way of special features, higher-variance slots like this one make for a boring pastime. An actual ice cream cone is likely to provide more fun and better value than this slot.