San Quentin Slot Review

San Quentin Slot is prison themed game from iGaming trailblazers Nolimit City. Nolimit City is a company that has had quite a successful few years; going from a smaller, relatively unknown game provider to knocking long-time industry leaders like Netent and Play' N Go out of the spotlight like chess pieces on a chequerboard. With newfound infamy comes greater expectations. In our opinion, Nolimit City's slots have just gotten better over time, and San Quentin is another game that rivals most other slots on the market.

Like all of our other online slot reviews, our San Quentin Slot review will look at everything you need to know about this game before playing it. We dig deep into theming, quirks, how to play the game, where's best to play it, and the essential features like RTP %, max win and volatility. Basically, everything you should know and understand about the game for maximum entertainment value.

San Quentin Slot Introduction

San Quentin Slot was the first "prison" themed slot game released by Nolimit City. It was followed by the 2nd jail-themed slot launched in June 2022 called Folsom Prison slot, which is also based on another notorious prison in Cali. San Quentin, for those not familiar, is a maximum security prison in California that's famous for housing death row prisoners.

San Quentin slot is designed pretty well to reflect life behind bars in one of the US's most notorious and violent prisons. Nolimit City loves to flirt with gritty themes; this is evident when you look at Karen Maneater and Tombstone RIP. San Quentin Slot delivers the same amount of grit and edginess to bring about a fascinating and unique slots experience.

How To Play San Quentin Slot

If you feel like giving this slot a bash after reading this review, you'll need to find a UK online casino that offers slots from Nolimit City. Finding one won't be challenging; after all, Nolimit City is a casino software company that's swiftly grown over the past few years. Most top casinos have integrated their games by now. Check your preferred casino, or if you fancy trying a new yet safe UK casino, you can check some Nolimit City casino recommendations below.

💡 Sometimes people like to play slots for fun before they play for real to help them get to grips with a game. Don't forget that you can try slot games in demo mode at most casinos, including a San Quenton slot demo, when logged in. 

You can also check the game instructions and pay table (by clicking on the three dots icon) to find out more information before getting started. When ready, set the slot game to your preferred betting limits. The San Quentin online slot ranges from 20p to £32 per spin. There's also an Autoplay function where up to 100 auto-spins can be set, plus there are also single win and balance limit options you can set too.

San Quentin Slot Features

Graphically speaking, the San Quentin slot is superbly designed. In the background are prison walls with barb wire running along the top. Security cameras keep an eye on things on either side of the reels, and you'll notice a Latin-style guitar soundtrack that echoes music from Delinquent Habits. The soundtrack is fitting but not too distracting, so it's a good mix, in our opinion.

San Quentin Prison is home to criminals Crazy Joe Labrador (a character that also features as a DJ in Nolimit City's The Rave slot), Biker Bill, Loco Luis, Heinrich the 3rd and the amusingly named character: Beefy Dick. These convicts represent the five higher-value symbols. Other lower-value icons include a bog roll (British slang for toilet paper, in case you're wondering), a soap (don't drop the soap!), a Zippo lighter, handcuffs, and some homemade prison-type shank weapon. There are also Split Wild symbols and Guard Tower Scatter symbols, which we explore fully below.

The San Quentin slot is designed with five reels and three rows and comes with a 243 ways to win payline structure. You will form winning combinations by landing 3, 4 or 5 of the same symbol from left to right on adjacent reels. Many extras in the base game keep things entertaining, but there are plenty of in-game slot features to get your head around that keep things moving. These are:

Enhancer Cells Feature

Each reel has locked enhancer cell positions located at the top and bottom. Landing 1 or 2 bonus symbols will trigger the Enhancer Cells feature in San Quentin Slot. When activated, they might reveal one of the top five paying symbols; Wild Razor Split or xWays symbol. Here's what each of them will do:

• Razor Split Symbol: The Razor Split symbols will split all symbols on regular positions in the same reel to double positions. It will split the symbols twice if it lands at the top and bottom on the same reel. This, in turn, increases the number of ways to win. If all positions are open, you can play with up to 13,189,257,216 ways to win!
• xWays Symbol: The xWays Symbol will reveal the same regular paying symbols stacked 4-high.

Split Wild Feature

A pioneering feature from Nolimit City, and one that's found in various other NLC slots, when it comes to the Split Wild feature, in the base game, Split Wilds can land on any reel. When they do, you will activate the Split Wild feature. The Split Wild will split all the regular symbols on the same (except the reel itself), giving you up to 46,656 ways to win!

Lockdown Spins Feature

Lockdown is now a generic term associated with Covid, but it's always been a phrase associated with max security prisons when they need to lock down due to security threats and prison riots (among other things). The lockdown feature is essentially a free spins feature in San Quentin slot.

To trigger the Lockdown Spins feature, you must land 3, 4 or 5 of the prison tower bonus symbols, which will reward you with 1, 2 or 3 starting Jumping Wilds, respectively. Moreover, the Enhancer Cells will open when triggering this feature and be in play for all free spins. Furthermore, before the Lockdown Spins feature begins, a random number of free spins and also a special symbol multiplier will be decided based on a convict symbol. 

Jumping Wilds

San Quentin Slot also has a Jumping Wilds feature which is present during the Lockdown free spins and is represented by a police badge icon. The Jumping Wilds symbol jumps to a random position on each free spin. When a Jumping Wild lands on a reel that features a Razor Split enhancer, the multiplier will be doubled. The maximum multiplier at this point can reach up to x512 which could mean very lucrative payouts.

Nolimit Bonus Buy Feature

The Bonus Buy feature is unavailable to players from the UK (due to UKGC licensing laws), though it is available to those outside the UK. However, we recommend airing caution to this feature, which is essentially a "gamble" feature whereby you bet more (i.e. spend more) to increase the chances of landing more scatters and increasing the game's RTP % and potential payout. The cost of the feature is as follows:
 

Maximum Win Potential & Jackpot

San Quentin Slot offers decent win potential. The key to winning big is from the Jumping Wild multiplier, which can reach up to x512 in the Lockdown free spins feature. The significant win potential comes when you trigger this feature with five bonus symbols and a high number of open Enhancer Cells. Doing this is where x150,000 stake wins will come into play. 

San Quentin Slot RTP % & Variance

To say that this slot is high variance is an understatement, but what else can we expect from Nolimit City, which is arguably the leader when it comes to high volatility slots? Aside from San Quentin being a high variance slot, it also boasts a reasonably average RTP of 96.03%. However, it's also available as a 94.11% version depending on the casino you're playing at. (Note that most UK casinos will offer the higher RTP % version, but you can check with the casino you are playing at if you are unsure.

There's also the ability to increase the game RTP % in the Nolimit Bonus Feature, as mentioned above, but that 1) costs more of your budget and is more of a gamble and 2) the feature is only available to those outside the UK due to UKGC gambling regulations. 

The hit frequency is surprisingly high at 34.25%, but straight wins can be on the relatively low side of the equation as this game relies heavily on its extra features to get you anywhere. When they kick in, San Quentin xWays featured can ramp up the wins nicely.

San Quentin Mobile Slot

What slot game is made these days without being 100% adaptable to mobile devices? Clue: none! Well, none that you will want to play anyway. That said, if you prefer to play mobile slots on the go, San Quentin mobile slot delivers in all areas just like it does on desktop. Whether you play on mobiles, smartwatches, tablets or any other console with an internet connection and a web browser, you'll be able to play this game easily.

Graphics are sharp, and there's no compromising on the small screen. A mobile experience is only as good as the casino you choose to play slots at, so ensure that you play at a fully equipped mobile casino for the latest mobile gaming experience, just like the casinos we recommend below or on our dedicated mobile casinos page.

San Quentin Slot Review - Our Verdict

Being a 10/10 variance slot, this game won't be for everyone - in fact, the San Quenton xWays slot is a high rollers dream! There's enormous win potential, up to x150,000 if you get it right, with plenty of features to pack an entertaining punch.

Nolimit City can develop slots that are not only fun but are genuinely intriguing and different. They are worlds apart from even the most recognised game providers that have been around for years. We love the little comedic extras peppered into the game, such as the "drop the soap" screens and convicts' names. If San Quentin Slot is too harsh for you, but you love the theming, why not try Folsom Prison slot, which offers x75,000 bet max wins but with a slightly softer touch. Either way, this game will be like marmite- you're either going to love it - or hate it, but that's up to you to decide, but it's a worthy slot, in our opinion.

Where To Play San Quentin Slot - Recommended Casinos

If you feel brave enough to try Nolimit City's San Quentin xWays slot, we've listed some superb UK casino recommendations below. Remember, we only recommend UK casinos that are safe and legit and carry UK gambling licenses to ensure your safety but maximum enjoyment.

San Quentin Slot Alternatives

Love Nolimit City Slots, or just grittier slots in general? Check some alternative recommendations to San Quentin online slot that we've hand-picked below. Remember, the San Quentin slot is high in variance, and the slots below are, too, so make sure you read each slot's review to ensure it's the right game choice for you before you play with real money.