The Snake Charmer (NextGen) – Review & Demo Play

The Snake Charmer - Review

I’ve put plenty of spins through The Snake Charmer from NextGen. It’s a five-reel, three-row slot with 25 lines and a lively Indian theme packed with dancers, pipes, elephants and snakes. Wilds, scatters, a 10-spin feature and a card gamble give enough variety without fuss. With a medium feel and a 95.25% RTP, returns sit in the middle. The star touch is the snake turning up in the bonus and stretching across the reel, which can stitch together tidy line hits.

Symbols and Payouts in The Snake Charmer

On the reels in The Snake Charmer, the standout regular is the dancer, paying 1,500x your line bet for five. Next is the elephant with up to 750x, then the snake basket and the pipe, both maxing at 400x for five. The high cards fill the low end, with A to 10 bringing between 100x and 200x for a five-of-a-kind. I found those mid-tier symbols doing the legwork between features, topping up the balance when lines were kept active.

The snake is the wild in The Snake Charmer and pays a slithering 5,000x for five on a line, while standing in for everything except the scatter. The scatter is the charmer with his pipe and pays anywhere, up to 100x the total bet for five. Seeing a couple of scatters softens dead spins, but the big swings came when that wild linked premiums across several reels, which is where the maths model shows its medium bite.

Wild and Scatter in The Snake Charmer

In my sessions on The Snake Charmer, the snake wild did the heavy lifting. It substitutes for all but the charmer scatter and five wilds on a payline is the top base hit. Scatters pay anywhere and double as the trigger, so two or more on screen already feels useful. The balance swings when a wild lands centre and bridges dancers or elephants; that is when the screen lights up, even before the feature, because stacked regulars catch lines across the 25 routes.

Snake Charmer Feature in The Snake Charmer

Three or more charmer scatters launch the Snake Charmer Feature in The Snake Charmer, awarding 10 free spins. During this round, any snake wild that lands may expand to fill its reel, which pushes extra connections across the screen. The paytable stays the same as the base game, and the number of active lines matches the setup you had when you triggered. You cannot trigger extra spins during the round, so it’s all about making those 10 count.

When the wild stretches, it often drops multiple wins at once, especially if a dancer or elephant sits on either side. I’ve had bonus rounds where only one or two spins paid, yet those paid well because the expanded wild lined up across several paylines. That fits the medium profile. The round doesn’t drag and tends to wrap quickly, which suits stop-and-go play on mobile as much as longer desktop sessions.

Gamble Feature in The Snake Charmer

After any win in The Snake Charmer you can hit Gamble. Pick the next card’s colour to double or pick the suit to quadruple. You can take this up to five times in a row, but a wrong call wipes the lot from that spin. I use it on small base wins rather than feature hits, as it turns loose change into something meaningful without wrecking a session. It’s quick, simple, and sits neatly beside the main game.

Betting and Options in The Snake Charmer

You can choose from 1 to 25 paylines in The Snake Charmer and adjust the bet per line from £0.01 to £2.00. That gives a minimum stake of £0.01 and a maximum of £50 when all lines are lit. The layout keeps controls clear with plus and minus buttons, and there are quick picks for max bet and max lines. I tend to run 25 lines at a lower per-line stake, as it catches more line shapes when the wild turns up.

Autoplay in The Snake Charmer handles up to 100 spins, and you can stop it on a win or when the feature triggers. The game runs smoothly on desktop, mobile and tablet, so dropping in a few sets of spins while on the go works well. The interface is straightforward and doesn’t hide vital options. I found the pace snappy enough for short sessions, while still giving time to watch expanding wilds do their thing during the feature.

The Snake Charmer lists an RTP of 95.25% with medium volatility. Top returns hinge on five wilds or an expanded wild connecting across several lines, with a headline slithering 5,000x on a line for five wilds. The balance of hit rate and streaky bonus action suits steady staking. It’s available at UK-licensed casinos and works for low stakes as well as mid-range sessions. I’ve kept it in my rotation when I want simple gameplay with a fair shot at tidy bursts.